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LaValley, who lives near Pelham Bay Park, was visiting a friend in Yorktown when the dog, Jodi, who loves to explore, bolted out of the house and ran straight into the woods Saturday night.
"The screen door wasn't closed," LaValley said. "She hadn't seen the forest in about six weeks."
LaValley said Jodi, who didn't know her way around, was wandering in the woods and the first 90 minutes she could hear her.
"We eventually couldn't hear her anymore," LaValley said. "We stopped by a couple of houses and no one had seen her. I was pretty distraught. Jodi is like my child."
A post was made on the Lost Pets of Hudson Valley Facebook page about her disappearance.
"I was so worried I wasn't going to see her again," LaValley said. "The worst-case scenarios were going through my mind."
On Sunday morning, a man called LaValley to tell her he found Jodi near Hilltop Hanover.
"It was like a dream come true," LaValley said. "We pulled up to his house and she was sitting there in the door wagging her tail. I was so happy to see her."
LaValley and Jodi are both from Texas and Jodi is like a symbol from home, LaValley said.
"I just graduated from college and she's one of my first grown-up responsibilities," LaValley said. "She means the world to me. She's always doing something hilarious. I couldn't have managed going on without her."
Jodi, who is 2 years old, is described as super friendly who is adjusting to life in New York by chasing squirrels in Pelham Bay Park.
"I am so grateful to the man who took care of her," LaValley said. "I let her sleep in my bed and the man said she tried to sleep in his bed and he kicked her out. I was thrilled to wiggle her big floppy hound ears around, and I let her sit in the front seat on the way home."
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