My name is: Flo (croissant, hamster, queen)
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: London
My favourite things are: Ruling over my kingdom, biting my sister’s cheeks, and sleeping
Follow me on Instagram: @eve_and_flo_pompidou

Flo’s story

I was scrolling through Instagram (as per usual, cooing over dogs) and a little face grabbed my attention. She was curled up with three tiny little puppies tucked into her. I read she'd been found as a stray by police in Cyprus, and would have been euthanised had Underdog not rescued her. And that was it, I just could not stop thinking about her trying to find somewhere safe to have her little puppies and how scared she must have been.

We already have a dog, Eve, who we'd had for about a year and we'd been thinking about getting another dog. We just weren't sure if it would be fair on Eve who was quite happy being centre of attention.

But I could not get this little girl out of my head, so I contacted Eve (at Underdog, not our dog) and we had a home assessment. They seemed confident Flo would settle in as they believed she'd been someones pet in a previous life.

So the day came...and little Flo was introduced into our family. We didn't know what to expect. She was smaller than we'd imagined and so timid and gentle, we weren't sure how she was going to fit into our home, we were scared Eve would squash her and we were terrified of accidentally stepping on her or scaring her and whether being a rescue she'd have lots of baggage or behavioural issues...?

Fast forward a year...

Well there was all the above, we did step on Flo, Eve has squashed her, several times, and she did have some reactivity. But what we also got, which outweighs everything that originally scared us, was the most loving, silly, goofy, loyal little girl we ever could have imagined. And without knowing, she somehow became the boss and queen of our home.

To be honest, I can't actually put into words the absolute joy of seeing Flo play with a toy for the first time, seeing her and Eve play fight and chase each other round the house. The way she growls at the ball when we throw it in the park because it goes too fast, or the way she spins around when she's excited, or stamps on your foot with her little paw to get your attention. The way she chases a fly or butterfly when Eve chases a squirrel or pigeon. I could go on, and on and on. We're obsessed with our Flo, I think all of our lives are brighter because of her.

We quickly learned that any dog you have in your life, whether a puppy, a rescue, they're all hard work. Everything in life that is worth anything is hard work, and we were lucky enough to work with a behaviourist who supported us and helped us better understand the girls, what their needs were and how we as guardians fit into that picture. But I can not emphasise enough how worth it, it has all been. All hail queen Flo, and all the beautiful pups out there who deserve a second chance.

- Maddie