The breeder of two puppies stolen from a pet shop in Laval conducted her own sting operation to recover them within 24 hours of their theft.

Edith Champigny, the co-owner of Rouki Froufou, said thieves broke into her pet shop last Wednesday and stole three puppies — two Chihuahuas and a morkie, a mix between a Yorkshire terrier and a Maltese.

She said this is the third time robbers broke in to her store.

The morning after the puppies were stolen, Annabelle Plouffe, who bred the Chihuahuas, said she spotted the dogs for sale on the Kijiji website.

Plouffe said she contacted police, but to her surprise, she was told to make sure the dogs were really hers.

"[Their advice] was to go meet these people to actually tell us if they were actually our dogs," said Plouffe. "I said, 'You want me, an [ordinary citizen,] to go meet with a criminal to make sure those are my dogs?'"

Laval police said that was most likely a misunderstanding, and the theft is still under investigation.

Plouffe said she pretended to want to purchase the dogs from the website and met the alleged robbers in a parking lot, steps away from the pet shop.

She said she stayed in her car and asked the man if she could see the dogs.

He handed her a bag.

"I took the bag, put it on my knees and opened the bag. My little babies were there, and they got up and started kissing me. Then I looked at the guy and told him he had two choices. He had to run — or run faster," said Plouffe.

Later Thursday, she said she persuaded the man to drop off the third puppy through a series of text messages.

According to Plouffe, the man dropped off the morkie in a garbage bin by the pet shop, where she recovered him.

The store has since installed metal bars on its windows, from floor to ceiling.

"Nobody can come here. Nobody. It's finished," said Champigny. "Now, we are [safe] with these metal bars."

Police have not yet made any arrests in the case.