Flora Dora Update

Dear Sheri,

Thanks so much for the new address. I will keep in touch. I hope you had a good move and that Regina suits your family. Flora is doing so well. I can't believe we've only had her 3 months - it seems as though she's been with us for years. She has settled right in and learned all the routines. She loves all of us and is rarely more than a few feet from my side. Whatever I may be doing, she shadows me from room to room.

She's had an eventful time of things medically, poor thing. We managed to cure her UTI although it was a stubborn e-coli infection, we knocked it out after a month and a half of medication. Then I felt a lump in one of her teats and she had to have an operation to have it removed. It did turn out to be cancer, unfortunately, but I have a fantastic vet and he assured me that he had gotten all of it out and now we're keeping our fingers crossed that with lots of love and fresh air, good food and rest, that the cancer will stay gone. Couldn't bear to lose her so soon! She's such a gentle, calm and sweet soul - but make no mistake, she has plenty of the Boxer STUBBORN streak in her! When we go for a walk, especially if it's somewhere she hasn't been before, she'll go only so far before she will dig in her little boxer feet and REFUSE to go further. So we'll turn around and she will practically gallop all the way back to the van or house. I think she gets worried that if we go too far, she won't be coming home again!

She's social with other dogs, but very cautious. She lets Flash do all the wiggling and playing, she just sticks by me. She loves the couch and snuggles with me on my bed every night - hmm, good thing Glen is still away - I think we'll need to buy a king sized bed when he gets home! She lets me know when it's mealtime - she loves her meals and likes to have then as regular as clockwork. Like any dog, no other food is safe and she feels that if a bowl is on the floor it's fair game. And she's SNEAKY about it! Waits until my back is turned and then scarfs down every scrap of kibble in the cat's bowl! She gets along fine with the cat though. After the first two days when she couldn't take ber eyes off him and tracked his every move like a predator, she has learned that he is part of the pack and is, in fact, higher up the hierarchy than she is. They both take this in stride and co-exist very peacefully.

So all in all, things are going great and we wouldn't trade her for the world. Take care, hope all is well is sunny Saskatchewan. We have our house up for sale and will be making the move to BC in early August.

Sara