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Loyal dog waited 4 years at the same spot after jumping out of a truck — but when his owner returned, he stayed behind for a heartbreaking reason

A woman took him home after a vet visit, but days later, he disappeared and was found again at the same roadside, still waiting.

BY PAHUL NANRA

PUBLISHED 7 HOURS AGO

(L) A dog waiting on the roadside. (R) A woman kissing her pet dog. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | (L) Maya Karkalicheva, (R) Bread and butter productions)

Along a quiet roadside in Thailand, a lone dog became a symbol of patience and love that touched many hearts. For years, he waited at the same spot every day, staring down the road as if expecting someone familiar to return. Locals had grown used to his presence, but few knew the heartbreaking reason behind his wait until one passerby stopped to find out.

A dog is sitting alone on the road. (Representative Cover Image: Pexels | Photographer: Doğan Alpaslan Demir) — A dog is sitting alone on the road. (Representative Image: Pexels | Photographer: Doğan Alpaslan Demir)

The story unfolded in Roi-Et, northeastern Thailand, where a biker named Anuchit Uncharoen noticed a stray dog sitting beside the highway. When he passed the same road again days later, the dog was still there, looking lost and tired. Curious, Anuchit stopped and asked locals about him. To his surprise, they said the dog had been waiting at that same spot for four years.

White and Gray Siberian Husky Puppy. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Julissa Helmuth)

One resident, then 45-year-old Saowaluck Pinnuvech, told him she first saw the dog in 2016. “Back then he was so skinny and he had skin lesions,” she told Mirror. “I rode a motorcycle past this road and saw him every day for a week, so I asked the people about his owner, and the locals told me that he was a stray dog. They said he had been waiting there since the previous year.” She then took the dog to the vet, named him Leo, and brought him home, but within days, he disappeared and was soon found sitting at the same roadside again.

A woman hugging her pet dog. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Pekic)

Understanding the dog’s attachment to the spot, Saowaluck decided to let him stay there, visiting daily to feed and care for him. Leo quickly became well-known among locals, who admired his loyalty. Then Anuchit posted Leo’s story and a video online, showing the dog gazing at passing cars. The video spread quickly, and soon a woman named Noi Sittisarn, then 64 years old, recognized him. The dog looked just like her missing pet, Bong Bong, who had jumped from her pickup truck back in 2015. “I was traveling on this road, but then I noticed that Bong Bong was missing from the trunk,” Noi said. “Me and my husband drove around to find him, but we did not find him, and we did not know where he could be.”

woman and dog playing (Image Source: Pexels | Blue Bird) — Woman and dog playing. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Blue Bird)

When Noi visited the spot on September 9, 2019, the long wait finally ended. As soon as Leo saw her, he instantly bonded, and Noi gently petted his head, moved to tears by excitement after four long years apart. But when she tried to take him home, he refused to get into her truck. Wanting to give him time, she promised to come back the next day.

That night, however, Saowaluck called Noi in tears. She confessed she had grown deeply attached to Leo after caring for him all those years and wished to keep him. Noi didn’t hesitate to agree. “I have no intention to refuse her request,” she said kindly. “Due to her good care of the dog, I believed she and the dog will be happy together, but I would like her to keep the dog in her house.” Saowaluck promised to take Leo home, giving him the comfort he had waited for so long.