<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After a nearly weeklong search, Athena found her way home to her Florida family in time for Christmas Eve and even rang the doorbell.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Athena, a four-year-old German shepherd and husky mix, escaped her home in Green Cove Springs, Florida, on December 15, prompting a search among the community and nearby towns for her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her owner, Brooke Comer, said her family left for church that day and got a message from her neighbour with a picture of Athena outside the house.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bensons-property-group-pty-australian-property-group-behind-41level-gold-coast-tower-enters-administration/e3fffca6-6288-43df-bb6c-dd87c7b4f2af" rel="" target="" title="Australian property group behind 41-level Gold Coast tower enters administration"><strong><span>Australian property group behind 41-level Gold Coast tower enters administration</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Comer panicked. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her family rushed home to find her collar in the crate and no visible opening Athena could have gotten out from. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>How she escaped remains a mystery.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/florida-news-missing-dog-returned-to-family-home-and-rang-the-doorbell-on-christmas-eve/e3848336-692c-4968-bc1f-4dbd49eb6bc1" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The next week's events continued to be an "unbelievable" story for Comer, where neighbours and community members from nearby towns would contact her from her missing dog ads and send any footage or photos where they may have spotted Athena.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Based on all the alerts Comer got, it looked like Athena made a nearly 32km roundtrip while she was missing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At every alert, Comer and her family would go to the spot within minutes and search for Athena — to no avail.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She was the hide-and-seek all-time grand champion," Comer said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"With every sighting my heart jumped, and it honestly was excitement and then your heart's crushed because we were always one step behind."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/grampians-national-park-fire-one-home-fences-and-sheds-lost-in-victorian-bushfires/e9929c97-0eaf-4216-8bed-70924f8193a1" target="" title="Authorities assess damage as Grampians bushfire, roughly the size of Singapore, continues to burn"><strong><span>Authorities assess damage as Grampians bushfire, roughly the size of Singapore, continues to burn</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The entire search was a terrifying and scary experience for Comer, who was worried about where her already skittish dog could have gone or could have encountered.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That was until 2.30am Christmas Eve, when she got a Ring video notification from her doorbell and her other dog began barking.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was kind of like in a daze, and the dog was barking, and as soon as I heard that ring, I looked at my phone and you could see in the video it was Athena and she was jumping at the door, ringing the doorbell," Comer said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As soon as Comer opened the door, Athena bolted inside and went to go lick her son's face, who was on the couch half-asleep.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After that, she immediately grabbed her ball to play and shortly went to her cage to go back to sleep.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Comer said the experience gave so much hope because of the neighbours and the large community looking for Athena for the past week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The next plan was to get Athena a full exam, flea and tick treatments and a microchip.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" title="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>:</span></strong></em><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" title="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><em><strong><span>Apple App Store</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU" title="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU"><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>.</span></strong></em></div></div>