A sniffer dog that disappeared during a fierce battle in Afghanistan between Australian troops and militant fighters has been found and returned to its unit after more than a year. And Sabi, the black Labrador, is getting a celebrity welcome home.

Sabi was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol ambushed in restive Uruzgan province in September 2008, triggering a gunfight that wounded nine troops and earned an Australian soldier the country’s highest bravery medal. But there was no sign of Sabi, and months of searching failed to find any sign of the retriever — until now.

Defence officials said on Thursday that a US soldier recovered Sabi at an isolated patrol base elsewhere in Uruzgan.

Sabi was returned to the base just in time for a visit by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was photographed on Wednesday with US commander in Afghanistan Gen Stanley McChrystal petting Sabi.

“Sabi is back home in one piece and is a genuinely nice pooch as well,” Rudd said.

Exactly where Sabi has been or what happened to her during the past 14 months will probably never be known, though that she was in good condition when she was found indicated she had been looked after, military spokesman Brig Brian Dawson said.