Name: Ironclad Tupper I (but I answer to “Tupper,” “Tuppy,” and “Tup,”)
Age: 2 years, 7 months (born January 13, 2010)
Breed: English bulldog
Hometown: Born in Raynham, MA.
HC: What is a typical day in the life of Bryant University’s mascot consist of?
T: Well, first I wake Momma up at around 4:30-5 a.m. so that she may feed me breakfast. After my morning *ahem* constitutional, Momma cleans all my face folds and tail, and puts a special skin spray on me – I have sensitive skin.
Then I let her rub my belly for about ½ hour, after which, I do a little yoga followed by some meditation. It’s important to de-stress.
Wednesdays are my very favorite day because that’s when I get to come to campus and see all my Bryant people.
HC: I heard you are allergic to a lot of food. If students wanted to give you some treats, what should they give?!
T: Bacon! I am allergic to wheat, soy, barley, alfalfa, salmon, kelp, peas, and some other food stuff. The mommas have to read packaging very carefully. The safest and easiest to find (but smelliest) treats for me are dried liver or dried lamb lung…OMNOMNOM! Or cheese, like that string cheese stuff. But I’ll take bacon. Did I mention bacon? Oh, and one of my favorite treats is BACON! Real bacon, not those fake Beggin’ Strips…Or you can ask the Mommas…they usually have some good stinky stuff on them.
HC: If you had to name only five things that you love about Bryant, what would they be and why?
T: You are really limiting me here…only five???
1) The people in the Bryant community. Students, alumni, staff, parents, faculty, visitors…everyone is really good to me. The girls are the best scratchers! (Fingernails are PAWSOME!), but the boys are pretty good at the deep-tissue massage ‘cuz they got the muscles!
2) Bulldog Athletics…GO BULLDOGS! I go to ALL of the football games, but I’ll go to any sporting event I’m asked to if it fits in with my and Momma’s schedule. I’ve even gone to a couple of swim meets!
3) The Student Programming Board. Bryant’s SPB sponsors a lot of very cool and fun events, and they invite me to a lot of them! In fact, all of Bryant’s student-run organizations create a lot of awesome experiences for the students.
4) The Machtleys. Nine times out of 10, they know your name. How many university presidents are so involved with campus life that they can do that? Plus, if it weren’t for them, Bryant still wouldn’t have a real bulldog mascot! I can’t imagine a better life for a bulldog like me – love, adoration, treats, and scratches…by just over 3,500 people!
5) The trees. I’m not gonna lie, seeing all those trees is very exciting stuff to a dog!
HC: What truly makes you a campus celebrity?
T: I have got character and charisma oozing out my wrinkles! Seriously, though, I’m out there with you guys. I’m a “dog of the people.” I’m on Facebook and Twitter, and I know what’s going on with my peeps. You never know when I might RT something you posted!
HC: A lot of people think you live on campus in The Machtley’s home, where do you live and who takes great care of you?
T: Oh, no, Auntie Kati and Uncle Ron are very, very busy, and if they were my parents, they wouldn’t be able to do all the things they need to as President and First Lady of Bryant!
I have a couple of different homes. Wednesday afternoon through Saturday morning, I live with my Momma Claire Senecal in Woonsocket, RI. She works at Bryant in the Academic Records Office, and she is a certified dog trainer and temperament tester. She also teaches dogs and their people how to be pet assisted therapy teams.
Saturday morning through Wednesday afternoon, I live with my Momma Tina Senecal in Smithfield, RI. She’s Claire’s daughter, and she also works at Bryant, in the University Relations Office. Momma T’s a double alumna (’95 BSBA, ’08 MBA). If you see me at an event on campus, I’m probably with this Momma.
Bulldogs are a pretty high maintenance breed. Our wrinkles and tail area have to be cleaned and dried regularly. We’re prone to allergies – food and airborne. We don’t like to walk, so you need to be careful we don’t gain too much weight. We are more sensitive to heat than most breeds, so we shouldn’t be outside if it’s warmer than 70 degrees or we could get heatstroke. We don’t like the humans to get too complacent, so we often challenge them through the art of selective hearing. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule (although I’m exceptional, Momma says I’m pretty much a typical bulldog when it comes to these characteristics).
The mommas were asked to be my caretakers because they each have French bulldogs, which are similar in many ways to English, so they have experience.
HC: What are the pros and cons of being good looking?
T: Well, it’s a fact that the benefits of physical attractiveness are considerable and varied. It’s great, because I can’t go more than six feet through any populated area without someone coming over to scratch my ears and hold my hand. J’adore the adulation, dah-lings.
I can only think of one bad thing, and that’s the fact that I’m constantly getting hit on. Listen, ladies, I love you all, but my heart belongs to Wosebud, of the Tampa, FL, Wosebuds. We met on Twitter.