A boy and his dog. By contributing writers David Farrow and Elisabeth Farrow.
You know about pugs, right? Smushie-face dogs and ours has tons of folds around his neck and down his back. He's tan and people who know pugs call his coloring buff, with black shading on his face to show off the wrinkles. (Although he's not old; he's only 8.)
Our pug's name is Jacob. He's named after the werewolf Jake in Twilight, the popular YA novels and blockbuster movies. His pug mom (my mom) knows all the movies by heart, and the family had an Edward, another pug, before Jake. Jacob the pug, like his namesake, is all male. The family even has plans to adopt a Bella pug soon, and if Jacob and Bella want to have puppies, the more the merrier, the pug's human mom says. You can never have too many pugs. A gaggle of pugs flapping around the yard, turning pug circles when a happy pug tucks his tail and runs in tight rotations, is the goal.
I love pugs and so does my family. When our Edward crossed the Rainbow Bridge, Mom was super sad. She scoured the breeder sites. When she found one in South Carolina with puppies on the way, we visited. Jakey had just been born but he was too young to come home with us. He had one brother and one sister who were both promised to other families, although my brother Miller wanted the girl pug (the breeder had named her Bubbles) instead.
Jacob sleeps with Mom but he usually starts panting in the middle of the night because he is always hot; if he wakes Mom, she puts him in the bathroom on the cold hardwoods to cool down. He also has his bed between the toilet and the tub. Dad sleeps through every kind of snorting and snoring.
Our Jake eats people food, chicken and veggies twice a day. Other additions include scrambled egg and sweet potato. Human grade treats (meaning you or I can eat them), are his go-to snack of choice. Jake prefers duck, chicken or meat flavor.
My mom's work friend adopted an Australian shepherd named Austin. He's Jake's best friend. When we are in the SUV and we ask Jacob if he wants to go see Austin, he will practically scratch the door off to get to Austin. Jacob is that excited.
I'd say Jacob is not spoiled but just the right amount of "doted-on." I learned that saying from my Pop, on my dad's side. And Jake gives all that love back because he loves to cuddle. We watch movies and read books, and he sleeps on the sofa, stuck to me like Velcro.
Favorite things: The little guy loves the beach and the waves. We enjoy our nature walks and bike riding through the neighborhood, the wind buzzing back his fur as he views the world, a bright green blur, from his specially designed Nantucket basket seat.
Jacob the pug has been to the Met and ridden the subway in NYC. He's traveled to Universal Studios in Florida and visited the islands courtesy of the Polynesian Resort at Disney, so you could say he's worldly.
In fact, Jacob's my soulmate, and my brother and my parents (the Farrow clan) feel this same way about him too. Once you have a pug in the family, no other breed can compare. Hey, so now that you know how awesome they are, don't you want a pug too?
To have your pet featured, please email Delia at ballantyne@strollmag.com.
This story appears in the August 2026 issue of Stroll Firethorne. Read the full edition here.