Theft By Taking In Georgia

I am currently deployed to Iraq, but stationed in Georgia. My next door neighbor has been taking care of my two cats for the last five months and they have stayed in my house. She is also caring for my dog, but he stays at her house. She is my property manager for three of my rental properties and I pay her for this service. She did not want money to take care of my pets and I told her I didn't have any money to give her. Now she is saying that she wants me to buy her new carpet for her house because my dog has ruined it. So I agreed.
I asked her to take my dog to another friend who would have watched him the entire time free of charge. She said she wouldn't do that until I "made good". She said she went to an attorney and was told she could charge me $15 per day per pet if she wanted. She went into my house and took the title to my car, my credit cards, my badge/ID card for work, my roommate's passport and is refusing to give those items or my dog to any of my friends who I have asked to go get them.
I called the Sheriff's office and they said the best they can do is escort someone to her house to try to retrieve the items and my dog, but there was no guarantee she would cooperate. I have no doubt that she will treat my dog well, I just feel uncomfortable calling her to check on him. After today the locks will be changed on the house, and I have made other arrangements for the care of my cats. I know she can't go in there to help herself to more of my roommate's or my things.

How can I go about getting the important documents back?

Do I have legal recourse? Can I obtain a search warrant? Would an attorney be able to do that for me?

If I send a friend along with someone from the Sheriff's department, she might deny having the items and then destroy them.

Take the Sheriff's Department up on its offer, to see if they can get the dog and documents. Otherwise, you can't do much until you get back to the U.S. If that doesn't work, you can talk to a lawyer and perhaps issue somebody power of attorney to represent your interests in relation to this person while you remain overseas.

Thank you for the good advice. Someone with a power of attorney is going with the Sheriff tomorrow to try to get my dog and the things.