Brittany Mahomes Says Her Dog Steel Was a Gift from Patrick: ‘Used to Be a Steelers Fan’ (Exclusive)

Brittany Mahomes is sharing the sweet origin story of her beloved dogs, Steel and Silver.  “I mean, they’re basically our children,” Brittany, 28, tells PEOPLE of the pups, who work with celebrity dog trainer Tom Davis. “I consider us having four kids,” she adds.  The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model shares daughter Sterling Skye and son Patrick “Bronze” Lavon with the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Before they became parents to Sterling and Bronze, Brittany says the couple became dog parents during her junior year of college at the University of Texas at Tyler, where she graduated with a degree in kinesiology in 2017.  “I actually got Steel when I was in college. Patrick bought him for me for a Valentine’s Day gift when I was a junior,” the KC Current FC owner shares, admitting that the Pittsburgh Steelers inspired Steel’s name.  “So, I actually used to be a Steelers fan and that’s how I got the name Steel, so that’s a great story,” says Brittany, who recently announced a partnership with PetSafe alongside Davis.

Brittany and Patrick adopted Silver a couple of years after welcoming Steel. “I think it was back in 2018 after Patrick’s first year in the league. We decided we wanted another addition,” she explains.

Both dogs are “wild and full of energy,” says Brittany, who has grown up around dogs her entire life. “I’ve always had a dog in the house, ever since I can remember. Even my parents split, and they both ended up having dogs, so I’ve grown up with dogs. I’ve never lived in a house without a dog,” she shares.

Still, Brittany and Patrick turn to Davis’ expertise to keep Steel and Silver prepared for the fast-paced lifestyle of NFL pups.  “We’ve been working with Tom for several years, and he’s the best fit for our family and dogs. I would say it was about 2019 or 2020, within about a year of us having Silver because she was a handful, and then we got introduced to Tom through a friend of ours who used him as well. And we’ve been using him ever since,” says Brittany.

Brittany and Patrick fly Davis out to Kansas City to work with Steel and Silver occasionally, which “just shows how much they love and care about dogs,” Davis tells PEOPLE.  “What I find endearing about both of them is that it’d be really easy for them to write off different things if they wanted to, but they don’t,” Davis shares, citing the couple’s busy lifestyles.

Brittany says having a trainer work with the dogs helps everyone stay calm and collected because “We do kind of go back and forth in the off-season between Kansas City and Texas, so the changing environments get a little overwhelming for them.”