Owner Scott Hampton says the terrier “wasn’t going to go easy”

'Gladiator' Dog Home Safe After 12 Days Missing in New Mexico Desert

Scott Hampton can’t believe what’s sitting in his lap.

His 2-year-old dog Poot, who disappeared during a hunting trip in New Mexico and was missing for 12 days in the desert.

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“All of a sudden Poot was gone, called her, she didn’t come back,” Hampton tells FOX 23, who reported the story.

Hampton was devastated when his terrier vanished without a trace. Immediately friends and workers from the volunteer fire department pitched in to help find her — sadly, they came back with nothing.

“About the third or fourth day, I just lost hope,” Hampton said. “I knew in my mind that as much as I wanted to believe she’d come back, that she wouldn’t.”

He took to social media to mourn the dog and was comforted by the influx of texts and messages of support, he told FOX 23.

“I don’t let much touch my heart but I cried for 11 days,” he said.

After more than a week of sad emotions, a phone call would delivered Hampton’s happy ending. A man found Poot and called in hopes of finding her owner.