English Bulldog Chloe Bear, 4, thinks she’s the third daughter – after Sophie, 14, shown in the photo at left, and Sammy, 16 -- of Diana and Chino Valbuena of Palm Springs North.      Chloe_Valbuena is her Instagram handle. Her page shows her swimming in the neighborhood lake, riding on a Jet Ski and stealing balls during tennis matches.        “She’s...

Meet Igor Ignatius, 5, a Boston Terrier. Miami Laker Liz Trastoy adopted him three years ago.    “He does not like cats, however he loves humans and is overly affectionate,” Trastoy says. “He makes funny noises and complains when he doesn’t get treats and new toys that he wants.”    Igor’s favorite things include playing with dog sister Lola, wearing bandanas and eating a few slices of bananas each morning.     “He loves them,” said Trastoy,...

Nancy Rogers was babysitting her grandson when she came up with the idea of a way to warn drivers that kids were playing nearby. And as chair of the Miami Lakes Public Safety Committee, she could put her idea into action. In November, signs like the one above that say “Drive like your kids live here” began popping up around town parks and in some of the larger residential communities. The idea, Rogers said, was to alert...

HistoryWest Lakes Gardens is a non-gated neighborhood of single family homes built along streets in a grid pattern on the west side of Miami Lakes.It was built in 1989 and has 428 single-family residences.The community was not part of the original Town of Miami Lakes.The town included the neighborhood in its boundaries when it incorporated in 2000.The community is bordered by Interstate 75 on the west, Northwest 152nd Lane at the north,...

Zachary, a chocolate Labrador Retriever, 13, is shown above with the Holstein dairy cows of Miami Lakes. “They touch noses and smell each other and the cows stretch their tongues out to kiss him,” said his owner, Mary Laing. “He loves them.” The Laing family takes Zachary for walks around town. The Labrador knows the cows as “Moo-Moos” and gets excited when he knows he’s going for a visit, Laing said. “They see Zachary and...