00:00 Nugat! Nug!
00:05 He became a favorite place in the market.
00:07 He would go there, like, maybe out of 10, he would go there 6 times.
00:14 That's the level.
00:15 Then, he met vendors there.
00:18 I can't let him go.
00:21 Everytime he goes away, it's like,
00:23 "Oh my God, this is how my mom feels when I'm not around at this time of the night."
00:28 "Where is he? Did he eat?"
00:30 "Maybe someone took something from him."
00:32 "What kind of dog is that?"
00:33 Even if I'm really mad at him when he's gone,
00:37 or when he's doing something,
00:39 at the end of the day, I still love him.
00:40 He's my dog.
00:41 Hi, I'm Ru.
00:43 I've been living in Siargao since 2017.
00:46 And this is my pandemic boy, my pandemic lady, Nugat.
00:56 Nugat is actually born and raised in Siargao.
01:01 He is the dog of two of my friends.
01:03 Basically, both of them have dogs raised here
01:06 that they brought from their own past lives before moving to the island.
01:11 Nugat was adopted by me because she's planning to go back home.
01:16 Since we're running this place, I also have my own job.
01:20 Honestly, there are times when we wouldn't find time for him to walk around,
01:26 or let him out, or bring him to the beach, even if the beach is just there.
01:29 Because he's busy.
01:31 When we let him pee, he comes back.
01:34 And at that time, he doesn't come back.
01:36 I feel like he's distracted.
01:39 When he sees a mountain, he just follows it.
01:41 Or when he sees a chicken, he wants to chase it.
01:45 He's like that. Whenever he's distracted, bored, or sees something new,
01:50 at one point in his journey, on that day when he's going to disappear,
01:55 he'll go to the beach.
01:57 How do I know? Because when he comes back, he's all wet.
02:00 It's all sand.
02:01 And he really likes to take a bath because that's what he really likes.
02:04 He loves to swim.
02:05 He loves playing around the beach with other dogs.
02:09 So we feel like he enjoys being on his own,
02:11 he goes to the beach on his own.
02:13 And then he's like, "What are you doing?"
02:16 I'm also stressed, honestly.
02:18 But we really try our best to let him go out every day,
02:23 even if it's just mundane errands.
02:26 "Let's go to the market, come with me."
02:28 Or, "We're going to get something here, let's ride this."
02:32 Because he already knows how to ride a scooter.
02:34 Nugat!
02:37 Nug!
02:38 The market really became his favorite place.
02:41 He would go there, like,
02:44 maybe out of ten,
02:46 he'd go to the market six times.
02:48 That's the level.
02:49 And he already knows the vendors there.
02:51 Since the market is close to the boulevard,
02:54 the docking area of the boats,
02:57 the island hopping,
02:59 close to the docking area,
03:01 the Coast Guard is also there.
03:03 He's there, at the Coast Guard's office.
03:05 And the Coast Guard already knows him because
03:07 that's the dog that's just playing there.
03:09 And there are times when they already know my number,
03:13 they text me,
03:15 there's a time when I'm really desperate.
03:18 I bought him an air tag,
03:20 but the air tag disappeared.
03:22 I got really scared because
03:27 what if he gets run over by a motorbike?
03:31 Or what if he causes an accident?
03:33 Or what if he bites someone?
03:35 I know that he's not the type of dog,
03:37 but we can't tell because he's still a dog.
03:40 I did some research,
03:42 and they're really like that.
03:44 They're escape artists.
03:46 So what we did is that we reinforced our fences here,
03:51 and we don't really let him roam around unsupervised.
03:54 Because we know that as soon as he gets bored,
03:58 he will find ways to go to the toilet.
04:01 He'll really go to the toilet somewhere.
04:03 And then, eventually, we'll be like,
04:05 "Oh my God, he's gone again."
04:07 And my fear is that he won't get anything.
04:11 What if he causes an accident because of him?
04:14 Or what if he bites someone?
04:16 He's a big dog, and he can be very intimidating.
04:19 Of course, other people here think that he's a big dog,
04:22 or they think he's a wolf.
04:24 Logi!
04:25 When he became my pet, he taught me patience.
04:32 Like cats, I can't just leave him.
04:35 You know, it's like I have a child.
04:37 I can't let him go.
04:39 Every time he's gone, I'm like,
04:41 "Oh my God, this is how my mom feels
04:43 when I don't have any disorders at night."
04:46 "Where is he? Did he eat?"
04:48 "Maybe someone took something from him."
04:50 "What kind of dog is that?"
04:52 Even if I'm really mad at him when he's gone,
04:55 or when he's doing something,
04:57 at the end of the day, I still love him.
04:59 He's my dog.
05:01 The Facebook group really helps me.
05:05 Whoever created it, they're the stars here.
05:08 Because for some reason, every time I post there,
05:12 people are the ones who say,
05:15 "Oh, your dog is here."
05:17 "Oh, he's here."
05:18 Like there are updates, real-time updates,
05:21 like, "Hey, we saw him here."
05:23 And everyone, since they already know the dog,
05:27 sometimes they just call him, "Hey, your dog is here."
05:31 Siargao is a really small--
05:33 General Luna is a really small town for me.
05:36 Because, partly because, you kind of know everyone.
05:40 Because the people here will also be your friends.
05:42 Because they're the only ones you see on a daily basis.
05:45 I can't imagine my life without him.
05:50 Because he's already part of my everyday life.
05:53 I'm like an alarm clock when I wake up at 4
05:56 because someone's peeing on my side.
05:58 Stuff like that.
05:59 Or it's part of my life that when I go to the beach,
06:02 I have to think, "I'll be with him. What a pity."
06:06 He's always with me on my plans.
06:08 If it wasn't for the people who help us,
06:11 even if we say General Luna is small,
06:14 I don't know where he'll shoot.
06:16 Where he'll be able to trip.
06:17 So if it wasn't for the friends or the people who know him,
06:21 he's more known,
06:23 we wouldn't have found him.
06:25 He's that guy.
06:26 (upbeat music)
06:28 (upbeat music)
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