"In Dallas, I grew up with a couple of dogs, small dogs," Jensen Ackles unenthusiastically tells BB of his childhood pets. "Actually, my mother is a pug freak." Pugs! What cuddly canine cuteness! Those wrinkly-faced sturdy bow-legged doggies that resemble a cross between Gizmo from Gremlins and an Ewok from Return of the Jedi! Those lil' bundles of shiny beige and black fur that are so adorable you can't help but want to play with them for hours on end! Or can you? According to this Days of Our Lives doll who's played Eric Brady on the NBC soap opera since 1997 it's not that he didn't love his tail-wagging extended family. It's just that, well sometimes middle child Jensen felt that his mom Donna, played favorites with her pups, leaving the now 21 year old actor and his siblings big bro Joshua and younger sister Mackenzie to the doghouse so to speak. "My mom has pug pictures in her room, little towels with pugs on them even calendars with pugs!" Jensen exclaims as he shakes his head in exasperation. "It's ridiculous, and my dad can't stand it. He would just rather drop-kick the pugs across the street. I'm kidding!" He is kidding of course. And actually, after hearing this natural comedian rattle off tale after tale about his mom's pesky pups you'll see that despite his outward resentment, Jensen, too holds a special place in his heart for each of the cuddly cuties. "First there was Pudgy but she died when I was really young. She was old." he winces. "Then there was Ernie. He was around for most of my growing years." What Jensen chooses not to tearfully tell BB until later is that just when he and Ernie started to get close, the poor pooch got hit by a car. "Somebody left the gate open" he says. "Then we got Sluggo and we still have him," he continues adding that this latest pug is as lovable as he is "fat old and snot-slinging." Well while Jensen disdainfully rants about his mom's coddled critters he can only point the finger for so long. After all, this animal lover has his very own shepherd mix, fondly named Dallas, with whom he shares his Los Angeles abode---and you can bet that dog-loving Jensen spoils Dallas with more pampering than Pudgy Ernie or Sluggo ever got! From the September '99 issue of Big Bopper magazine