Brooke Burns' Doggie -- FOUND!

Here's the crazy part -- the dog was found by Brooke's groomer's client's neighbor ... did you follow that? We'll explain ...

The key part of the story is the grooming shop, where Brooke usually took little Max. We're told the groomer was working with another client this week when the conversation turned to Brooke's missing dog. The client said she had a neighbor who had just FOUND a dog matching Max's description -- small, black Malti-poo with no tags.

When they all put two and two together -- they realized it WAS Max ... and the heroic neighbor quickly reunited the little guy with his famous owner!!!!