A dog day afternoon with Bengy and Monique Toda

I have become more patient, kinder and softer since Pablo entered my life,” muses Monique Toda, director of communications, New World Hotel. “Pablo, my Chihuahua, is the first dog I ever owned. He was given to me by my husband Bengy and he has changed my life.” 

Monique and businessman/photographer Bengy Toda have been married for 11 years. It was two years after the couple had been married that Bengy gifted Monique with her first dog.

“I wanted Monique to have her own dog,” shares Bengy. “She never had a dog when she was growing up. So I got her Pablo whom we spoil rotten.”

Monique and Bengy had very different childhoods. Monique grew up in a home where pets were not allowed because her mother said they were dirty. (But, since Monique has her own pet now, even her mother’s attitude towards pets has changed. She has grown to love Pablo.) Bengy grew up in a home where he had all sorts of pets, from dogs to deer, cows and even a pair of tiger cats. 

“I don’t know of a time when I didn’t own a pet,” shares Bengy. “I got my first dog, a Labrador Retriever, from my grandmother.”

Bengy, Monique, Pablo, Joy Joy And Lulu

On the lazy Sunday afternoon I visited Monique and Bengy, the couple welcomed me into their home and introduced me to the other members of their family.

“We have Parson Jack Russells,” shares Bengy. “I first fell in love with the breed many years ago. On one of my trips I saw a Jack Russell and I found the breed one of the most intelligent dogs around.”

A past experience when someone tried to steal Bengy’s team’s tack — he is a polo player — convinced Bengy about the Jack Russell. He recalls one time that the Jack Russell allowed the robber into the house, and then locked the door behind him (by closing it). The robber got caught.

Since that time, Bengy has had a Parsons Jack Russell with him. He has had a slew of these dogs — smooth-coat, rough-coat and broken-coat Jack Russells.

Today, the couple has two Jack Russells — Joy Joy, a broken-coat Jack Russell, and Lulu, a smooth-coat Jack Russell.

Monique shares that the Jack Russells are very different from Pablo, the Chihuahua.

“The Jack Russells require more exercise time or if not, they get very magulo,” she adds. “We have a house boy who Bengy got a bike for. He bikes and the dogs run them every day.”

The running, she says, is good for them because walking is not enough. Jack Russells need lots of exercise and running really tires them out.

“Lulu and Joy Joy are so smart that they know exactly the time of their daily bike runs,” she adds. “They start to become restless and get excited when they see our house boy.”

What about Pablo? I ask.

“He is our baby and I spoil him,” shares Monique.

“I spoil him, too,” admits Bengy. “Pablo is so malambing and he likes to cuddle.”

Monique says it is Pablo whom she is closest to because he is, after all, her first dog. 

Having grown up in a home where dogs or pets were considered dirty, Monique found it hard at first to adjust to the pet lover in Bengy. He never demanded that Monique learn to like animals, but his home was always a place where Monique got up close, but not too personal, with Bengy’s many dogs.

"I have become more patient, kinder and softer since Pablo entered my life,” muses Monique. “Pablo, my Chihuahua, is the first dog I ever owned. He has changed my life.” Photos by JUN MENDOZA

But one of Bengy’s dogs that Monique got to know when the couple was still dating was Falucho, a Jack Russell. The couple shares the story of how one day Bengy, driving down EDSA, saw a Jack Russell.

“Falucho!” he called out.

Falucho looked back, saw Bengy, and ran across EDSA.  Bengy thought he had lost Falucho for good.

“But because Falucho was so smart, when I got home he was there waiting for me,” he shares.

Monique says that Bengy would raise the wall of his house higher and higher, but still Falucho would be able to make it out of the house. They later discovered that Falucho had learned how to climb the tree, from where he would jump the wall.

What makes Pablo different from Lulu and Joy Joy? I ask again.

“Pablo used to have cancer of the lymph nodes,” shares Monique. “So I spent lots of time getting him to his laser treatment sessions.”

Monique explains that her work at New World Hotel as head of corporate communications required her constant presence at the hotel, but that she would adjust her schedule around the treatments of Pablo.

“I made sure that when he had to have a laser treatment, I would bring him to the vet,” shares Monique. “I think Pablo knew that he was going in for treatment because he would be restless in the car.”

Monique would wait for Pablo outside the vet’s office until his treatment was done so that Pablo would know that she was there for him.

Today, Pablo is cancer-free, and the lump that made his neck swell is gone. But he remains on a very special diet, a healthy one so that he remains well. His dog food is a combination of Eukanuba dog pellets, boiled camote tops and boiled carrots. A combination, they were told, that is healthy and will keep the cancer at bay.

Pablo also takes probiotics, charconite and Fern-C. He drinks only Kangen water, which Bengy swears it’s what cured the cancer. In fact, all the dogs and humans in the Toda household drink Kangen water. “It is the healthiest water,” shares Bengy.

Chillin With Pablo

It’s funny how Monique shares it is she who has pet separation anxiety. She gets nervous when she has to leave the house for the trips abroad that Bengy and she take.

“There was a time when I even set up Skype for the dogs,” she says with a laugh. “But it was hard for our helpers to get it to work. So, when we are abroad I call very often to ask how the dogs are.”

It is Pablo who sleeps with Bengy and Monique because they say the Jack Russells are very restless.

“Pablo, he is totally chill,” quips Monique.

“When I get into bed at night, Pablo lays down beside me and then he starts to snore,” adds Bengy. “He is really so cute.”

Monique also makes it a point to get healthy treats for Pablo. Recently, she discovered a healthy organic apple treat for dogs that she now gives Pablo.

“I tried buying him clothes, but I don’t like to dress up the dogs because I feel it’s too hot here,” shares Monique.

On a Sunday, Bengy, Monique and Pablo chill in front of the TV. “We love to hang out in bed and Pablo is just there,” says Monique. “It’s such a good time for me.” 

Only For The Committed

“If you want to have a dog, have time for it,” says Bengy. “You need to pay attention to your dogs and get to know them”

“Get a dog that will suit your lifestyle, your personality,” adds Monique. But, more importantly, you need to be dedicated to it.”

Bengy says that Monique is a different person now that she has her own dogs and lives with Lulu and Joy Joy. He says that many people have told him so.

“I used to be very indifferent to dogs,” admits Monique. “But now that I have my own dogs there is a softer side of me that has come out. I am more flexible, more patient.”

So different has Monique become that in the future, when she is done with her work in the hotel, she hopes to work for any of the animals welfare groups. 

“I turn away from any news story that show cruelty being done to animals,” shares Monique. “This is why I want to do volunteer work for a shelter. Or maybe even set up my own shelter fro abandoned dogs.”

She is also happy that there are more laws and also more people who have begun to stand up against cruelty to animals. But, there is still much that can be done and Monique dreams of being able to do more for animals that have been abused or treated badly.

After all, dogs have opened her up to a personal side that she thought she did not have — and she is a happier person because of the dogs in her life.

“It is a commitment to keep dogs,” adds Monique. “But it is worth it because dogs make people better people.”