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A 6-year-old purebred Staffordshire bull terrier, she went there nearly every day with her owner, Crystal Rolfe.

Rolfe is a pet stylist. Every day she grooms dogs and cats at the Lafayette Square business, and she brought Poppy along for the ride. Poppy played with other dogs, spent time with Rolfe.

It was a wonderful existence.

For 34 days.

This dog’s journey started on June 16. That’s the day Rolfe adopted Poppy, whose name used to be Casey, when she was owned by a Four Muddy Paws customer. Poppy’s previous owner had bought the dog from a breeder about a year before. The owner said she was dealing with some health problems and wanted to find a new home for her dog.

Rolfe, who has two other rescue dogs, Ester and Bender, agreed to give Poppy a home. She lives in McKinley Heights with a fenced yard and could take Poppy to work with her so she wasn’t lonely at her new home.

Everybody was happy.

The former owner and breeder even came by to visit Poppy at her new home to make sure everything was great. After the visit, the former owner texted Rolfe, saying Poppy “is in the very best place in the very best hands with you.�

They sent Rolfe the dog’s paperwork. The breeder texted and said she would add Rolfe’s phone numbers to Poppy’s embedded chip, in case she ever became lost. They called the vet, who released Poppy’s records. Rolfe’s family, her husband, daughter and grandson all took to Poppy immediately.

Poppy got her own Instagram account and Rolfe posted photos daily.

“She is the sweetest dog I’ve ever met,� Rolfe says.

Then something changed.

On July 17, the former owner stopped by to visit Poppy at Rolfe’s work. Rolfe didn’t think much of it and let her into the grooming shop to spend some time with Poppy.

The next day, the woman stopped by again, this time with the breeder. They asked for a visit. Rolfe agreed and went back to work with a dog on her grooming table.

A few minutes later, the two women were walking out of the shop holding Poppy.

“They said they changed their minds,� Rolfe said, “and they just walked out.�

Rolfe pleaded that she loved Poppy and that she had been given to her. The breeder said she still had a legal right to her.

Indeed, some breeders have contractual language that if an owner can’t take care of a dog, that ownership returns to the breeder. But in this case, both the breeder and previous owner were in on the adoption. They approved it.

Rolfe has replayed the scene over and over in her head. Should she have screamed? Made a scene? Grabbed them? Rolfe was at work, caring for other people’s pets. She just stood in shock while the two women walked out of the store with the newest member of her family.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,� Rolfe says. “It’s so bizarre.�

She called the police but they told her it was a civil matter. She went to the former owner’s house and got no answer and heard no barking. She’s called and texted numerous times and hasn’t received an answer.

I got the same response when I called, texted and emailed both women. I have yet to hear a word.

Rolfe thinks Poppy is back with the breeder, though she doesn’t know why. Poppy has been spayed and isn’t as valuable to a breeder as she was previously. Rolfe hired an attorney to send the two women a demand letter asking for her dog back.

There’s no paperwork, no contract, just a handshake on the adoption, and text messages and an exchange of papers to show it happened.

Rolfe is not sure she’ll see Poppy again.

She’s willing to pay to get her back if that’s what the breeder wants, but she can’t even get the courtesy of a phone call.

“Everybody said they were so happy Poppy was with me,� Rolfe says. “I didn’t see any of this coming.