Charlotte Hughes had given up all hope of ever seeing 14-month-old Mizzie again after she bolted from her home.

Despite calling the police and RSPCA and plastering about 600 posters across Portsmouth, she was unable to track down her treasured tan-and-white bulldog,

Mother-of-four Miss Hughes eventually bought a nine-week-old American bulldog pup, Dolcie, just three weeks ago, as a new playmate for her distraught 10-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier Bella.

Then on Sunday the 34-year-old received a call out of the blue to say that Mizzie had been handed in at Portsmouth Kennels in Regent Street, Landport.

Staff tracked Miss Hughes via a microchip – the size of a grain of rice – under Mizzie's skin. It contained contact details.

It had been implanted in the scruff of the bulldog's neck in March, two months before she disappeared.

Miss Hughes, from Buckingham Green, Buckland, said: 'I had just about given up hope. I thought she'd been taken out of Portsmouth and we'd never see her again.

'I couldn't believe it when I got the call. I was shaking and crying. When I first saw her I wasn't sure if it was her. I had it in my head it wasn't going to be my dog and took a minute or two to register it was really Mizzie. We're so glad she's home.'

Mizzie bolted from her home on May 26, and despite her efforts to trace the pup, Miss Hughes had no luck.

She is now urging all pet owners to have their animals microchipped.

Miss Hughes added: 'I want to thank everyone who helped find Mizzie. She's back home now and she's fitted straight back in – she's back to waking me up in the morning and the kids are really happy she's home.

'If she hadn't been microchipped I don't think I would ever have got her back.

'Everyone should have to get their pets chipped.'