Jessica Gutierrez didn’t expect to see her dog Cookies again. But five years and 1,000 miles later, the Kansas City, Missouri, woman was reunited with her pet teacup poodle Wednesday.

Gutierrez left the dog with her sister in New Mexico because she had to leave for military duty in Afghanistan, ABC affiliate KMBC-TV reported. But during her deployment, the dog vanished.

Somehow, Cookies turned up in San Diego. The dog was identified by its microchip and returned to Kansas City on a flight.

Cookies’ coat featured more gray than the last time Gutierrez saw her – it used to be black, she recalled. Cookies greeted her long-lost owner Wednesday by licking her face.

“I actually didn’t expect her to remember me, so that was on the back of my mind,” Gutierrez told KMBC. “But she did.”

Source: ABC News Missing Dog, Owner Reunited After 5 Years Apart