Izzy, a one-year-old French bulldog, did what pups will do recently on a short trip with her dad, but unfortunately, in the process, she has disappeared, and her dad, Greg Riddle, believes she was likely intentionally taken.

Izzy, who weighs about 26 pounds, belongs to the currently desirable French bulldog breed, and Riddle says his girl is coming up on her next heat cycle.

Riddle, who takes Izzy with him everywhere, including to work, said on May 21, he stopped at his storage unit on Webb Road, about a mile and a half from his home near the corner of Yates Road and St. Pauls Church Road.

“She chased a cat into the woodline, but she didn’t come back,” he said. He spent the next 45 minutes walking up and down the tree line, calling for her, knocking on some doors, trying desperately to find her, with no luck. She’d simply disappeared.

He didn’t have his phone with him so he went to the storage unit office and called his dad from there. His dad brought his phone and he contacted the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office so they would know why he was walking the neighborhood. He stayed there until after lunchtime the next day, when friends convinced him he needed to go home and rest.

With the help of a breeder, Riddle is now offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to her return.

Initially, Riddle had considered a Frenchie puppy, but the cost held him back, as new puppies run into the thousands. Then he got a call about a four-month-old whose owner didn’t have the time or energy to train her. He decided he would try, and he said “we got the potty training and all of that under control, and now she’s my baby. She goes everywhere I go.”

He had plans to breed her just once for family, then no more. In the process, he discovered she had a kidney issue that will require surgery. Currently, Izzy is on medication that runs several hundred dollars per month, and Riddle is worried sick that she’s not getting it.

Born March 10, 2024, Izzy is still very much a puppy herself, and Riddle said he knows her color is desirable, and he fears that someone is planning to breed her but isn’t checking on her health.

And Izzy is chipped, so if someone has taken her, they likely won’t risk taking her to a vet where it would be discovered the name on the chip does not match the current “owner.”

The two traveled to Myrtle Beach for bike week recently and Riddle said “we must have gotten more than 2,000 requests for photos of her.

“She’s just a beautiful dog, and very sweet,” he said. It’s been more than two weeks since he last saw her, and he is heartbroken, noting he called his ex early Friday morning and said he fears he will never see his dog again.

“If anyone knows who has her, I’m hoping they will tell them they’re not just hurting me, they’re hurting the dog,” he said. Breeding French bulldogs needs veterinary assistance because they so often require Cesarian sections to safely deliver the babies.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Riddle on his cell phone at 919-214-6262.

“If I get her back, that’s really all that matters,” Riddle said.

Last year, there were a number of issues with thefts of the Frenchies, which can claim $3,000-$6,000 per puppy. A litter of the pups that will be made available for purchase can and do draw attention of thieves, who will steal the dogs to sell themselves. And in April of this year, a Charlotte woman’s French bulldog was stolen and held for ransom. Three arrests have been made in that case.

“I know I have a wonderful, desirable dog, but she’s my baby and I just want her home,” said Riddle.