Three-year-old Karina Chikitova was rescued after spending almost two weeks in a Siberian forest.
It is claimed she was eventually found after her puppy returned home to the village of Olom in Olyokminsky district.
Chikitova had allegedly attempted to follow her father, who was unaware of her actions, out of the village last month.
Her decision to do so then made it impossible for rescue crews, on foot and from the air, to initially find her.
Afanasiy Nikolayev, spokesman for the Sakha Republic Rescue Service, told the Siberian Times: “We began searches, thinking that if she had lost her shoes she would try and stay away from the deep forest, because there is a lot of sharp sticks there."
“I carried Karina myself to the car, and she was light as a bird. She was hardly ten kilograms - but amazingly she was fully conscious.”
The young girl was taken to hospital but is not believed to have suffered any serious injuries and doctors are now helping her regain her strength.