Em-Poh-Poh-yee

The small fluffy monster you see in the photo is named Poh-Poh. This means “precious” in Teow-Chu, my mother’s tongue, but “grandmother” in Cantonese. To me, he is simply precious. Other nicknames include “donkey” and “piggy.” No real explanation for the “donkey” one, other than that sometimes he’s really slow to listen and understand commands. I attribute this to having a poor family training plan.

Poh-Poh has been a member of the family since 2008, making him 13 years old, which is only slightly lower than his weight at 15 pounds. He’s lost 11 teeth and hurt his leg during a stay at a family friends’ while we were traveling so he can no longer go on walks. Instead, he enjoys being carried around like a baby, naps, and belly rubs. His best feature is his tongue, which is almost always captured in photos of him.

I did not initially like Poh-Poh, as it was not my choice to get him and I was very frightened of dogs after having been attacked several times throughout my young life. He was extremely persistent in visiting me before and after my school or workday, just trying to be present and cute and hope that I accept him.

Circa 2010 when the family moved and I went through not only the difficulty of transferring and getting established at a new school, plus making new friends, and a recent break-up, that I started letting him in. He knew what he was doing. Eventually belly rubs and snuggling up to me while I cried turned into several things for him – haircuts, baths, walks, teeth cleaning, claw clipping, bougie snacks, car rides, and medical/vet care. Add in the fact that he slept in my bed until 2 or 3 AM when he needed to use the bathroom, and then came back down after mom left to take my younger sister to school, and it chalks up to a very spoiled small and fluffy cuddle-budy.

To this day, his favorite snacks are vegetables that crunch like cauliflower and carrots, he’s allergic to apples and nuts, and absolutely loves hard-boiled eggs. He’s a good dog, albeit being somewhat poorly trained, and despite never being trained to perform diabetic dog tasks, he does. I remember coming back from a day observing operating rooms early in my now dead pre-med career, with low blood sugars, and collapsed on the floor. Now, low blood sugars come with a variety of symptoms like being sleepy, tired, cold, and sweaty. He went to get my mom to help and then laid on me, at least as much as his tiny body could cover, to keep me warm. He's also a great study buddy and always exhibits the behaviors I wish I could.

His favorite person is definitely mom, as she feeds him and cleans up after him, but I’d enlist myself as a good candidate for second. I’m planning to increase my attempts to have him move in with me here soon. Since I’ve moved out, my visits have proven very interesting. The very first thing he wants is for me to forget about everything else and pay attention to him. Naturally, this is not possible, so instead he follows me all over the house as I complete various tasks. Then, when I can finally pay attention to him, he enjoys belly and head scratches, tickles, and the odd snack – doughnuts, or organic dog treats. After he’s fed, he’ll run away and sleep like the dead until he hears the sound of keys rattling.

Usually, I’m told that he’s waiting for me at the door on a specific day of the week. This is usually the day that I’d regularly visit, but as that is no longer possible, it’s just amazing how well attuned he is to patterns.

Here’s to Poh-Poh, the precious Em-Poh-Poh-yee.