How about a heartwarming story that involves a dog to get your week started right? A Maryland boxer named Dempsey was reunited with his family this weekend after being lost in Maine for nine days.

As NECN reports, Dempsey jumped a fence a few days after Christmas while his owners were visiting family members in Maine. Good Samaritan Christine Pierce went looking for the dog and, amazingly, found Dempsey.

He survived ice storms, snow storms, even being hit by a car. Pierce finally found him in an abandoned warehouse and rushed him to the Madison Animal Hospital. He had a broken leg, was experiencing seizures and lost half of his body weight, but he is expected to recover.

And on Saturday, Dempsey’s family traveled to Maine to reunite with him. From the Morning Sentinel:

When the Cyrway family of Severn, Md., pulled up at Madison Animal Hospital Friday night shortly before 6, Cyrway jumped from her car and ran to her dog.

And Dempsey — dragging his injured leg and just hours after a surgery extensive enough that the veterinarian feared the reunion would have to be put off — ran to his mom.