Poochy

Poochy is a dog that appears in Yoshi games. Poochy's name is sometimes misspelled "Poochie" or "Poochey." Poochy is spotted with a long and thick red tongue and duck lips. He has a red ball in the end of his tail, similar to a poodle. He barks constantly while he walks.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Yoshis can ride him in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He can run at high speeds on yellow spikes, lava, and many other hazardous forms of terrain, and can also run over any enemies in his path. To ride Poochy the player must jump on his head and look in the direction he or she wants to go. If Poochy hits a wall he'll try to jump over it, which can give the Yoshi a boost. Sometimes there will be a small gap that Poochy will run through, unfortunately the gap will be too small for the Yoshi. Ever faithful the mutt will follow the Yoshi anywhere he goes except through a pipe or door. He can also swim through water carrying Yoshi. To distract him the player can throw an egg at his head. He'll play with it and won't pay attention to anything else.

Poochy is in World 1's extra level "Poochy Ain't Stupid", where he's required to get across many fiery stretches of cave, and World 2-1's "Visit Koopa and Para-Koopa". He can also be found in "Jungle Rhythm...".

''Yoshi's Story
Poochy also aided the Yoshi clan in several levels of Yoshi's Story. Although the Baby Yoshis could not ride on top of him like before, Poochy did help the Yoshis find hidden fruit, allowing the baby dinosaurs to restore happiness to Yoshi's Island during their quest for the Super Happy Tree. In the levels he appears in, Poochy was normally chained to a post that needed to be pounded into the ground, thus breaking the chain and freeing Poochy. After being released, Poochy would run through the level and sniff out hidden items, especially the Yoshi's favorite fruit - the melon. When Poochy discovers a secret hidden in the ground, he would stand by the spot and bark to alert the Baby Yoshi's attention. Poochy would wait until the Yoshi approached the spot, and would then move on to sniff out more secrets.

''Tetris Attack
Poochy also appears in Tetris Attack, allied with a Grinder. He appears as a character that Yoshi must initially beat in a one-on-one match of the game's panel-flipping puzzles, due to Bowser's and Kamek's magic spell, that made him work for them. After Yoshi beats him, the player can select to play as Poochy, though the difference ultimately amounts to cheerful barks as opposed to Yoshi's mutterings. Poochy replaces the earth fairy Thiana from Panel de Pon, the Japanese title that Nintendo remade to create Tetris Attack.

"Rummelplatzquatsch"
Poochy makes a cameo in the Club Nintendo comic "Rummelplatzquatsch". He appears on the screen of Mario's Game Boy which he bought from a fortune-teller. The Game Boy Camera included with the console is able to foresee the future. After depicting Poochy, a herd of dogs comes running towards Luigi, all peeing at him.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Poochy makes an easily missable cameo in the background decor of the Baby Park racetrack. All of the amusement park's background is themed with characters and elements from the Yoshi game series, and Poochy is not an exception.

Mario Party Advance
A gaddget named Poochy Pal appears in Mario Party Advance. This Gaddget involves the character "raising" a virtual dog, who (although never directly addressed or named) looks exactly like Poochy (the fact that the Gaddgets name is Poochy Pal hints that this is more than a mere coincidence).

Trivia

 * Poochy's name is similar to that of Poochie, a real dog that appears in a Super Mario Bros. Super Show live action segment.
 * Poochy was originally going to appear in Paper Mario but was for some unknown reason, dropped from the final cut.