What is Ricco & Tina Ocampo's next pet project?

When young and daring retailman Ricco Ocampo met tall and lovely supermodel Tina Maristela, they knew it was more than just puppy love. In 1989, Tina glided down the aisle of San Agustin Church, all dressed in elegant white, to keep her altar date with Ricco. Settling down in their new home, Ricco and Tina became instant parents to a Dalmatian puppy that Tina gave Ricco on his birthday.

"It was our first family photo: me, Tina and Dorf," Ricco says with a big paternal smile.

And Dorf makes three. And soon, the children started coming – Betina, 11; Selina, 9; Juliana, 5; Emilio, 3 – as well as the dogs: Delia, Dries, Adela, and Rocky (a tentative name for the two-month-old Jack Russell terrier Daddy gave Betina for her 12th birthday tomorrow, Oct. 14). As of this writing, the Ocampos are still debating the issue of what to call the youngest member of the brood.

Overheard:

Betina: "My dog’s name is Rocky."

Ricco: "No, that’s not a very nice name, Betina. Why don’t we call your dog Eduardo?"

Emilio (scooping up the puppy with his wee hands, his little eyes glaring): "No, his name is Paolo."

And Selina and Juliana come in to join the family feud.

But to go back to Dorf, Tina was especially attached to Dalmatians because her father, the late Col. Vicente Maristela, had a Dalmatian named Rajah. "Rajah grew up in our ranch in Masbate where we raised cattle," says Tina. "I grew up with my brothers’ big dogs like Dalmatians and Dobermans. Sadly, one day, Rajah ate a poisonous snake and he died instantly. My father was devastated. So when I got married, I specifically chose a Dalmatian to give to Ricco. I didn’t have my father anymore when I got married so Rajah sort of reminded me of him."

And it turned out to be the perfect gift to give her husband who’s a rabid dog lover himself.

"I grew up in Pampanga with my dogs," Ricco recalls with delight. "We were six in the family and the last three kids had their own pets. My first dog was a Dachshund. I had two Dachshunds. And then I had a Boxer named Ali. Everytime a dog would die, it would be immediately replaced. My father, Cesar Ocampo, loves dogs. Now, he has three Dachshunds."

Ricco laments, "But when I started going to college in Manila, I couldn’t have the dogs I had in Pampanga, where our place was big enough to take in all sorts of pets."

Fact is, Ricco had a pet snake. "I carried my pet snake Andy in my backpack to school," he shares a slimy secret. "I would leave it in my father’s car."

So Ricco and Andy merrily went to school every day until Ricco’s mother, Mer Ocampo, found out about the snake and hissed. "She said either Andy goes or I go," says Ricco with a heavy heart. "I had to give Andy away."

With a heavier heart, Ricco had to give away Dorf, too.

"In the early years of our marriage, we were living at Ecology Village which had a common road," Tina begins to relate. "Dorf got out and ran into the street. The owners of the subdivision warned us to get rid of our Dalmatian or keep it inside the house. So we sent Dorf away to my father-in-law’s house in Pampanga. Soon after, Dorf died. Maybe it was due to loneliness – he missed his former owners and former home."

"Dogs are really a man’s best friends," Ricco affirms. "They never complain. They don’t have moods. They’re always there for you. They’re very loyal, sometimes more loyal than people."

Ricco and Tina never really lost Dorf because Dorf left them with many fond memories. Like when Dorf won P30,000 at a bank raffle draw. "Dorf had a bank account in that bank," says Ricco. "One day, they called us up and they wanted to talk to a Dorf von Gruntal who won the grand prize in their raffle promo. But the problem was the bank couldn’t give the money unless Dorf himself claimed it because he would be photographed for the newspapers. I sent my driver to claim the prize."

The proud dog owner adds: "Dorf even modeled for us – he was dressed up like Jose Rizal."

Ricco considers himself lucky having grown up in a loving home and environment that encouraged children to care for animals. "When I was a boy, my parents allowed me to have as many pets as I wanted," he recounts. "My father even had a pet monkey. So I told my children that maybe they should get a pet pig pero ayaw nila."

Now, that’s really going the whole hog. But Ricco’s days of swine are over. He’s even sworn off pork forever and has turned a devout vegetarian.

