Mum's puppy stolen while tied to pole outside takeway shop

A New Zealand family is devastated after their pet dog was stolen from a pole it was tied to while the mother grabbed a bite to eat from the local shops.

Jo Hodge, from Auckland, had taken her six-month-old cavoodle Bowie to Burgerfuel on Great North Road in New Lynn with her as she hadn't been out of the house all day.

She could see her pup from the takeaway shop window and was keeping a close eye on her.

When she turned for all of 15 seconds to collect her order, her pooch was taken.

"She came outside and was in a bit of shock, thinking she [Bowie] must have got off her leash. The leash was still tied to the post but her collar was not on it," her husband, Drew Pollock, told the New Zealand Herald.

Ms Hodge desperately called out for Bowie for a few minutes but then came to accept she must have been stolen. The pair searched their local area for about two hours on Wednesday but had no luck in finding their beloved pet.

The couple's children, Huxley 5, and Lyla, 9, are in shock after being told she had been stolen. The couple had waited a few days in hope that she would turn up.

"They are both in a bit of shock. Lyla has just sort of closed up. I think they are still reeling from it," Mr Pullock said.

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Bowie is about 40cm tall and is brown. She has some white hair just under her chin and on her back paw.

Mr Pullock and Ms Hodge have requested CCTV from the nearby bank and have notified nearby vets. Other CCTV cameras in the area had been damaged in a storm a few weeks ago and have not yet been repaired.

"I feel really guilty as well because I left her out there. It was a couple of seconds but ... poor little thing," Ms Pullock told Stuff.co.nz.

"[I'm] absolutely heartbroken, I'm devastated."

Ms Hodge said Bowie was wearing a red collar with a round gold tag and is microchipped.