My name is: Strawberry Noodle, the tiny little poodle
I came from: China
Now I live in: London
My favourite things are: Relentless cuddles, being picked up, chasing my humans in circles, roast chicken, trains, camping, being under a duvet, tirelessly protecting my home from cats
Follow me on Instagram: @strawbs_the_tiny_ewok

Strawberry’s story

I’d wanted a poodle my whole life and was keen to rescue one when I moved to a flat with a garden. They’re not always the easiest breed to find as rescues. My dear friend, Cherish, was determined to find me one and having volunteered at a rescue centre in Thailand, she had an Instagram feed overflowing with other rescue centres - including Slaughterhouse Survivors and Underdog International. Little did we know that her tagging me in a post would completely change our lives!

Strawbs was the cutest thing I’d ever seen - like a highland cow calf shrunk in the wash. She had been saved from a puppy farm where the dogs were fed on rotting corn. I held little hope of winning her, given the huge reaction to her adoption announcement on Instagram. I knew I’d be in the mix with hundreds of other applicants and I pictured the poor Underdog team wading through piles and piles of applications. To say I agonised over my application would be a huge understatement. I wrote from the depths of my soul and analysed every word… years of potential snuggles with a little dog that resembled an Ewok - hanging on a few paragraphs of persuasion.

By some miracle, it worked - we got her… it didn’t feel real!

Lockdown was in full swing and as a result no flights were leaving China, so now the waiting game began. We obsessed over the photos we had of her for months, scanning videos from the safehouse Instagram feed to see if we could catch a glimpse of our dog who seemingly looked completely different in every image. We spent time buying toys she’d never end up showing an interest in, and buying leads that were way to big and clumpy for how tiny she turned out to be. The wait was agonising but many have had it much worse. I thought we wouldn’t have her till October so when I got the call in August from Sam at Underdog that she was booked on a flight we were absolutely buzzing. 

The logistics and planning that goes into each dogs journey is an unpredictable minefield, especially mid-pandemic. She flew from Shanghai as hand luggage with a kind volunteer via Paris, where the Underdog team picked her up at the crack of dawn like the heroes they are and drove her to the UK.

When we picked her up she was half the size I thought she’d be and a million times sweeter (and I had incredibly high expectations for her sweetness). A tiny little joy spreader zipping around all over the place. I drove her home across London and she spent the whole journey stretched up to the window saying hello excitedly to anyone we drove past, her tiny docked tail tuft wiggling like crazy. When we got her home we just cuddled and ran around for hours. She knew she was home.

Strawberry has, since then, just made everything better. She comes everywhere with us, she loves going to the park but she also loves just snoozing and playing all day. She loves running for a bus, she wants to get on every bus! She loves freshly cut grass to run on and she likes smelling flowers. She loves the pub and she loves children, even when they poke her in the eye. She loves breakfast time on a campsite when there’s meat in the air. She loves the lakes and the beach and shops that let her in even when dogs aren’t normally allowed. She loves walking on her hind legs. She loves big fat old dogs. She loves being plonked in a stream on a boiling hot day. But most of all she loves lamp posts and London is full to the brim with them.

I hadn’t realised that I’d never be able to walk down the street again without getting stopped, it’s genuinely like walking a celebrity. Everyone wants to talk to, or about Strawbs. I’ve spoken to more strangers in the past year than I have in a lifetime. Dog people are good people and the community spirit is strong. This was an unexpected bonus.

Every day I wake up and look at Strawberry’s little morning crumple face and I say a little thank you prayer to the Underdog and Slaughterhouse Survivors teams for giving her another chance at life, and for trusting that little life with us!

- Louise