SKIPPER the dog has been reunited with his owners after he hitched a ride during a hair-raising adventure down the side of the A35.

A good samaritan who picked up the labradoodle from the busy road brought the dog into the Crown Inn in Bridport in case punters knew who he belonged to, and an appeal was launched across the pub's social media until Skipper's owners were found.

Eventually the mutt was reunited with his owner, Ben Wain, on Sunday evening.

Mr Wain, 38, an electrician from Kingston Russell, said of the whole experience: "He's a bit of an escape artist, it's not the first time he has done it and he often jumps over the wall or fence because he is so big.

"We were in Wales at the time and he got out of the garden while the dog sitter was looking after him. 

"He's only been caught down that way a couple of times because he usually runs off into the woods in the other direction - he must have got the scent of something else that day," Mr Wain said.

"We did give him a telling off but because he's so big he just can't help himself, no matter how hard we try he just keeps doing it."

Mr Wain said they are grateful to the good samaritan and joked that the dog probably treated itself to a pint while it was waiting to be returned home.

"There were a lot of people sending us Facebook messages when they saw the appeal about his owner, saying 'is it Skipper?' because he's such a big dog that he's quite well known around the Bride Valley area.

"When my girlfriend bought him he was never meant to be that big but he kept growing, and he's seven years old now," he added.

"Skipper was so excited when he got home, the first thing he did was spend time with our other dog Billy the terrier, who I think was a bit worried about him to be honest."