Tiny Tim (now "Dobby")

UPDATE 24 March 2013
It is with great pleasure that I announce that this little chap went to his forever home today! His new name is Dobby and he has a Yorkie sister called Molly. Later this year the entire family will move to Australia together. What a lucky bunch!

I would like to emphasize the extreme patience that this family showed when it came to the adoption process. For a few reasons, the process was abnormally drawn out, but instead of throwing their hands up and saying "I'll go buy one from a pet store", they patiently waited and supported us in all of our decisions, faithfully trusting us to make the best decisions possible for Tim. Finally, nearly 3 months later, their reward was a healthy, neutered, dental-scaled-and-tooth extracted, heavier dog. :) Thank you so much Steve and Jo for trusting us and for being so wonderful through this entire process. I couldn't be happier for Dobby! Also, huge thanks to Cathy, who fostered this little man and saw him through all his vet visits, fell in love with him...and then gave him up because it was best for him. An amazing foster mom!
(Photos in the comments section below.)

UPDATE 17 March 2013
Tiny Tim was neutered and had his dental work done in the same surgery. The doctor extracted TEN baby teeth from his mouth!! Can you believe it? They never fell out so the poor little guy has had two sets of teeth this whole time. It must have been so painful - no wonder he was so skinny! Some more great news is that the wonderful doctor did a very expensive blood test, for FREE! So we now know that Tim does NOT have Cushings disease or any other hormonal problems. HAPPY DAYS!!!

UPDATE 7 March 2013
Tiny Tim is gaining weight very slowly, but surely. He has an appointment to be neutered in the coming week and once he has recovered, he will be moving in with his new forever family. Let's keep fingers and toes crossed that all goes smoothly! :)

UPDATE 4 Feb 2013
Tiny Tim had his potential mom, dad and doggy sister come down to Cheonan to visit him today. The current plan is that we fatten him up a little in foster care, have him neutered and then hopefully he will be moving to Bundang! Please keep fingers crossed that it all goes according to plan.

UPDATE 7 Jan 2013
I knew it would happen...his face and naked body got the better of me. Yup! I brought Tiny Tim home last Friday while the adoption process is underway. He was very unhappy being in a cage alone and it was costing money we couldn't afford to waste so he is now here with my 2 dogs and I. While my two are seeing off the last of their fungal skin infections, the vet said if I shampoo Tiny Tim every 5 days with a special anti-fungal shampoo he'll be OK and the fungus shouldn't be able to establish itself on him.

Tiny Tim fits in my household as though he's always been here. He is an absolute darling! He sleeps in his crate all night and I was so pleasantly surprised, upon coming downstairs on the first morning, to find that he does all his business on the peepad. Clever boy!! If I let him out of his pen he goes to another peepad in my passage and uses that. I haven't heard him bark once, ever. He whined a little for the first time today when I put him in his pen and went upstairs. After about 3 minutes he stopped whining, ate some food and settled down in his crate.

Today we went back to the vet to have his ears checked out and the good news is that the infection that was being treated has cleared up. Now all he needs is some weight on that tiny body. He still weighs 1.7 kg's but he is eating the highly nutritious "Starter" food by Royal Canin, as well as "Recovery" wet food, so I'm certain he'll gain some weight soon. It took a little while but he is eating pretty well now. He needs to have his weight up to at least 2.2 kg's before he can be neutered.

He also had his first Heartguard a few days ago which he ate like a champ in his crate.

Right now he is curled up on the couch behind me while I write this. I will post some photos and videos soon!

UPDATE 27 Dec 2012
Is that a Christmas elf? Nope! It's Tiny Tim!

Poor little Tiny Tim is now bald. The vet recommended we shave him for the sake of his skin, but seeing his skinny little body still made me feel awful! Luckily a nice lady called Cathy brought over 2 warm jackets for him as well as a blanket so Tiny Tim is wrapped up warm in the hospital tonight. His ears are still being treated so he can't receive his booster shots until that is completed. Have a look in the comment section below for some more photos of bald Tiny Tim!

Please note: We have received quite a few applications for both fostering and adopting Tiny Tim. Thank you! If you haven't sent in your form but were considering it, please still do, as I haven't had a chance to look at ANY yet and it's all about matching the dog to his/her perfect forever family.

