Flora was born on April 28, 1999. The first 14 or so months of her life were spent primarily in a cage at the Veterinarian Medicine Clinic (Veterinärmedizinischen Klinik) in Vienna, Austria. There, they use beagles as "research" dogs for veterinarian students. Beagles, as anyone who is familiar with the breed knows, are such friendly dogs, never aggressive, and are easy to care for. Because of these unique and prized canine characteristics, beagles, more than any other breed, pay the price in animal research. At the clinic in Vienna, the beagles are held for 18 months and then are adopted out to loving homes. When I learned of this program, only two beagles were still needing homes... one of them was, of course, Flora. That is how she came to be with us. While I was filling out the adoption papers for Flora on the morning of September 29, 2000, Flora sat in the corner of the room staring at me and shaking. "Getting off to a bit of a rough start" I thought. The woman told me that Flora had inherited her shyness from her parents.  As I walked with Flora out into the sunlight, she changed almost immediately. She wasn't shaking anymore but was curious about all the things surrounding her. She, for the first time, was getting a taste of freedom. I saw promise in her that day. She chased the ball a little with Willy at home, and she loved the dog park. Still nervous, however, she found a corner of the apartment once we got home and stayed there. I had to "teach" her to eat and drink from her bowls. She never took her eyes off of me, and every time I glanced in her direction her whole body would move as she wagged her tail with such enthusiasm. Then that night something awful happened. As I was walking Willy and Flora outside, taking them "Gassi" as they say in Vienna, Flora all of a sudden pulled away from me. It took me by surprise and I was not able to react in time. She pulled her leash from my grip and took off down the street running. She turned the corner and it would be two weeks, exactly, before I saw her again. I tried everything possible to find her, but after a week I could only trust that God was watching over her. And, He was indeed. Two weeks after she ran away, she was found at the Prater Stadium. I received a call from the Vienna Humane Society (Wiener Tierschutzverein) on the morning of Friday, October the 13th, from a woman asking me to go have a look at the beagle that was just found. I rode my bike immediately to the Stadium and there she was, tucked away in the bleachers. She was covered in ticks and fleas but was healthy. To get to where she was she had to cross very busy streets. To only know what she had been through those 14 days! A check-up at the vet showed that she was only in need of some proper nutrition and lots of love! Flora continues to come out of her shell more and more every day. She is hardly the same Flora that I brought home with me in the beginning. She no longer sits in the corner but is as much a part of our family as if she'd been here the whole time. There are still a couple problems with Willy's jealousy, but the closer she grows to Flora (and vice-versa), the less and less I'll see of her jealousy. Flora is truly a very special beagle. I'm so thankful that she came to us... twice.