A mother and son have launched a search and are offering a $200 reward for a companion dog believed to have been stolen from a yard on Vassar Drive a few days ago.

The 1-year-old Havenese named Piper is a companion for the woman’s 29-year-old son, who has Down Syndrome.

The dog was outside by himself on Jan. 5 in a fenced yard that is locked, and the mother, Allene Anderson, said there’s no way Piper could have jumped the fence.

“There’s no place where he would have dug or anything,” Anderson told News Center 7’s Kate Bartley on Tuesday night.

The cage in the family’s kitchen, where Piper hangs out, is now empty.

Haveneses are bred to be companion animals for people with special needs. The dog, a breed of Bichon type, is the national dog of Cuba that was developed from the now distinct Blanquito de la Habana (“little white dog of Havana”).

“He’s really good with Adam,” she said. “He’s good for Adam.”

Mother and son have spent the last few days passing out postcards that feature no less than seven candid shots of Piper, hoping for good news. Everyone from the letter carrier to the garbage man has been handed a postcard that includes her phone number, she said.

They’ve filed a police report and even submitted information about Piper to a pet AMBER alert website.

Adam shut down when his father died of leukemia in 1998, Anderson said. Piper helps keep her son calm makes him happy.

Ever since the dog’s disappearance, she said, all Adam does is look out the window for his friend who will be 2 years old on Wednesday.

If you see the dog or think you have seen him, call Dayton police at (937) 333-COPS or the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center at (937) 898-4457.