UPDATE 26 Dec 2012
Update on Tiny Tim!
- First and foremost, he is heartworm negative!! YAY!!!
- His age is around 3-4 years.
- He has no intestinal parasites & his body temperature is normal.
- An antibody test was done which showed the following results: hepatitis (5.5), parvo (5), distemper (1). He therefore needs 2 booster vaccination shots.
- He has a severe under-bite (due to inbreeding/puppy mills), which means that his baby teeth on top did not get into contact with the lower jaw and so did not fall out! So he still has his baby teeth on top, as well as his big teeth (he looks like a little shark). His teeth are overall in a bad condition - tartar and gingivitis. He will need a scaling and extraction of the baby teeth.
- The vet recommends he be shaved down to avoid the mats of hair pulling on his skin and the possibility of dermatitis underneath. This will happen tomorrow (Thursday). I have one small jersey from Betty's Gecko that Tim can use but if anyone has a TINY & WARM jersey they'd like to donate for him, please let me know.
- There is some dark pigmentation and hair loss on his feet and his nose. That, combined with his severe low weight, suggests a possibility of Cushing's Disease. The test for this is expensive (not sure how much yet) but I think there are other ways to rule out Cushing's too. If it IS Cushing's, it's not a huge disaster, it just means he will need medicine for the rest of his life. I am working on figuring this out.
- Tiny Tim is not neutered and will need to be.

If you would like to foster Tiny Tim, please read the Asan Fostering Guideline: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/blog/allisondyoung/fostering-a-guidelin...
and then complete the application form: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/adoption-application and e-mail it to Clare & Allison (contact details below).

If you would like to adopt Tiny Tim, please read the Asan Adoption Guideline: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/blog/allisondyoung/adoption-guideline-f... and then complete the application form: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/adoption-application and e-mail it to Clare & Allison (contact details below).

UPDATE: 23 Dec 2012
As Tiny Tim's health check was sponsored by a kind lady called Betty, I decided to take Tiny Tim in to my vet's today so I could be nearer to him and thus work more effectively in finding him a foster or forever home. Please be patient - the doctor doesn't work on Sundays so we will all have to wait until tomorrow to hear the full report. The good news is, while in Mr Park's care over the last week, Tim has gained 700 grams! He now weighs 1.7kg's! He was quiet as a mouse when travelling in the car with me and all day he just wanted to be held by whoever would pick him up. What a sweet little baby! Here is a short video of Tiny Tim in the car:

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Tiny Tim really is tiny. Underneath all that fuzz, this little boy is mere skin and bone, and I mean it. He weighs only 1kg! You can feel every rib, every vertebra. He is so small and fragile.

I don't know too much about Tiny Tim. What I do know is that Mr Park is keeping this fragile little baby inside his warm home and taking great care of him. He is very comfortable and is eating high quality, human grade dog food to try and get some weight on his bones. However, if you've visited the shelter before you will know that Mr Park has a lot of other dogs to help too, so we'd like to get this little one into foster care as soon as possible!

Tiny Tim came to the shelter 4 days ago. His fur is fuzzy and soft but matted. His fringe is long and hangs over his eyes. He has not been neutered. At this early stage we have little idea of his health status. The sooner he can go into foster care with regular visits to the vet, good food (and probably nutritional supplements for a while) the better.

Personality wise, Tim seems a little dazed and confused right now. Probably due to his extremely low weight, he is a little lethargic and he let's you hold him like a little baby. I think being loved is a distant memory to him and he quite likes it.

If you would like to foster Tiny Tim, please read the Asan Fostering Guideline: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/blog/allisondyoung/fostering-a-guidelin...
and then complete the application form: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/adoption-application and e-mail it to Clare & Allison (contact details below).

If you would like to adopt Tiny Tim, please read the Asan Adoption Guideline: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/blog/allisondyoung/adoption-guideline-f... and then complete the application form: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/adoption-application and e-mail it to Clare & Allison (contact details below).

A very kind lady, Betty, has sponsored Tiny Tim's health check! So we will know more about him very soon. Watch this space.