Dustin Menchue named his dog Baby, but it's Baby who takes care of him.

"She helps remind me to take my medication, and if I fall, she will help me up," Menchue said.

Menchue said he has several serious medical issues, so when his roommates told him his service dog ran off earlier this year, he knew he had to find her.

"I was going to every pound every day, day by day," Menchue said.

For the past nine months, Menchue came up empty-handed. Then on Tuesday, he got a message to come to the shelter.

"I walked by her kennel, she wagged her tail," he said of the unexpected reunion. " I was like, 'That is my Baby.'"

Baby was found in Glendale, about 10 miles from home.

"We're talking about nine months later, this is a really long time for this dog to be out and about," said Jose Santiago from Maricopa County Animal Care and Control. "Luckily, this had a happy ending."

Many times, these kinds of cases don't have a happy ending.

"It's so important to not only license your dog, but it's the law and it's the best way to get your dog reunited with you if that dog were to ever get out and get lost," Santiago said.

Santiago said Baby is now licensed and microchipped, thanks to the group Lost Dogs Arizona.

