I'm Tara.  I had always loved dogs but as an adult had never had one that was "mine".  Privately I knew I was destined to rescue a greyhound someday when the right time came.   I was patiently impatient in my secret pursuit of my "greyhound to be" until one day I was told a guy had a greyhound and wanted to "get rid of it" to someone. 

Perfect, that someone had to be me and I made arrangements to go meet my new best buddy.  When I arrived it was a little chaotic and there were two very obvious things; one that the people who had my dog were showing her zero love or attention and two this dog did not have a single ounce of greyhound in her but did have a portion of most every other breed. After getting her to stop growling at me and to come out from under the bed I decided the two of us were heading out the door and we never looked back. 

Almost as soon as we got inside the car my dog that only seconds ago was terrified, growling, and upset was licking me like you would read in the happy ending of a children's novel.  This was pure magic and the beginning of my passion for dogs. Eight years later, "Sassy" is one of our pack of six and they all have some odd tale of how they found their way to us.  Our daily jaunts at Pony Pasture are the highlight of their day and I am constantly amazed and inspired by my awesome little pack.

I am originally from California but came to Virginia to pursue my Master of Social Work degree at Virginia Commonwealth University.  When I completed my degree in 1999 I decided I really liked Virginia and have never left.  My husband Kyle and I have two beautiful children, Maddux, 4 and Charlotte, 2 and as a family we do lots of fun things together.

Many of the cool things I have learned from living with our dogs over the years have been valuable in helping me with my kids in terms of maintaining a balanced and secure "pack".   Between our two children, six dogs and five cats it's a sellout crowd everyday and we wouldn't want it any other way!

 I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with the dogs at Canine Adventure, as it is something I truly love and I feel that I get every bit as much out of the adventures as the dogs do.  It is awesome!

I love dogs and I love wine. Gus came to me through my love of wine, as I was working part-time in a wine store through the holiday season back in 2002. Gus , who was then a 3 month old pot-bellied little golden/lab mix, had wandered into the wine store solo and was galloping through the aisles. Nobody came to claim this little guy and I brought him home that night. Gus was the only puppy I had ever had to raise and is still the baby of the pack at 7 years. Gus has a heart of gold and to this day plays with puppy like enthusiasm.

I call Wolfie "best in show" because of all of our dogs,  Wolfie is the all around "best" dog.  She is calm, good-natured, friendly and very tolerant.  Having taken in so many strays and rescues, I am used to dogs having "issues" but Wolfie has none. Wolfie followed me home one night as I was walking my dogs through the neighborhood.  She stayed with us that night and the next day I put up flyers and checked the paper. I was positively sure that her owners must be desperately searching for her.  That was about 7 years ago and I still wonder about where she came from. She is such an awesome dog that I could not imagine that someone was not missing her very much.  She is a great family dog and keeps the wilder ones in line. She is the perfect companion for puppies or older dogs on the adventure walks.

Little Man was my husband Kyle's dog before we met. Kyle found Little Man wandering the streets of Church Hill, an emaciated and flea infested tiny puppy. Kyle brought him home and upon taking him to the vet, discovered that Little Man had Parvo and probably would not survive.   He barely knew this dog but went every day to the vet to see him at lunch time assuring Little Man that if he could somehow pull through that there was plenty of good fun and love awaiting him. 

A week into his quarantine at the vet and shortly after Kyle had left from a visit, the nurse called to say that Little Man, who only thirty minutes prior could barely make the end of his tail wag and couldn't walk, was now jumping around and barking. He had pulled through and was ready to go start his new adventure with Kyle.  

Seven years of good health and great companionship later, Little Man serves as the dedicated ball chaser of our pack as well as our greeter as he is usually the first one to go say hi to other dogs and their owners with the rest of the gang rapidly approaching behind him.  He is also known for being an overzealous kisser of our children which seems to delight them to no end.  Little Man gets along great with others and awakes knowing he is going to make every day a fun day.