Kelly Clarkson's New Year nightmare after dog goes missing

Singer Kelly Clarkson broke down in tears and wept "like a little girl" after her dog went missing on New Year's Day (01Jan12).

The Miss Independent hitmaker rang in 2012 in Oklahoma with pals Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Adam Levine but admits the year got off to a trying start after her one-year-old pup Joplin went missing from her Texas ranch.

Kelly Clarkson admits she sobbed when her sister broke the news that the miniature labradoodle had run away after being scared off by fireworks.

In a post on American Country Countdown, she writes, "I lost it (like a little girl) and started bawling when she told me. Seriously, I was so dramatic, but I don't have children and they are my babies that I sleep with every night... I literally walked around for hours looking for him."

The pop star assumed the worst as she searched the area with the help of two other dogs - until the pooches spotted Joplin tangled in a mess of vines.

She explains, "I can't believe I'm admitting this but I ran through the shallow part of the pond which was knee deep yelling for him as if he were the last living thing on the planet and he was stuck in all these vines with thorns and he was half in the water and stuck and I got my knife and cut him free and carried him home. I can't believe that happened! It is like a movie!"

Kelly Clarkson is convinced she's experienced "a miracle" and has taken the experience as a sign she's going to have an excellent year.

She adds, "I am so happy! 2012 is gonna rock because my year just started off with a freaking miracle! Seriously, if you lose a dog around here, they either get hit by a semi (truck) or eaten by coyotes. You don't EVER get them back!"