Sausages are the only clue to pup Tui's disappearance.

Tui the 11 month old mini schnauzer has gone missing from her No 2 Rd home.

The whereabouts of Tui - and the manner of her disappearance - is something of a puzzle.

The 11-month-old black and white mini schnauzer disappeared from the Kirkman family's No 2 Rd home at the end of April - the only clue to the mystery, some discarded sausages.

"We were in the orchard walking with her - I was with the kids and we backtracked, but she carried on for a bit," says dad Jase.

About 20 minutes later Jase and his two children Will, 7, and Holly, 5, got back to the house.

"Normally she'd just come back to the house, but she didn't arrive. We searched the whole area."

The day after the family last saw Tui, they found an opened packet of sausages.

"They were literally right outside the gate,'' says Jase.

"Obviously we can't prove anything, but potentially what has happened is she might have come to the gate looking for us after going back to the house and we weren't there, and perhaps someone passing had some sausages with them and enticed her into the car and off they go.

"It's one theory because we had tracker dogs and searched high and low through the orchard. It's very out of character, she's not a wanderer, she's a real homebody."

Jase says Will and Holly are absolutely devastated.

"There's been tears. We've had her since she was 7-weeks-old and she has become a real part of the family. We've been on all sorts of adventures and so when she didn't arrive the kids just kept on thinking she's going to come back, she's going to come back."

He says Tui's disappearance really hit home when she was absent from everyday events where she would normally tag along.

"Like going out for the bus when the kids were going to school - she'd always come with us. When the kids come out in the morning they normally take her out for a walk, or if she was snuggled up in front of the fire they'd cuddle with her.

"She's their first pet really."

Jase says the family is prepared to put up a $500 no-questions-asked reward if Tui is returned.

He can be contacted on twotuiorchards@gmail.com or on 027 818 3000.