'Over the moon' is how you could describe retired widow Sandie Josling, after she was reunited with her beloved dog Sophie.

Mrs Jostling, from Mundesley, said she felt lost and alone until Sophie, a nine-year-old golden Labrador, was returned to her side earlier this week having run away on a walk on September 1.

She said: "She means the world to me. She basically gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

North Norfolk News: Sandie Josling with her golden labrador Sophie who was lost for over three weeks at Mundesley.Sandie Josling with her golden labrador Sophie who was lost for over three weeks at Mundesley. (Image: Archant 2022)

"I thought I was never going to get Sophie back - the weather was turning nasty and she's so fragile. Then I got the phone call - my God I nearly fell apart.

"I put my arms around her neck, she had been full of ticks and flees, I think someone had her initially, but who can say?"

Mrs Jostling said she got Sophie about four years ago from a gun dog shelter near Norwich.

The pooch had since helped her get through several bereavements, including of her husband, Walter, died in January 2020, and her sister, Rose-Marie, died in April this year.

North Norfolk News: Sandie Josling with a hug for her golden labrador Sophie who was lost for over three weeks at Mundesley.Sandie Josling with a hug for her golden labrador Sophie who was lost for over three weeks at Mundesley. (Image: Archant 2022)

She said: "When I saw her, and the state she was in, I didn't care how much they charged me, I wasn't going to send her back. She was terribly nervous. I gradually fed her up.

"She saved me and I saved her."

Mrs Jostling said she had taken Sophie for a walk at their "usual field" when she lost the dog.

She said: "I got into the field, looked about and there was no-one there to frighten her.

"It appeared to be empty so I slipped the lead off her collar. Then we both looked up and spotted a muntjac deer, Sophie chased after it."

Mrs Jostling said she wanted to thank people including Liz King from the free magazine Crab Tales, for their help in finding Sophie.

She said: "When she went missing 60 people in the village organised a search all along the old railway track, absolutely amazing, they were. They're all doggy people here in Mundesley.

"Liz found a couple of people who had spotted Sophie near a place called Hungry Hill. She knew a guy from the Norwich area who put up a couple of motion sensors on the trees where she must have passed by.

"There were one or two false alarms, but eventually, they got her. I'm still in a state of shock."