Well, we took Fred to what was probably his first Vet visit ever. He was such a good boy, he didn't flinch when they took a blood sample and never tried to bite me or Denise or the Vet. They said that his lungs were clear and heart strong but that he did indeed have heartworms. This is what we didn't want to hear. So, now we have to wait to get his heartworms taken care of before we can get him fixed. The heartworm treatment costs $300, and since neither Denise nor I have that kind of money at the moment, we can't get him totally healthy yet. We hope to be able to do it before he starts showing symptoms and eventually becomes untreatable.
On a more positive note, after a couple of early accidents, Fred hasn't pooped in the house and he has slowed down (a little bit at least) marking the furnature. We should have a picture of the little guy up soon, after we bath him, light colored dogs get sooooo dirty!