"We've had dogs all our lives but this one seems special. He has something extra to him," Paul Galloway snr said of his 12-month-old black kelpie.

Against all odds, after falling off the back of a ute, Richie trudged more than 45 kilometres along the hazardous Snowy Mountains Highway to appear 10 days later on the back verandah of the Galloways' Adelong farm.

When Mr Galloway arrived in Gundagai last month to find an empty ute tray and zero trace of Richie but his collar, alarm bells rang and a search party was activated to canvass the Hume Highway and surrounds.

Hope soon faded and the Galloways' had written Richie off as probably dead.

The family was surprised, Mr Galloway said, when Richie arrived on the back verandah out of the blue.

"We were shocked and it's something incredibly nice to happen," he said.

"He followed his instincts. He knew where his bed was and he knew where to find his food."

Richie arrived home a little battered and bruised and, according to Mr Galloway, walked home on "three good legs" after a front leg was injured when he hit the ground jumping off the ute.

A veterinary analysis later revealed Richie survived on the contents of sheep and cattle manure.

Geoff Treloar, of Moorong Veterinary Clinic in Wagga, said he had never heard of tale as extraordinary as Richie's in his 35 years as a veterinarian.

"It's remarkable that he knew the lay of the land enough to know which direction to go," he said.

"Most perish along the way or join the wild dogs in the bush."

Mr Treloar said these days the most common method for dogs to be reunited with their owners is by microchip. He said the modern technology means dogs can find their way home within hours.