GOYGOY
BACOLOD CITY—This new celebrity in Bacolod, the City of Smiles, has four legs.
Goygoy, a 2-year-old Shih Tzu, catches attention as he speeds down the city streets on board a motorcycle in a cool outfit—a yellow helmet with matching goggles to protect his eyes from the wind.
He also has a specially made seat to prevent him from falling off any of the motorcycles his “dad” owns.
Goygoy rides “in tandem” with his owner and constant companion, Joemarie Lotilla.
The two are inseparable. The only time Joemarie, 35, is away from Goygoy is when he goes to work at a call center company in the city.
Joemarie considers Goygoy his best friend, who sleeps with him, too.
Joemarie has always loved animals, spending his childhood in a home in Barangay Taculing that looked like a miniature zoo. His father Joelordio, mother Marietta, brother Karl and sister Kristine had dogs, cats, hamsters and chickens.
The family now has nine dogs—Goygoy and his sister Linling; Yan Hsie and Guanlong, both Chow Chows; Batista, a Mini Pinscher; 750, a mixed breed of Labrador and Doberman; Heinz Hummer, a Mini Schnauzer; Rucci, a female Rottweiler; and Poopie, a mixed breed of Shih Tzu and Jack Russel.
Goygoy’s real name is Ting Tzih, which evolved to Ting, Tinggoy to Goygoy.
His sister’s real name was Ling Tzih. Their mother, Kim Tzih, died in March 2011 when they were only 6 months old.
Joemarie said he and his family were devastated by the death of Kim Tzih. But they were more worried about how her two puppies would cope without her, “so we showered a lot of love on Goygoy and Lingling,” he said.
One day, Goygoy needed to go to the veterinarian for a checkup. Joemarie put him in a bag he placed in front of him on his motorcycle. He noticed Goygoy kept popping his head up as if he was enjoying the ride.
After that, every time he would hear Joemarie revving up his bike, Goygoy would jump into the bag to let him know that he wanted to tag along.
“One time he even jumped out of a window to jump onto the motorcycle,” Joemarie said. He gave Goygoy what he wanted, but instead of a bag, he provided him the special seat.
Goygoy has also learned how to climb on a stool to get to his seat.
What Goygoy loves aside from hanging out with his “dad” is the wind that blows his hair back as the motorcycle picks up speed. When Joemarie parks outside a store or an office, Goygoy patiently waits for him. Passersby can’t help but throw admiring glances at him. Some even stop to have their pictures taken with him.
“If Goygoy does not get to go for a ride, he won’t come bounding out to play with me. He can be like a sulking child. He knows how to show his disappointment,” Joemarie said.
Joemarie also gets a lot of questions about him. So he has decided to put up a website for Goygoy, www.bikertzu.com, where he tells about their adventures together. Goygoy is also on YouTube.
Joemarie doesn’t have to convince Goygoy to go with him. All he has to say is: “Goygoy, time to go vroom vroom,” and the cute little Shih Tzu will come running.