Now, like his father, Ricco is sharing his love for animals with his own children. "It’s different when kids grow up with pets," Ricco and Tina agree with a passion. "It gives them a sense of responsibility for another being."

Says Tina: "Last night, I laid down the ground rules. I told the children they have to be responsible for their dogs. I said I will not tolerate pee and poop in the house. They have to clean up their own dogs’ poop or pee. Last night, they were fighting – one was claiming it was not her dog who pooped but her sister’s dog. I also told them that if the dog is sick, it’s not the maid but they who should tell Mommy or Daddy."

Did Tina have her own pet when she was a kid?

"She didn’t have a pet," says Ricco. "I’m Tina’s pet," he adds with a naughty smile.

"I had a Chihuahua named Beatrice when I was 10," Tina tells us.

So now, meet the rest of the Ocampo family.

Delia is a Shar-pei and she’s four years old. Ricco and Tina found Delia in a restaurant-cum-pet shop in Greenhills, "where you eat with the iguanas," Tina describes.

Tina adds FYI: "A Shar-pei is like an emperor’s dog in China. It just lies there beside its master."

Delia is quite gentle despite her grumpy looks. She looks like a walking crumpled fur coat.

Dries, two years old, is a black Labrador given as a Christmas gift to Ricco and Tina by close friend Ching Cruz. The couple named the dog after noted Belgian designer Dries Van Noten, who’s the favorite designer of the Ocampos. "He dresses all of us – from me and Tina to our youngest Emilio," says this clothes and food entrepreneur, who owns Anonymous, Fish, Black Shop, Mix, i 2 i, and now has his Kitchen and Mangan, too.

"We only got child-friendly dogs like the Labrador," Ricco points out. "Labradors are friendly to everybody."

Then there’s the frisky Adela, a Jack Russell, who’s four months old. "I couldn’t get the dog," a frustrated Emilio complains as he dives under the dining table in hot pursuit of the nimble-footed Adela who outsmarts and outruns him.

And lastly (at least for now), there’s the yet unnamed two-month-old Jack Russell.

Delia, the oldest in this canine family, has moved homes with the Ocampos three times – from Green Meadows to Rockwell to Forbes. "She’s been all over with us," says Ricco. "When Delia was young, she’d go with me to my office at Tektite every day. She’d go inside a leather bag so she won’t be detected. Even the security didn’t see her. This went on for two to three years. But when she got so heavy, I couldn’t carry her anymore in my bag."

"And the bag smells like Delia," Juliana loudly declares.

"Shar-peis really smell," says Tina. "The problem is Delia likes the heat so much. Even if it’s already hot, she’d still go under the sun. Then she gets sweaty and her perspiration gets trapped between the folds of her skin. We’d give her the customary thrice-a-week bath but she’d still smell. So I decided to give her a bath daily but she became sickly."

But it was Delia’s smell that saved her life. "We almost lost her twice," says Tina. "The first time was when we arrived here in Forbes. She wasn’t so familiar with the neighborhood; one day, she ran out and got lost. It was Dries, our Labrador, who was able to track her down through her smell. Our driver was wondering why Dries would always go to a certain house whenever he had the chance to go out. So one day, the driver followed Dries to that neighbor’s house and he peeped through the gate. He saw Delia tied up. The caretaker of the empty house must have taken Delia in and tied her up. She was lost for two to three weeks. We told the caretaker Delia was ours and she was returned to us."

Delia is quite a survivor. "The second time, Delia got bitten by a Doberman," Tina continues. "A maid was walking a Doberman when Delia got out of the gate. He bit her so hard that six folds of her skin were hanging out. Selina saw the whole thing and she was traumatized. She was crying because she couldn’t help Delia. Delia stayed in the hospital for two whole weeks. They stitched her up. She had pneumonia. We thought we would lose her. But she was revived. After a month, she gained weight again and now, she’s happy again."

Delia is certainly happy to be back with her family – the Ocampos.

And this family just keeps growing. There’s just so much love to go around in this household.

"We’re planning to get Juliana and Emilio their own dogs when they grow up, maybe a Whippet and a Great Dane," Ricco and Tina promise themselves.

Now, that’ll be this innovative couple’s next pet project.