[Bluebells]

Hello. I’m new here, so I’d like to give a brief introduction and background, and then I have some questions. I’ve been fostering for an animal protection group for over ten years, which usually involves short term fostering of dogs/pups/cats/kittens with medical issues, neglect issues, etc.. But early last December I took in a tiny Yorkie puppy who came from a backyard breeder, and he’s become a permanent part of my family.

When I brought Jax home, he was about three months old (the vet’s opinion) and only weighed 26 ounces — although at least part of the reason for his low weight was that he was skinny and undernourished. He also is vision impaired (he has a congenital defect of his corneas, so his vision is cloudy and he can only see things clearly if they’re close) and possibly hearing impaired (his hearing hasn’t been fully evaluated yet, but he’s not completely deaf — he can definitely hear at least some sound frequencies — but you have to be pretty loud to get his attention.)

Jax is, overall, a really bright and sweet-natured pup, but we have some challenges. His vision issues are challenging, of course, but another issue is that he’s not at all food motivated, which makes training difficult. He’s not a picky eater, really; he is just completely uninterested in food unless he’s very hungry, and he will ignore any kind of food or treat (I’ve tried lots of different treats) for a toy or the chance to run and play.

Jax also hates holding still, having his face touched, or being groomed, and I’m afraid to be too forceful in restraining him because he’s still quite small. (He’s now about seven and a half months old, and he weighs 4 pounds, although it’s difficult to be exact because he’s so wiggly, and his weight varies a few ounces depending on when he ate or pottied last.)

I hope that’s enough for an introduction. As I said, I have some questions, but I want to see whether this posts before asking.