The changes in our little dog are becoming more apparent. He evinces more interest in doing things. He is more invested in being out of doors, in anticipating our long walks in our nearby ravine. He no longer hesitates as has been his wont for years now, to descend the first long hill into the ravine from the street above, where our house is located.

Yesterday we had him out with us in the ravine, for the second time since his surgery. He was well covered to protect his wounded areas where the long incisions are located from being affected by the environment. An infection would not be the prescribed method for him to recover from his physical ordeal, the trauma of the operation. And nor do we want him to experience too much exposure to the sun, nor that nettles be caught in those areas that remain tender.

He is oblivious to all of this, happy to be out in the ravine with us. And no longer lingering, uncertain whether he really wants to proceed. It seems clear enough that the gross impediment to free movement that the numerous growing lipomas presented have suddenly, with their removal, freed him to move naturally and pleasurably. The back leg that had been turned outward as a result of the lipoma pressure, is now perfectly aligned, in a normal attitude.

Although we still take the precaution of picking him up at intervals to ensure he doesn't strain his weakened physical endurance, he makes it clear that he prefers going it alone, on his own sturdy little legs. Where once he wanted to be picked up, laden with lipomas, now he struggles to be set down again on terra firma.

There's a spring in his step that was absent for years. He no longer dawdles along like the little old man he seemed to be. His natural phlegmatic personality has now been enhanced by a touch of ebullience, a deep-seated appreciation for the ambiance and his place within it. His movement is now fluid and free, and he seems almost debonair at times.

Hid hind quarters and his belly, once so encased in fat deposits, now free of them, delineate the neat aspect of a well-formed and healthy little animal.