The Puppy Palace dog, the custody dog, and the dog with issues
The Three Tomatoes are
dog people. We love our dogs, other people’s dogs, dogs we see on TV, in the movies, and on the streets of New York (well most of them.)
And as it happens, most of our friends are also dog people -- seems we attract one another. We can't imagine a life without dogs, and over
the years we've been fortunate to have some special dogs in our lives. Here are the stories of three of them.
A little bit of history
One day shortly after this tomato married her second (and we should add current) husband, they were sitting around the
dining room table on a Sunday morning, with the extended family which included the tomato's daughter and mother, when someone said, "You know what we
need? We need a dog." But before we tell you what happened next, we need to go back in time a bit.
The tomato and Mr. Tomato both had dogs as children. The difference was that in the tomato's case, no dog ever
stayed past puppyhood. You see while her mother always liked the idea of dogs, the reality was after the "isn't he adorable" phase set in, and
before you could say Spot, he was whisked away to some other home to grow into adulthood. So, when the tomato grew up and
married hubby #1, one of the first things she wanted was a dog of her very own to raise into adulthood.
Well she found an adorable little puppy but sadly his time was short-lived as well. You see, he had an unfortunate
"accident" inside hubby # 1's dress shoe. So off he went to a new home. In retrospect, the dog should have stayed and hubby #1 should have
been shooed away, but that would have required more wisdom than the tomato had at the time. Mr. Tomato's experience was the polar
opposite. He grew up with two dogs (sequentially), Penny One and Penny Two (both beagles) each of whom were raised as puppies and stayed with
him until their time was up.
Acquiring Tiffany
We tell this earlier tale, only because it sheds a bit of light on the tomato's dog acquiring philosophy, which is
"get the dog now before anyone says no." So back to the breakfast table. No sooner had the breakfast dishes been cleared,
when they headed off to the nearest dog shelter in search of the perfect dog. Now to this day, Mr. Tomato still regrets his decision to
stay home and watch football. You see they did go to the animal shelter, as discussed at breakfast, with all good intentions of
finding the perfect homeless dog. But the reality was they were too old, too big, or too growly. In short, they just weren't falling
in love. As they headed back to the car, dejected and disappointed, they suddenly remember "Puppy Palace".
So off they headed to the mall. Okay, so they figured they'd have to pay a "few bucks", but it would be worth it.
When we tell you they named the adorable cocker spaniel they bought ,"Tiffany", you'll have a clue about
the "few bucks" she cost. They just couldn't help themselves. You see Puppy Palace had a place called "The Love Room"
which was where they let you take the adorable puppy you've been eyeing while they go off to check out the "price." Of course, they
make sure this takes a long time, and when they return you have, of course, fallen in love and price is no object. It's that classic
passion and lust thing.
So before they knew it, Tiffany was in the car, and then reality started to set in -- Mr. Tomato would kill
them! So they devised a "love room" strategy. We'll just put cute adorable puppy in his lap, he'll fall in love, and then
he too will say price is no object. Well, it didn't quite go that way. After the "you paid what" rant, Tiffany eventually wooed
him, and lived to a ripe old age of 17, in their home -- despite the fact that she was the most hyper dog you have ever seen until she was about
seven -- and despite the fact that she never really got perfectly housebroken -- and truth be told, wasn't really all that bright.
But she was cute.
Along came Fur
So while the tomato finally got her wish for a dog to live out its life with her, she never had a
desire for two dogs at one time. Well several years later when Tiffany was about 10, along came Fur Face. You see, afore mentioned
daughter was now all grown up and dating a guy who happened to own a four year black lab named Fur Face. (Yes, we thought it was a rather dumb
name too, but he was named after a dog in a book that had a super IQ.) As it happened the boyfriend was traveling to Europe all the time
on business, and needed a "temporary” home for Fur Face. Well the tomato wasn't kean on big dogs, and this one weighed 100
pounds, and wasn't especially kean on two dogs, but apparently Mr. Tomato and daughter were plotting a "love room" strategy. Turns out it
worked, because within days after Fur Face's arrival, he had been nick named "Fur" and all 100 pounds of him was sleeping at the foot of the bed on
the tomato's feet. Then of course the inevitable happened and tomato daughter ditched the boyfriend, and after a "brief" custody discussion, Mr. and
Mrs. Tomato got full custody of Fur who was the most amazing dog we have ever known, who also lived to a ripe old age of 14.
The Dog with "issues"
So, a few more years go by, and tomato daughter finally meets a guy she doesn't ditch, and gets married. (And
yes, he has a dog too, but that's a whole other story.) So the weekend after the wedding, the tomato and Mr. Tomato head up to Vermont with Fur
to spend a weekend with one of the other The Three Tomatoes
. As it happened, she and her husband had recently lost their old lab, and decided that this
was the weekend to find a new puppy. As it also happened, a local breeder was advertising a litter of chocolate labs. And
yes, by now you've guessed where this story is going too. How could you not fall in love with these adorable little guys? And
how could you not take one home? And of course the tomato didn't "not fall in love", or "not take one home". And
tomato daughter to this day still feels she was replaced by the dog.
His name is Buck. His brother is Willy. The tomatoes should have realized that very first
night in Vermont what they might be looking forward to when they both managed to "break out" of the laundry room where they thought the
pups were nestled in for the night. Let's put it this way. These dogs loved to chew everything. And we do mean
everything. Like the time Buck opened up and chewed the contents of about a dozen Christmas presents that were wrapped and under the
tree.
Buck and Willy are now eight years old and while they've fortunately outgrown their chewing phase, Buck has, shall we
say, "issues" which are stories we will share with you another day. But he's ours, and he's not going anywhere!
