Our love for hiking with dogs started in 2008 with the Salty C Dog. Codey was a lover of swimming, hiking, the beach, his friends, sticks, and anything involving a tennis ball. He was the best, so in 2010 we adopted our second dog, Max. My heart dog. The LOVE OF MY LIFE. If you’ve been lucky to have a heart dog, you know what I am talking about.. that once in a lifetime dog. (We have a special story, but I’ll save that for another day!)

After adopting Max and learning what rescue was all about, we dove head first (okay, I dove in head first and took Josh with me) into the world of dog rescue. We have fostered countless dogs and gradually took a special liking to fostering the dogs that require experienced handlers for structure, training, and a clear understanding of dog body language. Along the way we adopted (foster-failed!) two of our other GA peaches- Cassie & Mark. 

In 2013, my friend Katie and I left the rescue we were volunteering with and co-founded our own rescue, Survivor Tails Animal Rescue. To date, we have saved and rehomed over 1500 animals (98% dogs). While launching Survivor Tails, I was starting to get burnt out with my 15 years in EMS. The next logical thing for any crazy-dog-lady in the making would be to start figuring out a way to switch careers and follow my pipe-dream of working with dogs. I started working at different doggie daycares on a part time basis while still working in EMS. Eventually I found a suitable full time job with an off-leash dog hiking company – and fell in love!!

In 2015 Sandy Tails K9 Adventures was born, and in 2021 Josh came aboard as co-owner. He currently handles the administrative stuff while I work out on the trails with the dogs. Josh has been an integral part of Sandy Tails since the beginning,  helping with the larger groups when needed to keep our human:dog ratios low! He currently works as a paramedic and we are hoping to have him jump on board full time in 2021. We have lots of plans for the future of STK9!

We treat all our pack members as our own personal dogs, and we understand each dog has individual needs. We strive for a balanced dog that is happy and content, created with equal parts discipline, communication, fun and love.