Ah Flora, put a camera in front of her and she’ll strike a pose.   She could easily teach Tyra the right way to smize.   We were not planning on keeping her.  Actually we were not planning to keep any of the puppies.  I was actually looking forward to growing old with my husband, Zena and Belafonte.  But, we know how that ended.

She got the ladrona name (the Thief) because she learned how to open doors and jump through windows to get to where she wanted to be.  Belafonte used to open doors and jump through windows and I believe that is how Flora learned.  I often see her watching us and I truly believe someday she will learn how to use a key to open the doors.  Flora is also known to be the number one suspect in the disappearance of very expensive cheese, pate, and a 1/2 a kilo of prosciutto.  Yes my babies are gourmandes, would you expect anything else.

She is really good at mimicking others.  When people enter our home she tries to give everyone a kiss on the cheek just like we do.  Unfortunately she is really strong and a bit of a brute and our guest think she is attacking them.

As you can see she is totally visually different than her brothers and sisters.  She has short hair.  All other factors her eyes, ears, body type and tail are all the same as the others.  She trots just like her dad, Belafonte. She even poops like her dad.  Sometimes I think she knows she is different in many ways and that is why she desperately needs to be a part of the group or she will have a meltdown.

Flora came to us in a very stressful way.  One day all the pups were out and playing.  Zena and Belafonte started to play too.  They were a bit away from the pups.  Suddenly Flora starts prancing towards her parents play area and tried to play with them. Flora fell as puppies sometimes do.  However, this time she fell in such a way that she had a concussion.  My heart sank when she cried and freaked out.  The worst is when dogs get a concussion it is common that they have a seizure and that’s what Flora did in my hands.  (she was that small, she fit into my hands)  Rodrigo came home just as I sat there not knowing what to do as she went into seizure.  He immediately grabbed her and ran to our vet a half a block from our home.

So our plan was to tend to her and ensure she didn’t have any major damage before we adopted her.  We gave her vitamin B and some anti seizure medicine.  And because I am hyper sensitive about my babies, I worried that the other puppies would knock her down or she do something to injure herself again.  So I kept her with me at all times. She slept on my desk when I worked, she slept with me well actually she snuggled into Rodrigo’s neck. Suddenly she developed a very big personality.  When I let her back with the rest of the group, she acted like she was the queen of the puppies.  She would take toys and be sure she sat in the highest perch.  Flora would also get very cranky if I didn’t let her in a room.  She would throw a fit.  That is when we started to call her Paris and then my mom called her Channel.

After Belo died, she did NOT want to go out of the house.  When we took her for walks with the group, she would cry really loud like she was dying or something.  Eventually she got over that.  However out on the street, she is in fear mode and is nearly impossible to walk.  I’ve been working with her and she is almost calm.  Flora still can’t go out alone.  I have to take another one of the crew to accompany her and me on the walk.

When we are in the country she is magnificent.  She is right near me and will always listen not like the others.

My training challenge with her is her fear.  She fears everything and reacts to it in a fright flight way.   I hope to be able to document my successful account with changing her fear reactions.  She is really responsive to praise and totally needs to be a part of the pack so I think there is potential.

As she develops her personality, Flora gains many nicknames her most recent is Walter as in the Dude and Walter.  Flora is the Walter to Elsa’s Dude.  But more on their relationship later.

If I had a go cam on Flora, this would be the soundtrack.