ORANGEVALE, Calif. -- An Orangevale man who thought he had lost a loved one forever made a happy discovery on the Internet.

Two years ago, Matt Strong's ex-wife gave their dog, Mikey, to the Placer County Animal Shelter when neither could keep him.

Strong said he couldn't get over his guilt of letting Mikey go. So, he decided to use technology to go in search of his friend.

"I went to (search engine) Google, and they have an image search. And I plugged in Mikey and Tahoe, with Mikey being in Tahoe the last place I had seen him. I figured I'd search for him," Strong said.

Strong said that a picture of Mikey appeared during his search. He was still at the animal shelter.

"I thought Mikey was long gone, and there he was looking at me like, 'Are you going to pick me up?'"

Strong said that he fetched Mikey immediately, and that after two years, shelter volunteers were sad to see him go.

"I look down every night, and I say, 'Oh my God. I can't believe he's physically here.' I still can't believe he's back," Strong said.

Strong said that Mikey's personality hasn't changed much in the time he's been gone. He still loves toys, and he still remembers all of his tricks.

If people Google Mikey these days, they will find the Web site MikeyDog.com.

"He gets e-mails. He's even had a job offer," Strong said.

The next thing that Strong Googles may be a new place to live because his landlord won't allow dogs.