Billboard’s Power Pets is a feature focusing on musicians’ best friends — no, not the humans, but the furry (and some scaly and feathery!) ones who bring extra joy and companionship to artists. Celebrities will be sharing sweet details about their beloved pets and how their furbabies enrich their lives. For the fourth story in the series, we talked to Korn’s Jonathan Davis.

Jonathan Davis and his dog Dante were meant to be. The phantom poodle came into the Korn frontman’s life while the band was on tour in 2022, when he and girlfriend Brittany “Bee” Parisi were looking for a hypoallergenic poodle.

“We found someone and invited her out to a show, and she brought four pups,” the rocker — who is allergic to dogs — recalls to Billboard. “Originally, we were going to get a different one — a tan one — and then the whole lot came out and I saw a dog in the back who was quiet and kept to himself, and I instantly fell in love with him. And he was the phantom black and brown color, but the minute I laid eyes on him and our eyes locked, I knew he was the one.”

Now, Dante — who turned 3 in July — is Davis’ loyal sidekick and snuggle buddy. “I have a little road dog who goes everywhere with me. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see is his little eyes looking up at me. He nudges me in bed and basically says, ‘Hello, Dad!’” gushes the musician, who shares that his dog allergies used to be so bad as a child he’d have asthma attacks and had to be taken to the hospital, and so, could never curl up with a dog in bed until Dante. “Now, before we head out, I go through my morning health routine, which includes my breathing exercises. While I do that, he sits on my feet, patiently waiting. As soon as I’m done, he jumps up excitedly, knowing it’s time for our morning coffee run … he’s right by my side, no matter where I go in the house.”

Adds the rocker of his beloved pooch: “Having that kind of unconditional love and companionship from him has changed my life. I’ve never had that with my previous dogs.” 

Though Dante likes to stick by the Grammy-winning artist’s side, the pup doesn’t go on tour. “I can’t bring him, unfortunately, due to his health condition,” says Davis. “Bringing him out on the road would flare up his Addison’s disease, so he needs to stay in a comfortable environment.” 

According to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Addison’s disease is uncommon and is “caused by a deficiency of essential hormones that are made by the adrenal glands.” After diagnosis and continued treatment through medications, the outcome can be “very good.”

Davis shares that he learned Dante had Addison’s after a photo shoot for the rocker’s line of pet products, Freak on a Leash. “We thought he got sick after he was exposed to the other rescue dogs, because he was lethargic and laying around the house for a few days,” says the musician. “When we took him to the vet for his neutering, we had a severe health scare and he almost died. … So no tour for Dante!”

While going on the road is off limits for the poodle, he does help the musician in other aspects of work, including promoting Freak on a Leash by modeling products for photo shoots and promo videos. “I just wanted to create a pet brand that makes cool sh—,” Davis says of his line of products, for which he launched a new capsule collection alongside designer Ashton Michael in April. “I want to keep doing collabs and creating cool, unique designs that give people more of a variety and choice on how they want to dress their dog or cat — something that reflects their own style too. It all comes from love, and it’s awesome to see people buying it and their pets loving it.”

That April drop benefited Pup Culture Rescue in Pasadena, Calif., and the Korn frontman tells Billboard, “Each drop, we pick an organization that helps animals, rescues, non-kill rescues and organizations like that because you need a lot of money to take care of dogs and cats, and I just want to give back and help in some way. It’s very important to me.”

Read on to learn more about Dante, including his favorite FoaL toys, the cool trick Davis taught him and much more!