Remember this pitiful, malnourished little guy who, with near-frostbitten feet, somehow managed to survive Winter Storm Titan and it’s -13 degree temperatures?

The day after this picture was taken, he met me for the first time at the vet’s office. He weighed 27.5 pounds and we weren’t sure for the first week or so if he would even survive his ordeal.

Well, he and his parents came to visit us recently. We hadn’t seen Titan since Peggy took him home in late April.

If this is the first time you’re reading about Titan or you want to refresh your memory, you can learn all the deets on his rescue here and on his adoption here.  

Well….

He looks magnificent.

The picture below is the first day I brought him home, the first time he’d been inside a home, and he’s greeting Ekko for the first time. (In case you’re wondering, you’re looking at Ekko’s behind on a short hair day.)

He was about 5 months old then, and so near starvation that we were all concerned that if he survived, his growth may be stunted.

This is Titan and Ekko now. 🙂

He weighs a strapping 67 pounds, and he’s not only bigger, he’s also filled out. He is still a couple of pounds underweight for his age, and he’s also probably still growing.

The transformation is amazing!

Here they are side by side. Titan looks very handsome in his Chicago Police Department-issue collar!

And who did he want to play with the whole time he was here? The guy with the bad ‘wheel’, of course!

Poor Orbit. We went through a lot of sedatives while Titan was here.

Too bad Peggy’s sister and her family weren’t ready for a dog yet. Titan and Orbit could have been cousins!

Isn’t he handsome?

It was kind of challenging to get pictures of him while he was here. I had to use my phone, and it has a slower shutter speed. Dogs move faster than you think, even when they aren’t moving fast.

Cameras seem broken if the batteries are completely dead. I’m just saying. I’m not saying that was what was wrong with my camera, mind you. I’m just saying that right after John and Peggy went home, my camera started working again.

Go figure.

“Mother, what are you doing?” Ekko asks. 

Back in Chicago, John and Peggy also took him to a canine dental specialist. Somehow, this little guy managed to survive a very high fever, such as distemper. It killed the enamel production on his teeth, leaving them only partially protected.

With state-of-the-art dental procedures that simply aren’t available here, they were able to grind down his critical teeth and apply a bonding agent. At his young age, he had to have three removed. This bonding agent will have to be re-applied periodically, and will hopefully be able to save his most critical teeth.

His teeth look terrific!

We even celebrated his birthday while he was here. Although after all that dental work, he didn’t get any cake. (We ate his piece.) 😉

It was fun watching him as he remembered each of us. He recognized my voice, and as he checked out our house to make sure everything was still in the same place. When Jimmy came home, he got excited: he remembered him too!

Sophia pulled in, and he got very excited. He remembered her too! And her car!

And he remembered Joe! It was fun watching him get excited about remembering something.

We took him back to see Dr. Webb and Dr. Lindquist.  I just happened to sit on the same bench I where I sat holding him for the very first time. Peggy sat directly across from me, holding Titan’s leash.

Titan walked over to me and leaned up close, looking around the room. As I sat there talking to him, I felt a connection with him, and knew he was remembering what was for him a life-changing moment.

And his near-death experience has changed him. To this day, he despises windy days, and only spends as much time outside as he has to. It doesn’t matter if it’s a warm or cold wind. I would imagine the little guy experienced enough cold, biting wind on his lonely journey to last a lifetime.

Titan is special.

And it’s not just us who think so.

I knew it, looking at his pictures Leslie sent me.

It’s obvious, even to people who’ve never seen him before. We walked him into Tractor Supply, and a stranger remarked on what a beautiful dog he was, and wanted to pet him.

Peggy and John tell us it happens all. the. time. No matter where they are.

As sad as we were when he left with Peggy the first time, we had no pangs when he left this time. He is right where he is supposed to be, and with the people he was meant to be with.

I’ve wondered several times about the person who dumped him. No doubt, if he (or she) could see him now, they would wish they had kept him. Titan has matured into a dog that everyone would like to have.

Of course, his dad would first like to punch whomever dumped him…and then thank him for one of the best things (besides Peggy, of course!) that’s happened to him.

As usual, the weekend went way too fast, and before we knew it, it was time for them to go. We gathered everyone in front of the fireplace for a picture.

Naturally, when we want to take a picture of our family, we can’t get the girls to sit still or be in it. But get one of someone else…and it’s a whole different story.

It’s a canine cluster.

Here’s the Bauer family. And two Stanton butts. Go figure. 😀

Gotta love those happy endings. And the Bauers too, of course. 🙂