DUMBLEDORE - Arrived 9/12/01
	Dumbledore arrived at Orkney Seal Rescue from South Ronaldsay, he was about two and a half weeks old and weighed 12.2kg. Dumbledore was a very skinny and scruffy pup, who we assume had become separated from his mother. He has a number of small cuts to his flippers, which we are cleaning and applying an antiseptic spray to daily.
Initially Dumbledore was fed on Multimilk, but now we are starting to wean him onto fish, as he is at the age where naturally he would separate from his mother and begin to feed on fish himself. We can tell this as he is currently losing the fluffy white coat which grey seal pups are born with to keep them warm (hence his scruffy appearance). Once this moult is complete, at about 3 weeks old, he would be completely independent of his mother, and fending for himself. UPDATE 2-3-2002
Dumbledore has been a great character during his time here, he has progressed through the various stages of feeding at a steady rate, with much playfulness involved at each stage. He took about a month to make the transition from force-feeding to hand-feeding, but once he reached that stage and was moved into the weaning pool he soon shot ahead. Within 2 weeks of moving into the weaning pool he was managing to swallow whole fish himself, and was always on the lookout for more food, he took great pleasure in nibbling the overalls of any staff trying to clean the pool in order to try and get extra fish. Dumbledore was moved to the outdoor pools on the 13th of February and after taking a few days to settle in, he is now doing very well, trying to pinch fish from Hagrid, and chasing the adult seals around the pools. UPDATE 27-5-2002
	Dumbledore was always ravenous at feed times and would try to climb the walls around the pool in an attempt to reach the bucket of fish and get more food. As a result he quickly put on weight and was very confident, he enjoyed racing for every fish and he would even try and pinch fish from Lorne. Dumbledore was released on the 26th of March weighing 45.5 kg. At his release he was not his usual self, and was actually quite timid and cautious when the cage door was opened. He soon got over his fear when he saw Hagrid heading off in the distance and slowly ventured into the sea where he as last seen playing in the seaweed and exploring his new surroundings.
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