Jack the terrier has been returned to his family after roughing it for two months in a cosy ditch beside State Highway 1.

The Jack Russell went missing at Otaki Forks on New Year's Day, 15 minutes before he was due to return home with his owner's brother from a tramping trip in Tararua Range.

Owner Sandy Moore of Lower Hutt had not given up hope that Jack was alive, even when he missed his second birthday last week.

Kapiti SPCA manager Lloyd Warren left a message on her phone yesterday saying he had found Jack in a dog-made nest in a ditch about 50 metres south of Peka Peka.

A truck driver had reported seeing a dog beside the highway on Monday and Mr Warren went to investigate but could not see anything. "Then I had a call from a motorist yesterday and (I) went back.

"Jack suddenly popped his head out of a burrow in the long grass. He had made a nest in an undergrowth tunnel among the grass and rubbish – it looked like he had been there for quite some time.

"It took me about 20 minutes to get him out – he was emaciated and had cuts and a few scabs, but was otherwise quite healthy."