‘I love all my nine dogs equally’

NEDY TANTOCO

Rustan’s chair and CEO has nine dogs between the ages of 2 and 14: Tricia, Tessa, Tracy, Bocelli and Katlinka, all Yorkshire terriers; Trixie, a Schnauzer; Tequila, a Shih Tzu; Skippy, a Shih Tzu mix; and Sabrina, a Pekingese and Shih Tzu mix.

“They fill up my ‘nest’ since my children are all married and all have their homes now,” Tantoco says.

She can’t forget the time Trudy, one of her Yorkies, disappeared after going on a walk. “At the time, I had six Yorkies and yaya took all of them for a walk. When she came back to the house, she did not notice that Trudy, the smallest one, did not go inside with the others. It was already dinnertime when I noticed that Trudy was missing.

“We searched our neighbors’ home; we made posters the following day and posted them on trees alongside the road. We even made an announcement about our lost dog in a local radio station (this happened in Subic). We offered a cash reward of P10,000 for the return of Trudy.
“The following evening, we received a call from a man telling us that he had our dog, so we arranged a meeting place and, sure enough, when we arrived at the meeting place and in the appointed time, there was Trudy in the arms of a stranger. He gave Trudy back to us.”

Nedy Tantoco with Sabrina, a 7-year-old Pekingese and Shih Tzu mix. “They tell me my favorite is Sabrina. But really, I love all my nine dogs equally. The only difference is, Sabrina gets to go with me to the office and sleeps with me at night. Is that favoritism?”

“I love to bring all nine of them to Starbucks in BGC where they can walk and meet other dogs in a safe, fun, clean and friendly environment,” Tantoco says. In photo: Tequila, her two-year-old Shih Tzu.

Katlinka, Tantoco’s 11-year-old Yorkshire terrier. “As any dog lover will tell you, who can compare with the affection they give you especially when you come home after a long, hard day? They are so happy to see you that you forget all your worries and problems.”

DEREK RAMSAY
Actor and model Derek Ramsay has six dogs: Skye the Samoyed, Habibi the Bichon, Riri the Corgi, Lowfat the Pom, Tyson the American Bulldog and Shakira the English Bulldog.

“They are all my kids,” he says. “They all have different personalities.”

Ramsay with Skye. “I love to just hug and play with my dogs when I get home from work.”

Shakira the English Bulldog. Some people believe that another bulldog saved Ramsay’s life. “I was sick and hospitalized for a week and the day I got home, my bulldog Beyonce died. They say she took my illnes from me.”

“One thing all my dogs have in common is that they are all very affectionate,” says Ramsay.

Habibi, Ramsay’s Bichon

NICO BOLZICO
Businessman, model and social media star Nico Bolzico share Pochola, an American Akita, El Gato the cat, and Patato and Pechuga, red-foot tortoises, with wife Solenn Heussaff.

“I love them so much,” Bolzico says of their pets. “I think they put you in a good mood, they take stress away from you, they’re always showing love. It’s kind of like a better version of a human being.”

Bolzico with Pochola

Bolzico with Patato on his head. “One story that is not funny but is really unforgettable is, one time, I forgot Patato in the kitchen. Pochola jumped on the kitchen table and grabbed Patato like he was a bone and tried to eat him basically. But Pochola was a puppy and her teeth were not strong so Patato got inside his shell and he was fine. Wifezilla found them both and saved Patato’s life. After that, I introduced Patato properly to Pochola and it never happened again. It was a pretty tense moment.”

Bolzico and Heussaff with Pochola. “I love to play a lot and I like to make a little bit of a mess so my wife gets a bit upset. I make Pochola run around the house and when she gets too excited, she starts jumping on the sofa and that’s what makes my wife a little bit nervous. I kind of like the situation but for a very short time because otherwise she kills me.”

Bolzico gives credit to his pets for taking stress away.

Patato and Pechuga the tortoises

Bolzico with Patato on his head. “One story that is not funny but is really unforgettable is, one time, I forgot Patato in the kitchen. Pochola jumped on the kitchen table and grabbed Patato like he was a bone and tried to eat him, basically. But Pochola was a puppy and her teeth were not strong so Patato got inside his shell and he was fine. Wifezilla found them both and saved Patato’s life. After that, I introduced Patato properly to Pochola and it never happened again. It was a pretty tense moment.”

ERWAN HEUSSAFF
Entrepreneur, restaurateur and content creator Erwan Heussaff and wife Anne Curtis-Smith have four dogs—Pancho, a French Bulldog; Princess, a Yorkshire terrier; and two Pomeranians, Grizzly and Tofu —and three exotic shorthair cats Bowie, Mogwai and Pixie.

“We all got them at different times,” Heussaff says. “Anne had Princess when we met and I had Pancho. Grizzly was next, he was a gift and then we fell in love with the breed, so we got Tofu. For the cats, Anne was obsessing about this cat called Snoopy on Instagram, so I checked his heritage and found the breeder in a small town in Russia. That’s where we got Mogwai. Both of us had never been cat people, but once we got Mogwai, we loved him so much. That’s why we decided to get him a playmate, Pixie, and eventually they got pregnant and had a couple of kittens. We kept Bowie from their litter, because she had both their coloring.”

Heussaff with Pancho. “Pancho loves people, hates other pets. So he is not very social with other dogs, other than the ones we have at home. I’ve brought him to the office a couple of times and he just loves going from to table to table, begging to be petted with his beautiful big eyes.”

“They are all so independent (except for the Poms) and I love that they are so chill. Sometimes they like being pet, other times they don’t, but they’re all very behaved and they all play with each other,” says Heussaff.

“The cats are always fun to tease, since they are always captivated by movement, so its fun seeing them freak out over a new toy,” Heussaff says. “Exotics are very lazy, so they don’t go overly nuts like other cat breeds, they expect you to play with them, where they are lying down and won’t move much from there.” In picture: Mogwai

“The dogs are just great companions. None of them are very active breeds that need to run/walk much, so they just enjoy staying at home, eating and hanging by our side. So we never really feel lonely in the house, when we are alone.” In picture: Pancho

Pixie the cat

Heussaff with Pancho. “Pancho loves people, hates other pets. So he is not very social with other dogs, aside from the ones we have at home. I’ve brought him to the office a couple of times and he just loves going from to table to table, begging to be petted with his beautiful big eyes.”