All fur love
There’s a particular kind of motherhood that comes with fur on your clothes, chew toys underfoot, and an alarming willingness to spend too much money on treats, pup cakes, fancy beds, and toys your dog will ignore in favor of the box they came in. It may not involve PTA meetings or college applications, but make no mistake: Pet moms mother hard.
I know because I have loved three pugs this way.
As someone who has raised three pugs as an adult—and now lovingly fusses over just one, Hermès—I know this devotion intimately. Vacations and meals alike revolve around him. No commercial kibble for this boy; I cook his food myself, as though a tiny, flat-faced food critic lives in my house.
When Hermès completed obedience training, I carried the sort of irrational maternal pride usually reserved for children passing the bar exam. Never mind that this same dog has also bitten enough people to require a few apologetic trips to the ER. Still, I’m grateful I’m raising a reactive pug and not a potential juvenile delinquent. Such is the emotional whiplash of pet motherhood.
And yet, beneath all the spoiling and absurdity, there is something deeply familiar about the way we love our pets. The older I get, the more I realize I mother my dogs the way my late mother raised me—with tenderness, patience, quiet sacrifice, and love that never kept score. She worried over every fever, forgave every mistake, and made home feel safe no matter what.
At its core, motherhood is showing up every day for someone who depends on you completely. Whether those children walk on two legs or four, the love is no less real.
These are furmoms and their stories.
Berna Romulo Puyat
Deputy Governor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Furmom to Biggie (pug), Mocha (aspin), Pizza (aspin), Tuna (aspin), Lola (aspin) and Coby (mixed Shih Tzu)
For BSP Deputy Governor Berna Romulo Puyat, life at home swings between chaos and certainty. The chaos comes from dogs hurling themselves at the sliding door the moment she arrives home; the certainty is Biggie the pug calmly waiting her turn, secure in the knowledge that her human will come to her eventually.
With six dogs at home, Berna says pet motherhood feels remarkably close to raising children. “You care for them, protect them, and reshape your life around them,” she says. The only difference? Human children—she has two—eventually grow up and move out. Pets remain your babies forever.
And perhaps that’s why the love feels so uncomplicated. “No expectations, no conditions,” she says. “Just simple, steady, always there.”
Lanie Yap
IT professional
Furmom to Tyson, a mixed-breed dog
For IT professional Lanie Yap, becoming a pet mom happened later in life—and perhaps that made it sweeter. Tyson quickly became both travel companion and permanent toddler. “At the end of the day, both involve raising a living, breathing being,” she says of pet parenting. “The only difference is that a furry one stays a child forever.”
Like many moms, Lanie has mastered the art of overpacking, except her luggage includes Tyson’s serious stash of necessities. Vacations also tend to involve dramatic chase scenes after Tyson slips free despite every precaution. “Using every trick and enticement in the book” has practically become part of the itinerary.
But in quieter moments, Tyson reveals his gentler side. He checks on her whenever she coughs or reacts to something, a small but unmistakable act of concern that pet moms know all too well. Sometimes love looks grand. Sometimes it just looks like a dog making sure you’re okay.
Frannie Abad
Retired
Furmom to Salsa, nine-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, and Boogie, seven-year-old Maltese
Frannie Abad’s household is supervised by Salsa, a calm Yorkshire Terrier, and Boogie, a mischievous Maltese. Together, they provide what she calls the familiar rhythm of motherhood: unconditional love, constant vigilance, and children who somehow never outgrow needing you.
“They’re like permanent toddlers, just with fur,” she says fondly.
At home, the welcome committee is gloriously over-the-top. The moment Frannie walks through the door, the dogs erupt into barking, running chaos. Boogie performs dramatic vocal solos while Salsa rushes over with a toy in her mouth. It is equal parts circus and love language.
“They cuddle next to me like Velcro babies,” Frannie says. The reward for all the feeding schedules and constant checking-in? A loyalty that asks for nothing except your presence.
Michelangela Salvador
Architect
Furmom to Yukon, a Siberian Husky
Architect Michelangela Salvador jokes that pet motherhood comes with all the classic symptoms of parenting: unconditional love, chronic worrying, overprotectiveness, and an alarming sensitivity to criticism about your child—except in her case, the child is Yukon, a Siberian Husky with questionable respect for personal space.
“You invest your time, your money, your emotions,” she says. “And you never want to go on holiday without them.”
Yukon gave her what she calls a real sense of motherhood during his puppy years: sleepless nights, endless cleanups, vet visits, and the constant chorus of “No!” familiar to parents everywhere. Five years later, the routines have become second nature, from cooking his meals to managing his occasional mischievous streak.
But their funniest ritual is something Michele calls “the stare game.” Yukon locks eyes with her intensely, as if attempting telepathic communication, and she inevitably loses. “He stares with huge admiration,” she says. “Or like he’s trying to get into my mind.”
For all his aloofness during the day, Yukon transforms the moment she comes home, greeting her with wagging tail, dramatic howls, and occasional toy offerings—as though filing a formal complaint for having been left behind. To Michele, that love is no less meaningful because it comes from a dog. “Joy and love are defined the same way,” she says, “even if they come in different sizes and forms.”
