Polar bear dog


 * This article is about the species in Avatar: The Legend of Korra. For the species in Avatar: The Last Airbender, see Polar dog.

The polar bear dog is a large, white coated animal that can be used for transportation.

Anatomy
The polar bear dog's front legs are strong and muscular as opposed to its leaner hind legs. Its completely covered in a thick white fur coat, which helps it to stay warm in the harsh climate of the poles where it has its natural habitat. It has a somewhat elongated snout with a black nose and black eyes. Its face is framed by two floppy ears. The polar bear dog has a long tail.

Connection
This animal is a conjuncture of the real life polar bear and a large dog (like a Great Pyrenees or Alaskan Malamute, for example or even a Saluki, considering the shape of the hind legs, ears and tail). The polar bear dog has the bulky and robust appearance of the polar bear and the gentle face, lean hind legs and tail of a dog. Like a polar bear, the large front paws help it to distribute load when walking on snow or thin ice and it can stand on its hind feet, but to make up for the lack of big paws, it uses its tail to keep its balance.

Tamed behavior
Their behavior is most in the line of that of dogs than of polar bears. Due to their size and loyal nature, these animals can be trained as mounts to cross the snowy plains of the pole regions. Avatar Korra has one of these animals to accompany her on her journey.