Our good friend Polo the malamute turned nine!
When we first met Polo she was a roly-poly furball nipping playfully at her rescue husky friends Enzo and Pica. She was already super strong, but within weeks, she expanded.
It was like watching those compressed sofas that come in a box: one day she was knee height and the next she was hip high and broad like a coffee table.
Now that the older wolves are no more, Polo lives with Guchi and Whiskey, a rescue maltese and dachshund.
Polo is always affectionate. As her neighbour, I petted her through the gate in the mornings and when we met outside, in air-conditioned splendour, Polo always had a smile and headbutt for me.
So it was a surprise that roly-poly little Polo is now a grand lady who celebrated her ninth birthday last week.
“Until last year Polo would jump in and out of the car, no problem,” Kim Fong, a marketing professional originally from Singapore, says. “But she got a bit stiff and it took her a step or two to get into the back.”
“We go out three times a week,” Fong shares. “We drive with window down and she sticks out her head enjoying the breeze.”
“When people from passing cars start ogling and snapping photos like paparazzi, Polo gets up and turns to the other side of the window.”
Sets her space
Polo is very firm about her boundaries. She’s very happy to chat in person but if she feels slighted, she sulks. And the thing about a Malamute is that they live large lives, including large sulks.
In the past, Polo has sat in the car, absolutely refusing to join her mum and me for coffee because she’s in a miff. As moving a 40kg dog who does not want to move is a herculean task, Fong has learned to pick her battles.
“It’s a drag to get her into the vet,” Fong confesses. “I got her in when she was small to have her spayed but since then it’s been a lost cause. She sits on the pavement and although I try to move her, pulling as hard as I can, I can’t move her.”
Thankfully, Malaysia is rich with wonderful and understanding vets.
“For vaccinations, we drive up and the vet jabs her in the car through the window,” Fong giggles.
“Mind you, now that she’s older, she no longer needs annual vaccinations.”
But as Polo loves her drives, Fong put her mind to helping her pet get in and out of the car easier. “Polo needs grooming every ten days, that double coat she has needs special care, and I remembered that the groomer has a set of steps to get her into the bathtub,” Fong reports happily.
“I took a photo and found the same ones online.”
The steps were an instant success. “She’s used to them so there was no learning curve,” Fong says. “She just looked and said, ‘oh, okay I can do this’ and turned around with happy face, ‘I did it, mum.’”
Sled dogs are hard to evaluate because the thick fur hides a lot of problems, from bites and abscesses to early hip dysplasia. Fong has many years of experience with her previous rescue huskies and keeps a close eye on her pet.
“Over the last six months or so I’ve felt some muscle atrophy when I checked her hind legs. They’ve gone soft. I can’t walk her more as it’s too hot. Her evening walks are less than 10 minutes as she gets tired easily. But she walks up and down the stairs so that’s something.”
Life's changes
That’s another change in Polo’s life. When she was younger, she slept downstairs with Enzo and Pica.
There just aren’t beds big enough for a wolf pack so the arrangement made sense.
But now Polo is the only big dog, she makes her way upstairs in the evenings and sleeps in bed with her mum.
“Well, she is a bit big,” Fong admits but adds, “I’m glad she can climb the stairs. Hind legs are important.”
Big dogs tend to age quickly. The American Kennel Club states that malamutes live about 10 to 14 years, although well cared for dogs can live up to 15 years.
Polo is super pampered. “I make her pressure cooker chicken feet,” Fong shares. “They’re soft and gooey so she can chew them safely and there’s lots of collagen and calcium in them.”
Polo also has supplements, each cunningly hidden in food as she hates pills. “Her coat has turned pinkish due to hormonal changes from ageing,” Fong notes. “It started about seven months ago too. The groomer says she’ll be pinkish from the feet up.”
With excellent care, Polo retains an adventurous spirit.
“Sometimes she’ll ask to go out at midnight, not because it’s cool but because she looks for that stray ginger cat or the grouchy grey fur cat towards the main road,” Fong smiles. “When we see them, the cats stare and puff up. Polo stares too and then she walks away.”
The thing is, I can see her do it. When Target was young, he would hang out in front of Polo’s gate, teasing her by lying just out of reach.
Polo never barked at him but she’d give him that same measuring look. I’m sure she could eat him in one gulp but luckily for naughty Target, Polo is and was a sweetheart.
Happy Birthday, Polo, the grand old queen. May good care lead you to many more bright, blissful years.
