SAN ANTONIO -- Rene Espinosa returned to his classroom Thursday as a teacher at H.B. Zachry Middle School but told his sixth-graders little as to why he was forced to take the day off on Tuesday.

"Guys, I had a little emergency happen on ... Monday night," he announced to his students as they sat at their computers.

Espinosa said he would tell them later how his beloved bulldog Rambo was taken by the burglars who ransacked his house, stealing whatever they could find. The thieves even grabbed the money he and his fiancée had been saving for their wedding in June, deposits they were going to pay over spring break.

"We were going to pay a lot, a big part of it, and unfortunately, we had it there at the house," said Espinosa.

And, yet he said just as devastating was discovering Rambo was gone.

"My dog, I mean who would do that? It's just beyond me," said Espinosa, an Iraq war veteran and staff sergeant in the Army Reserves. "It's like they took a ... little piece of my life.”

He said the burglars left his other dog, Hercules, a slightly younger bulldog.

His principal at Zachry said Espinosa is heartbroken.

"You never want to see anything bad happen to somebody that puts out so much effort and care for children," said Susan Allain about Espinosa, the Northside School District's First Year Teacher of the Year in 2009.

Now Espinosa can share several life lessons with his students, like watch out for your neighbor, expect the unexpected and never give up hope.

Looking at Rambo's photos, he said, "If he just shows up in my yard one day, bless the Lord!"

No questions asked, said Espinosa, who also is offering a $200 reward for information that will lead to Rambo's safe return.