[Zippy123]

Hello All,

I am new to YT and new to being a puppy owner. I have a 7 month old yorkie named Wilbur who we adopted at 8 weeks old. Wilbur has not had an easy life, he came to us in a rescue scenario and had serious yeast infection in his ears (required three rounds of medicine to clear it up) and out of the gate he was a suspected shunt pup. After the second ultra sound he was suspected MVD. After the biopsy / neutering he was FINALLY diagnosed with IBD and Lymphangiectasia. I say finally because it was four months of torture for poor Wilbur to get to that point. He was literally in the vets office or ER once a week from June to the beginning of October.

Now that we have a solid diagnosis and can treat him (he takes steroids for now and then we will hopefully control his illness with diet) he is feeling better and behaving as a puppy should. In the past he would play with his toys for a day or two but then he would be sick for days. He would enjoy the park but that was so he could eat the grass. The challenge I am having is I have only known the sick version of Wilbur. How do I engage my baby so that he is a happy and energized baby?

I feel stupid asking this question but I am a bit clueless as he is not like other dogs an we were not expecting such a sick pup when we adopted him. He can't eat treats or Nylabones. He can't play with toys he can shred and therefore ingest as it could upset his disease and he will relapse. We live in the northeast so I can't exactly walk him in the snow. He can't play with other dogs because he is only 5 pounds and due to the steroids he is overweight - at 5 lbs!! The big dogs are too rough with him. We are looking to adopt a smaller sized dog to be his sibling playmate but what do I do in the meantime?

I take him to work with me where he sits in my lap most of the day. He has toys here but he isn't that interested. I can't let him run around because he puts things in his mouth and we can't have that. He has a basket muzzle that he wears but then I worry people will step on him. At home he waddles around and plays with his toys on occassion but he mostly barks asking to be played with but I don't know what to do. Too cold to walk / run outside. I have never had a dog before so I have no idea what to compare it to.

Am I boring my dog? I am sorry this post is so long. Any help / insight you can provide is so appreciated. Thank you in advance.