DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County Labradoodle who's been undergoing intensive care and rehabilitation since he was found "engulfed in flames" in December is now "continuing to hold strong and progress," according to the group that's been caring for him.
Dog Days Rescue in DeKalb has shared a number of optimistic updates in the last couple weeks, after Will had been continuing to fight through a number of dire complications earlier in January.
"He's continuing to hold strong and progress," a Facebook post on Monday by Dog Days Rescue said. "His determination and sheer will are incredible!"
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The group posted another update on Tuesday in a live video with Will, in which a woman with the group said he was "doing fantastic."
Physically, she said Will is moving around, using stairs, moving his legs around better, walking better, "doing all kinds of doodle things... learning how to be a dog."
She said he's eating better and adding a lot of weight.
"We're almost where we need to be," weight-wise, she said. "Got a couple more pounds, but he has no problem eating now, so we'll be there soon."
She also addressed a couple other matters related to the Labradoodle's situation.
The rescue will no longer be attempting skin grafts after his earlier health scares had followed those procedures. She said that may leave him with scars but that "it seems like his body is rejecting foreign materials" and further attempting the procedures wasn't worth the risk.
She did add that he's growing some hair back "in some places we didn't expect to see hair."
There were no new updates with the police investigation into the original burning, she added.
"I would love to give you fantastic news on that, but we're not just getting it," she said. A reward is still on offer for information in the case as police try to determine how the dog was set on fire.
The rescue at this time is also not yet looking for anyone to adopt Will.
"This is far, far out. Everybody's asking, I know everybody loves him, he's totally loveable, but we are not looking at that far in the future yet," she said. "As it stands with the open investigation, he can't go anywhere anyway - he is property of the rescue and DeKalb County as long as the case is open, so that could take quite a while."
Lastly, the rescue thanked the many people who have followed Will's story, saying the costs of rehabilitating him have been "mountainous," but that thanks to private donations, t-shirt purchases and other help, the costs of making Will whole again have been "very doable."
"He wanted to say hi and thank everybody for all of the donations, all of the caring, all of the sharing, all of the prayers," the woman with the rescue said in the Facebook Live.