SOOOO much to write in Little Tyke’s update. When we met his Fostermom in SYR, NY on the 17th of March; Tyke had put on 5 pounds during the week that he spent at her house. That put him at a weight of 88 pounds of which he still needed another 25+ pounds to go as he was so underweight. Unfortunately, we had to pay for a new HC at a cost of almost another $50US as the first one was not handed over when the Fostermom went to pick him up from the person who pulled him for us. We were told that it would be mailed to the Fostermom and it never arrived in time. I talked to Sean on the Monday to see how Tyke was doing as I was in NC and he had settled in well. The slight cough that he had at his Fostermom’s home was a bit more pronounced and so he was started on Cephalexin 1,500MG TID. The lump that he had on the back of his head on the left side also ruptured but did not appear to be causing him any distress. When I saw him again myself on the 24th of March; it was very clear that he had put on even more weight! WOOHOO! I brought him to the Vet tonight and his weight is now 44 KGS!(96.8 pounds!). It just over 2 weeks that means that he has put on just under 15 pounds! The Vet agrees with me that he needs about another 10 to be considered in the ‘normal’ range and from there if the bw that we did tonight including HW test comes back normal; he can then be safely neutered. I am very grateful to his Fostermom in listening to my medical recommendations in feeding him 4-5 smaller meals as his system is pretty much now normal(we will run another fecal in 2 weeks time) and his stools are nicely formed. His body had been starved, he was in shock and he was adjusting to having food in his body. We got him at a very critical time and I am keeping everything crossed that his internal organ function is operating within normal parameters. The ruptured lump on his head is a histiocytoma and is quite common in younger dogs and sometimes they just fall off on their own. If this does not; it will be removed when he is neutered and microchipped. He was quiet as a mouse at the hospital and quite inquisitive and showing his amazing level of intelligence! He is great on a leash and his manners are improving daily. He knows he will be fed his meals on time, in the same place and that no one is going to take it away from him. That has given him a great sense of ‘calm’ and confidence. He is a very trusting boy and he reminds Sean and I daily of Frost ‘T’ with his soft coat, kindness, easy, accepting demeanor, gentleness and sheer ‘sky of purple’. 🙂 What makes him so different than Frost ‘T’ is that he does not need me long term. I am his helping hand to give him foundation, health and confidence but from there; he will no longer need me and we know already that this one is going to be VERY VERY VERY hard to say good-bye too. 🙂 Tyke greeted everyone at the Hospital with happiness and was much better with any head shyness around strangers. He is awesome about walking up from a dead sleep and his startle reflex is wonderful. He was a little like Soul at the Hospital, seeing lots of bags of food and treats to investigate and exam rooms to go into and he was just a right ol’ Christopher Columbus! 🙂 He does have several old scars from something on his face and it looks like the teeth marks of another dog. Within the next couple of days; I will have Sean hold him and I will give him a manicure and pedicure with lots of treaties! He will need another bath before too long as he and Soul along with Dyce now really create a mess running around outside in this melting snow! He is coming out of his honeymoon period with some things such as grumping at Maggi when she walked by his food bowl when he was eating and then he grumped to kick our EM Guinness of a blanket he wanted to lie on (AND Guinness the big 200 pound lug moved!)and then grumped at Dyce when Dyce wanted to lie on another blanket with him. So, sharing is going to be the new focus for him. I am actually very delighted to see this from him as he means that he does have spirit and confirms to me that he is a survivor. He has no issues with us handling his food and treats and he is quite gentle in taking treats from you…..MOST of the time! 🙂 HE is going to make someone an awesome addition and the inquiries are already coming in on him. He will not be adopted until I am assured / better aware with the results coming in of his health status, altered, microchipped and properly assessed as to what the right type of home should be for him. He continues to go out during the night anywhere from 1-2x a night and he will get up from the bedroom(he likes to cuddle on the bed but then sleep on one of the beanbag chairs SO the hunt is on for more chairs!)and go to stand or sit at the front door. He has only had a couple of pee accidents in the house and that is our fault not his. He now has been in tune to his night time schedule and I wake up automatically to follow him out to let him out. The Vet agrees that he is less than 9 months old but his teeth have some tartar buildup from being fed very poor food. I will post a height on him later. The pressure sore on his left hip is healing well and he does not appear to be affected or discomforted by it. It was real nasty at one time but it is dried out and the hair may or may not grow back. His Fostermom is going to send me some more pictures she has of him from when he was still at her place and I will post them AND from there; I will post new pictures of his awesome continued transformation with the weight. HIS eyes are so gorgeous a shade of blue surrounded by lovely markings and he has no visual impairment plus his heart is great. He knows quite a few ASL and made up hand signs already and gosh, this boy is SMART! I think I have made this Gwennie Novel update long enough and more shall be posted later once his test results are in.