Bess Howe
PR consultant, soap and candle maker
Furmom to Mac, a West Highland White Terrier
For PR consultant Bess Howe, motherhood simply expanded to include four paws. Raising Mac, her Westie, felt remarkably similar to raising her son Tobey years earlier: firm discipline, constant care, and a great deal of love.
These days, Mac’s needs occupy much of her attention. Bess makes sure he is safe, comfortable, and properly fed—though treats, she notes firmly, remain controlled.
Mac is famously disciplined, but the sound of a Dentastix packet still sends him into spinning circles before he proudly trots around the living room with his prize, eventually retreating to his open cage to savor it in peace.
Most days, though, his affection is quieter. “He is my shadow,” Bess says simply.
Jill Hanopol
International development sector professional
Furmom to Gugma, a GSD x Belgian Malinois x Labrador mix
Jill Hanopol believes the instinct behind motherhood is universal: nurture, protect, love, repeat. The only difference, she says, is that pets never outgrow needing you.
Her dog Gugma has made Jill familiar with the quiet mental load mothers carry daily: feeding schedules, vet appointments, routines, worries. “The worry when you’re apart is quite similar to what human parents describe,” she says.
Then there was the now-infamous “Spam incident,” triggering a frantic rush to the vet and the kind of panic familiar to anyone who has ever loved a creature incapable of making sensible dietary decisions.
Still, Gugma balances out the stress with small daily gestures that feel deeply intentional: excited welcomes at the door, gifts of favorite toys, companionable walks, and simply sitting beside her quietly. Because Jill came into pet parenting later in life, she says the experience feels especially deliberate. “Every bit I give comes back immediately,” she says, “often doubled.”
Dr. Rose Ann Palma
OB-GYN
Furmom to Juancho, a pug
As an OB-GYN, Dr. Rose Ann Palma spends her days caring for mothers and babies. At home, another baby waits for her: Juancho, her almost 8-year-old pug with irresistible eyes and a talent for mischief.
Like many moms, Rose Ann plans much of life around her child—except hers happens to have paws. Vacations, errands, restaurants: Juancho is always part of the equation.
One of her favorite rituals is bathing him, a task that has evolved from wrestling an unruly puppy into the tub to gently caring for a dog approaching his senior years. The passage of time feels especially visible in those moments.
Motherhood, of course, also comes with humiliation. Rose Ann declines to share the full details of Juancho’s most chaotic moment, revealing only that it involved him pooping inside a brand-new car while she desperately tried to cover up the evidence. Some stories, perhaps, are best left partially untold.
When she is home, Juancho stays glued to her side, nudging her knees with his nose and staring at her with unmistakable devotion. And really, isn’t that the dream? To be someone’s favorite person in the world.
Lesley Anne Tan
Marketing consultant
Furmom to Atlas, Apollo, and Argus
Marketing consultant Lesley Anne Tan shares her life with three deeply loved dogs, each with wildly different personalities: Atlas, a ball-obsessed doxiepoo; Apollo, a scent-loving dachshund; and Argus, an energetic dockerpoo who attends Montessori dog school, because of course he does.
To Lesley, being a pet mom requires far more than feeding schedules and daily walks. “They all have different personalities,” she says. “You have to be fully attuned to their needs.” While scientists may compare dogs to toddlers, she believes the emotional work of raising them feels remarkably nuanced. It also means making time for each dog individually: café dates with Atlas, lounging poolside with Apollo, and school runs for Argus.
Then there are the zoomies: post-bath chaos involving three dogs sprinting through the house at full speed, knocking pillows and dignity aside in their wake.
Still, the sweetest moments happen quietly. The dogs follow her everywhere, curl around her while she sleeps, and wake her each morning with kisses. “My dogs have taught me to be present,” she says. And like many pet moms, she wishes for the impossible anyway: more time. “I only wish we can always be together for many lifetimes,” she says, “not just this one.”
Ashley Gosiengfiao
Content creator and intuitive reader
Furmom to Luna (Devon Rex cat), Gypsy (puspin), Isis (Sphynx cat), Astro (puspin), Ghost (puspin), Rune (Holland Lop bunny)
Ashley Gosiengfiao’s home is ruled by rescue cats, hairless cats, and a bunny—all with strong personalities and strict bedtime cuddle policies.
Ashley may not have human children yet, but she understands the emotional weight of caregiving intimately. Even while traveling, she constantly checks in for updates. The responsibility, she says, never really switches off—perhaps because pets never outgrow needing you.
Interestingly, Ashley believes one of the most overlooked aspects of pet parenting is discipline. Loving animals, she says, is not simply about spoiling them endlessly. It also means setting boundaries, teaching them how to coexist safely, and guiding them without suppressing their personalities. “You’re not just taking care of them,” she says. “You’re raising them.”
Of course, motherhood also has a way of humbling you publicly. One unforgettable lesson involved her rescue Astro, who seemed calm enough to travel crate-free—until he vomited all over Ashley during a car ride to a pickleball court. “Definitely a lesson learned,” she says dryly.
At night, though, the chaos softens into something gentler. Her pets gather around her to sleep, insisting on cuddles before bed even if it means Ashley herself can barely move. To her, those quiet moments symbolize trust more than affection. “They feel safe enough to settle in beside me,” she says. “That kind of trust feels like love.”
