Teddy did very well during the move, has settled in nicely and seems very, very happy. He seems to know he has found his long-term home and his mamas. Right from the start, he was really trusting, it was great to have spent quality time with him in advance of the adoption. That made all the difference.

I am sure you have many questions, I thought it might be best to categorize things below:

Bonding with Michele and I: Teddy has bonded closely with both Michele and I which is great for us as well as for Teddy as he has twice the love and attention. The second morning, he ran up to me with his pooh bear and gave it to me, so it seemed like that was his official sign we were accepted as his family. One or both of us has literally has been home with Teddy 24 hrs a day since Laddu popped a suture from his alteration and we need to make sure he can't lick the area as he is not at all discouraged, even by a larger e-collar.

Bonding with Laddu & Shaktiman: Everyone is getting to know each other and we have had no issues. Laddu is jealous, but is behaving himself and we have taken Stephanie and Crystal's advice and made sure that Laddu is always fed first and treated as alpha-dog. Shaktiman and Teddy seem to get along fine and we were pleasantly surprised that there have been no incidences of hissing or growling between them at all. Teddy now seems to want to play with Laddu, which is fun to watch. He brings him his tennis ball (which we were magically given the first day in a park by a woman as a gift.) Teddy and Laddu are still negotiating their relationship and will be for some time, I am sure which is normal. Same with Shakti. One confusing thing for Laddu and Michele and I which is also funny is that when Teddy wants to play with Laddu, he snarls and growls when he brings him the tennis ball, so we are all getting used to this snarling and growling as a happy, playful snarl. I think it still scares Laddu a little, but they are getting used to each other and I am sure their relationship will continue to grow. The only challenge we face is making sure Teddy and Laddu don't get jealous for our attention, which we dole out equally.

Food & Water: Teddy has been eating well, drinking well and relieving himself daily on a regular schedule with normal bowels and urine. As you mentioned, he has a healthy appetite. We feed him Science Diet dry food and put some wet Iams food in as you all mentioned since he likes wet mixed with dry. We also are in the habit of sharing small bites of turkey, hamburger and other meats with the dogs and cat, but just in small amounts after we eat as a treat. Laddu gets the treat first, then Shaktiman and then Teddy. Teddy sure likes turkey and hamburger a lot!

Walks: Teddy loves his walks as you all mentioned. He loves running, or walking very quickly and gleefully, but I know he needs to walk slowly in order to try to put weight down on his bad leg, so we compromise and have some of each walk be a skip-like run and some be a very slow walk for trying to get him to trust his leg to hold a portion of his weight. We have had some luck, even though we just started his leg therapy yesterday as we wanted to bond first and touch his leg lovingly before working on it. I will be starting to teach him to walk on one side of me and 'heel' in another week or so.

Leg Therapy: It is going well. Easing into it seems to have paid off as he is really exposing his bad leg to us and trusts us with it. He also trusts Laddu with it when they lie next to each other on the bed, despite the fact Laddu is in an e-collar, which is impressive. Thankfully, Laddu is an extremely sensitive dog. We started therapy by just stroking his bad leg at the bottom and then at the more sensitive top for days before going into the twice daily rotations of 15 lower leg and upper leg bends/pulls as Crystal indicated. We also give him a little massage before-hand to get him relaxed and this works very well. Also essential is the way in which he lies on our lap – we use Crystal's method which is great and also familiar to him. When we take him to the vet (in about a week) for a thorough general check-up and review of all his existing records and x-rays, etc, we will ask the vet's opinion about water therapy to supplement what we are doing now. As mentioned, one of my closest friends (Marie) in the neighbourhood is an excellent doctor who heads up NYU's emergency room and also has volunteered at animal shelters, so we will be getting her advice on a regular basis as well. Tomorrow, she will come over and review our techniques and make improvements if necessary.

Toys: We have given Teddy a smaller version of his brother's (Laddu) bone and a tennis ball. Additionally, he has pooh bear. We are learning about how Teddy likes to play and want to continue to nurture that playful, happy side of him in addition to the sweet, docile, lap-dog side. I have played fetch with him with the tennis ball. Any advice as to what he wants us to do with the Pooh Bear when he brings it to us and shakes it would be great.

Vet Appointment : We will be setting up an appointment for late next week (within 2 weeks of adoption as promised) to go over all existing records with a vet and also have a thorough check-up done. Teddy sometimes has bad breath so we will also make sure his teeth and gums are thoroughly checked and that he gets a cleaning if it is recommended. Additionally, we will get a referral to a pet physical therapist as well as the Vet's recommendations and review of his progress to-date. I will be following up with Teddy's Vet in VA within a few days when we get a phone and once they fax me (or our vet) all his additional records, we will have the thorough check-up.

That is the update on Teddy getting settled in. Please let me know if you have any comments or tips for us. We are open and want to give Teddy the most enjoyable life as possible and know you all know him a lot better than we do. I will let you know when we get our phone numbers. Til then, I will be online and can always call via a friend's phone if you would like to talk.

Take care and thanks, again, for introducing us to such a special new member of the family. We adore him.

Love,

Elisabeth, Michele, Laddu, Shaktiman & Teddy