NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- A long lost pup found the way home to his Florida family, seven years after he ran away.

The reunion has been seven years in the making.

"They had seven puppies and we got one of them," said Pedro Feliciano. "It was for him. It was a beautiful little puppy."

More than seven years ago, Pedro Feliciano brought Max, then just a Beagle puppy, home for his son Bo. At the time, his son was 11-years-old. "When I first got Max," said Bo Feliciano, "I was real happy because he was my first dog."

But after about a year, Max, the sneaky little puppy, got curious. "He would creep in-between the fence and he got away," said Feliciano.

Max took off and after one month of searching, "I was just hoping that we would find him," said Feliciano. "I would look everywhere, under the cars. Everywhere, hoping to find him."

The family gave up hope. Fast forward seven years later, "I'm trying to picture the last time I saw him," said Feliciano, "and it's him!"

Add a little weight, a slower walk, and a few gray hairs. Max made his return all thanks to a microchip and a phone call from a local shelter. "They told her, 'we have Max'," said Feliciano. 'Do you want him?' and my wife said, 'yeah!' They gave us the information."

"It was very emotional," said Feliciano. "Like, when I first saw him, I wanted to cry like seven years ago. My first original dog I ever got."

Turns out, Max was with a family a few miles away before his return. The family added Max back in to the mix with their three other dogs. A happy homecoming, seven years later.