This is the emotional moment when a young dog appears to have tears in its eyes after being reunited with its family following a 24-mile trek back home after it was lost on a mountain.

The incident happened when the father of the dog’s owner took the dog, reportedly still a puppy, to the mountain of the city of Ningbo, in China’s Zhejiang Province.

The owner, identified as Mr Zhu, told local media that his father had gone to the mountainous region to dig up bamboo shoots, and decided to take the puppy with him so that it could play in the woods.

But somehow, he added, the dog got lost in the mountain, over 40 kilometres (24 miles) away from their home.

Mr Zhu said: “Dad searched for a long time but couldn’t find it. Seeing that it was getting dark, he had to go home.

“We all thought the dog was really lost.

“Unexpectedly, at 8:40pm, the dog ran back by itself. Its foot pads were worn out.

“When I fed it some food, it cried and then just kept crying. I think the dog was as emotional as we were.”

In the video, the puppy can be seen apparently shedding tears as it stands among its family members, who sound equally delighted to see it.

In another footage, it can be seen happily waving its tail, while standing with its front paws on a person who is sitting and petting the dog.

The footage then cuts to the puppy enjoying a meal of dog food.

Mr Zhu said that when the dog came home, they concluded that it went through a lot of stress during the ordeal which was why it seems so emotional.