Maltese Silky Dogs - Guy and Indra

by John
(Launceston,Tasmania, Australia)

Guy (male aged 8) and Indra (female aged 6) are our two Maltese Silky dogs, although Guy also has some Poodle. This blend of breeds makes them friendly, affectionate and intelligent - especially with the Poodle mix. They are definitely good watch dogs, alerting us to anyone at the front door. Our two seem to be territorial, objecting to birds coming into their garden, and if any cats stray into the yard we certainly hear about it.

We chanced upon Guy in a pet store in Brisbane less than six months after our 18 year old long haired Chihuahua died. At that stage another dog wasn't on the agenda, so when Cheryl picked him up and said how cute he was, I wasn't overly taken with him. However, when she put him on the floor and he came over to where I was squatting and just sat under me, we both agreed that he had picked us out. We were unable to find out his background other than having come from a breeder in Melbourne. After paying the best $375 we've ever spent and (having him treated for ear mites soon after), we found ourselves with an energetic, gorgeous little ball of fluff as our new family member.

Finding a name that suited him took a fair bit of thought as we wanted something that suited his personality and nature, so when I said that he was just "our little guy" while mulling over various names, it seemed very appropriate to name him Guy. Despite him being a very cute puppy, he was a very naughty puppy, displaying a willful, dominant and headstrong personality right from the start, made even worse because of his intelligence. During his first 18 months with us, we were at our wits end about how to cope with his disobedience and stubbornness (despite him having been to Puppy Preschool at 6 months).

It wasn't until we found him a playmate that we realised that he had been bored and needed companionship! We had taken him to meet 2 or 3 other dogs, none of which he seemed the least bit interested in. Cheryl found a local breeder who had a litter of Maltese Silky dogs for sale, but the only pup not yet sold was tricolour (most people prefer all white) and the others had sold very quickly. Cheryl took Guy over to meet this puppy and when they met he was very interested, giving her a good sniffing and wagging his tail. We took this as a sign that he liked her and we promptly made Indra the newest member of our family. Her name was originally "Indah", meaning "beautiful" in Indonesian, but we changed it to Indra as it seemed to roll of the tongue more easily and suited her better.

In the first week she was with us we were a bit concerned as Guy seemed to keep his distance from Indra, but by the end he was extremely taken with her and they have become almost inseparable. It amazed us to see the change in Guy in such a short time, as after the first week with Indra, he became responsible and caring towards her, and all his naughty behaviour disappeared virtually overnight.

Less than six months after Indra joined us, Guy was suddenly struck down with a devastating and life-threatening condition called IMHA (Immune Mediated Haemolytic Anaemia). One morning we noticed that he seemed listless and weak, and there was blood in his urine. We immediately took him to the vet where it didn't take long to diagnose the IMHA. (Footnote: we later put it down to a recent vaccination although there is a genetic predisposition to IMHA in Poodles, and after Indra became ill following a

vaccination a couple of years ago, we now don?t have either vaccinated. Their contact with other dogs is now limited unless we know their background, which means they can't go for walks outside their yard).

Guy was in hospital for 10 days and during this time he had 3 blood transfusions, his weight dropped down by 20-25% (before the illness he weighed around 4.5kg), and at it?s lowest, his PCV (packed-cell volume, the volume of packed red cells in milliliters per 100 ml of blood) was down to a count of 8. The average red blood cell count for dogs is around 50 ? 55. Basically, this means that his white blood cells were destroying his red blood cells. It could have gone either way for Guy, but he has a strong will to live. At this stage he had survived the worst, but he didn't seem to be improving. The vets suggested taking him home for overnight stays, as his psychological resilience seemed to be part of the problem, and he seemed out of immediate danger. During this 10 day period, we had been coming morning and evening, as visiting times permitted. Once he was home for good, we still had regular trips to the vet to have his PCV levels and general health checked, and after more than 6 months he had completed his last dose of immunosuppressant medication. To this day, we still check his tongue, gums, and ears if it looks like he is a bit off colour. Having come through all that he has, we now refer to Guy as our "miracle boy".

We have since moved to Tasmania, where the climate is more suitable to our little ones (as well as us) due to their coats. Their fine fur traps the heat so in warm weather they really feel it if their coat is long. We clip them ourselves with professional clippers every 2-4 months, depending on the time of year. Even at the ages that they are now, they still look and behave like puppies with their playfulness and energy.

The fur of both of them is soft, with Indra?s feeling as soft as feather down (we say she has feather fur) and Guy?s apricot coloured coat being slightly coarser. As is typical of the breed, they do not shed hair however it can become very knotted if left unmanaged.
Being mostly indoor dogs they don?t generally have that strong doggy smell that many dogs have.

Both dogs are treated as part of our family, but we are very aware of the need to also treat it like a pack. While they are much loved and some would say spoilt in comparison to many others, they still have their training reinforced on a regular basis. There are still battles of will as both of them occasionally try to challenge us as pack leaders. Indra also tries to dominate Guy because he is so tolerant of her though we try to stop this.

We could write a lot more about them individually but we won?t go on. We hope you've enjoyed reading about our lovely Maltese "sookies" (yes, they can be very sooky) and we can highly recommend this breed for companionship. Ours are good with children and adults, get on well with dogs they know but can be a little slow to socialise with dogs they haven't met before. We are looking forward to many more wonderful years enjoying their company.