Flo, aka Promise You Not, is a beautiful brindle 2½-year-old brindle female born December 7, 2004. Her sire is Shadow Ofa Doubt, making her grand sire Oshkosh Slammer, and her dam is Moonlite Madelon, making her grand sire Gable Dodge. Flo has 22 races to her credit all at Corpus Christi starting September 13, 2006 and finishing January 17, 2007. She is more than ready for her retirement segment of her life!
Flo passed her cat test this afternoon. She was interested in the new creatures, but after getting close to one for a sniff and a hiss, she backed off. Flo’s adorable ears were a little confusing at first, but later into testing it became apparent that they are alert but not aggressive. She got to see two different cats walking around the house several different times. She watched and was allowed to follow, but wasn’t particularly interested in following. As she got closer to the cat-in-action, she stopped about three feet away, turned and walked the other way. This was her response three times after the close-up sniff. She just had no interest beyond watching the movement and checking out the new smells of a different house.
Flo spent about 3 months in Austin before coming to live with us and the four hounds that reside in our home. Flo had some of the usual adjustment problems... not being able to tell us when she needed to go outside and having trouble getting used to the flapping of the doggie door as the other hounds come and go. She began to just go to the back door and stand there until we opened the door for her. After this, no more problems.
In early July, three of the hounds took a two-week trip to New Mexico, leaving Flo with our very senior girl. During this period, she came out of her shell, so to speak. She got used to being approached with a bowl of food and now goes and stands patiently in front of the fireplace hearth until "her" bowl is placed in front of her. She started to come over and ask for the affectionate ear rub and has developed a cute habit of play nipping at your fingers (nothing serious) while she is following you to the "treat area"...aka the pantry where all the doggie treats are stored. She still had some issues with the doggie door but started going through the door, if and only if, she was issued an invitation to go outside or come in. She would stand in front of the door until she was told to "go outside." Out she went. The same procedure was needed to come in. Flo has gradually started using the doggie door by herself and is now coming and going like the rest of the hounds.
Flo has blossomed into a girl that fits in well with the others, sleeps hard, eats well, uses the doggie door without problem, and loves to fly out the door and go bark at the squirrels somewhere up in the trees. She will make a fine and loving addition to some family. We'll certainly miss her...and would keep her if we didn't already have four other hounds.
Flo's Foster Dad
Flo with her new family