2024 Dog Portraits
Each year, we present a portfolio of Coral Gables dogs and their owners from all walks of life. What follows are this year’s dog portraits of “parents” and their pooches.
Daisy (Golden Retriever, 5)
The Owner
Ceci Slesnick
Girl Scout, Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida
Dog Story
It was an easy sell for lifelong Gables resident Ceci Slesnick and her brother to convince their parents to get Daisy, one of several Golden Retrievers the Slesnick parents have owned. “She’s very energetic,” Ceci says. “But also super cuddly. She loves to come in our rooms and hang out with us. Even though she has her own bed, she always ends up sleeping on my parent’s bed.” The 70-pound ball of fluff spends much of her time chasing lizards and expending energy by running up and down the Slesnick’s street. “During COVID when all the streets were empty, we would take her offleash and she would just run up and down the street, back and forth, so many times,” says Ceci. Daisy has also developed a particular taste for running water. “If she’s inside one of our rooms, she’ll go up to the bathroom faucet and jump onto the counter to try to get water from the sink,” says Ceci. She’ll even wait outside the bathroom door to signal to her owners that she’s ready for a drink, pawing them when they pass. “She’s super cute,” says Ceci, who’s angling for another pup from her parents.
Suki (Mixed Breed,16)
Bacci (Yorkie Biewer, 7)
The Owner
Addys Kuryla
Chair, Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce External Affairs Manager, FPL
Dog Story
At 16, Suki is still Addys Kuryla’s baby, a fun-loving mixed breed the family was told was a Bichon. “I think she ended up being everything but that – but it doesn’t really matter what they end up being, right?” says Kuryla. “You love them anyway.” Seven years ago, the family added Bacci to the mix, who Kuryla refers to affectionately as her “little chunky monkey.” Though it took a while for Suki to accept Bacci, the two are now best friends. “Suki lays on the bed and watches cartoons,” Kuryla explains. “When Bacci came in and would try to get on the bed, she would tell him to get out! But little by little, something happened between them… and one day they were both lying there watching TV.” The two love “Paw Patrol” in particular, she says. And though Suki has outgrown her puppy-era habit of chewing on Kuryla’s expensive heels (“Always the ones I cared the most about!”), Bacci is still a troublemaker who grabs snacks from his owners’ hands with “a devilish little look in his eyes.”
Eddie V. (Mixed Breed,16 )
Jimi P. (Yorkie Biewer, 7)
The Owner
Jerry Plush
Chairman, President, and CEO of Amerant Bank
Dog Story
Both Eddie V. and Jimi P. are poodles, but because of their haircuts they look like doodles, says owner Jerry Plush. “They don’t have the shaped cuts” usually associated with a poodle, he explains. Both came from a breeder in a farm outside of Richmond, a French woman who has had her poodles on the cover of Vogue. Having been in a band growing up, Plush named his pooches after his favorite guitarists – Eddie Van Halen, and a combination of Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. Even though both dogs are ball-obsessed, “the temperament of my first guy could not be more laid back. He is just happy to exist. The little [younger] guy is the exact opposite, the most curious and athletic dog on the planet.” The older Eddie V. now recognizes dogs on television, thanks to the high-def screen. “We know when the dog commercials are on because he starts barking at the TV… Jimi looks at him like he doesn’t get what’s going on.”
Java ( chocolate Lab, 11)
Corona ( Mixed Breed, 5)
Aspen ( Mini Australian, 6)
The Owner
Lisette Calderon
Founder and CEO, Neology Group
Dog Story
With two dogs already in the house, Lisette Calderon’s husband was adamant that their latest foster dog would not be a permanent addition to the household. But Lisette, who fell in love with Noah (renamed Corona, as he was adopted during the coronavirus pandemic and had a difficult time differentiating between his name and “no”), couldn’t give him up. That’s why Corona is the only pup to have her last name, rather than her husband’s. “He was a stray from the Miami-Dade Animal Shelter,” Lisette explains. “I received a message that the shelter was going to euthanize the larger dogs [because] they didn’t have anywhere to keep them…. [So,] I said, ‘Just give me the biggest dog, the dog that nobody wants. I’ll take him.’” When the shelter called a few months later, “he was already part of the family.” Now, Corona is one of the three “frat boys,” as Lisette calls her three pups. “They look like fraternity brothers. They’re not related by blood, but they’re just fun and funny and they’re best friends,” she explains. “They’re super athletic and always up for a party.”
Gia Margarita (Schnauzer, 7)
The Owner
Fernando Pinto
Executive Director, MG Developer
Dog Story
Well-loved and soon-to-be Instagram famous (follow her at @giamargaritapinto), Gia Margarita stays humble through prayer. Every day before Fernando and his wife Angelica feed Gia, the pup takes a moment “to pray,” standing perfectly still before she digs into her food. The gorgeous Schnauzer is, apparently, a model citizen, who has “never broken anything” in her life, according to the Pintos. She spends her days watching television in bed with her parents and jetting off to Venezuela, where the family is from. As “a dual citizen,” Gia Margarita speaks Spanish and knows to sit on her mom’s lap during plane rides. Though she loves Fernando, it’s her mom whose ringtone she recognizes. When she hears the sound indicating Angelica is on her way home, she runs to the door to wait for her. Fernando, meanwhile, receives a no-less loving – though perhaps slightly less anticipated – welcome.
Archie (Toy Maltese, 5)
The Owner
Marisol Henriquez
JCT Management Inc. / Enriquez Group
Dog Story
“The only way I can describe Archie is very travieso (mischievous),” says Henriquez about her third child, after her two adult children. “When the kids left for college, Archie became the baby of the family – and he uses that to his advantage.” While most dogs bark when they want to get their way, Henriquez describes Archie’s means of communication as far more advanced: “If he wants to go downstairs, he sneezes until he gets my attention… if he wants to go outside, he will grab his go-bag and drop it at my feet.” His impish behavior extends beyond the house, having once jumped out of the car en route to the dry cleaners. “There I was, running around the parking lot in my heels and Valentino sunglasses, chasing after him,” she recalls. Archie, who lives with his family in Coco Plum, lives a lavish lifestyle: bi-weekly grooming at The Dog from Ipanema, three walks a day, and afternoon rides in Henriquez’s sports car. And while Archie is not the biggest fan of trips to the spa, Henriquez loves their services, so much so that she moved up his appointment for the photoshoot. “He can’t be in a magazine without a blow-out!”
Discover more dog stories from Coral Gables residents and their beloved pets. Explore past Dog Portraits in our archive.