It was a difficult Christmas for Carlos Vazquez and his family.

They barely slept, hoping Carlos’s service dog Vinny was OK.

Vinny, also called Vincenzo, escaped from a friend’s home in Glen Cove on Wednesday, Dec. 20. They hoped for a holiday miracle, which they got in the early hours on Dec. 27. Vinny was captured at 4:45 a.m. just over a mile from where he escaped. He was rescued in a wooded area near train tracks on the border of Locust Valley.

The Vazquez family is grateful to Vinny’s rescuers, Susan Raso and Kelly Brach.

Raso is the founder of the nonprofit, Cat Wrangler Rescue Inc. Brach runs Professional Pet Trackers.

Brach used five dogs to track Vinny’s scent, and Raso used cameras and unique technology to trap Vinny.

The Vazquez family says the rescuers are “friends for life.” The rescue was captured on camera.

Vinny was found dirty and covered in ticks, but he’s doing well.

Vazquez said Vinny is his everything. The Miniature Australian Labradoodle helps him emotionally and physically.

Vazquez was involved in a horrific crash in the 1980s which left him with a prosthetic leg. Last year, while on the job as a crossing guard, he was struck by a car. He’s still recovering from that accident.

He’s over the moon that Vinny is back home, telling News 12: “I couldn’t stop crying, I was so happy.”