Imagine being stuck in a 15-inch drain pipe for five days. It happened to the beloved dog of a Champaign County, Ohio, family, station WHIO-TV reported.

The dog, named Zeke ran into the pipe last Friday and was not seen again until Wednesday evening.

A work crew from from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, heard about Zeke and decided to attempt a rescue.

They pushed a small camera deep into the pipe and saw Zeke still alive hundreds of feet from the pipe's entrance.

The workers used a backhoe to dig 8 feet down, break the pipe and pull the dog out.

His owner, Sarah Story, drove back to her parent's Saint Paris, Ohio, home when she heard Zeke was still alive.

When Story saw her dog she said, "Zeke! Oh, my baby, what were you thinking?"

Sarah said God answered her prayers. She couldn't help hugging Zeke over and over.

Zeke is 5 to 10 pounds lighter from not eating but appears to be OK.

Two years ago, Sarah rescued Zeke from an animal shelter. This time, Zeke's fight rescued Sarah from what could have been years of pain at how she lost him.

"He's going to sleep on his dog bed for a few days," Sarah said.