Growing Up With My White Poodle

In October 2017, I got one of the best birthday presents ever: a white poodle.

We don’t know his exact age, but we think he was probably around five years old at the time, which means he’s definitely an old little man now 😭

The funny thing is, if you didn’t know his age, you probably wouldn’t even believe it.

He’s calm, quiet, and almost never barks — but somehow, he still acts like a little puppy.

I still remember the first time I saw him.

I was six years old, and after class, I got into the car and suddenly there was a dog sitting there.

I was like:

“Mom? Dad? Why is there a dog in the car?”

And then they told me:

“He’s your birthday present.”

And obviously my reaction was basically:

“YAYYYYYYYYYYY!” 😭

Then we started thinking about names for him, and eventually we called him Chiqui.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that birthday present was going to become such a huge part of my childhood.

Chiqui has never been the kind of dog who barks at everything or runs around causing chaos. He’s always been really calm, almost like he already understands everything happening around him.

But there is one thing I know for sure:

He LOVES food.

Like… a lot.

He’s always walking around the kitchen hoping there will somehow be a miracle and food will just start raining from the sky 💀

My dad is always complaining because he’s trying to cook, and Chiqui keeps walking around his feet and stepping on him like:

“Okay but… are you dropping anything?”

Honestly, food might be the one thing that instantly turns him from an old dog into a puppy again.

He may be old, but apparently nobody told him he’s supposed to act old.

Sometimes I forget how long he has actually been with me.

He’s been there through different school years, different versions of me, different friends, different interests — basically while I was growing up.

When I think about it, so many things in my life have changed since 2017.

But Chiqui has always been there.

We don’t know exactly how old he is, but honestly, I don’t think that matters that much.

What I do know is that he has been part of my life since 2017.

He’s calm.

He barely barks.

He’s getting older.

He is permanently waiting for food to fall out of the sky.

And somehow, every once in a while, he still turns back into a little puppy.

I think that’s one of my favorite things about him.

He wasn’t just a birthday present.

He became part of my childhood. 🤍🐩