About Us

The idea for “Tails on DMV Trails” came to me back in 2015 when I had three rescue dogs, ages 10, 9 and 5 at that time. I saw a Facebook post about a man who took his terminally ill dog on a journey to visit our nation’s top destinations and it got me thinking.

At the time, my pack consisted of a devoted Lab/Chow mix named Rocco, a goofy Lab/Chow/Dalmatian mix (a.k.a. Labrachowmation) named Alex, and the sweetest, most fun-loving Beagle to ever roam the earth, Colbie.

While I knew that traveling across the country with three dogs was not feasible — I’m not insane enough to camp with three dogs, plus I had two school-aged children at home to attend to — I determined that I was not going to wait until “the end” to make sure my pups had gotten everything out of life. When it would come time for them to cross the rainbow bridge, I wanted to be able to look them in the eye and have “No Regrets.”

But how? What could I do to enrich the lives of my four-legged companions? Given that Washington, DC is my backyard, it occurred to me that I could take them to the National Mall and take wonderful photos in front of some of our most treasured monuments. But the more I thought about this, I realized that to do this would be nothing more than a photo op, not something that my dogs would truly enjoy.

But if you could see the enthusiasm that my dogs physically and vocally (a howl-lelluia chorus) expressed each time I pulled out their leashes or mentioned the word “walk” — which later had to be spelled out, and when they became privy to what that meant, it was referred to simply as a “w” — you would understand why it became apparent what I needed to do.

I could not show them the Grand Canyon, Graceland or Mount Rushmore, but I could show them the C&O Canal, Great Falls, Catoctin Mountain and the many hiking trails in the DC,  Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area. And thus, the seed was planted for a blog about canine hiking in the DMV.

While a family illness (and then the aging for two of my dogs) prevented me from getting this actual blog started earlier, what I could do was get my dogs out every single day to do what they loved — to walk and hike. And that is exactly what we did. Every. Single. Day.

I may not have taken many pictures of those initial hikes and walks. Remember, I was walking three dogs at a time. To onlookers, it might have looked like mayhem, although to me I envisioned myself looking like one of those graceful Olympic rhythmic gymnasts with my multitude of ribbon leashes. When I can, I will include photos of those early hikes. After all, my initial trio is what inspired this adventure.

We did have to say goodbye in 2020 to Rocco and Colbie, one to old age at 15, the other to cancer at age 14. And in the end, I did have one regret — I wanted more time with them — but that was beyond my control. When it came to their daily happiness and showing them a good life, there were No Regrets.

My 11-year-old Labrachowmation Alex and I continued our walks and hikes together, but we sure missed the rest of our canine pack. So in August 2020, we happily became “foster failures” and adopted Penny, our sweet and lovable rescue hound. She certainly adds sass to our pack.

But who am I? What is my pedigree, so to speak, that gives me any authority to be blogging about this? Maybe nothing really, other than that I’m passionate about my dogs and the outdoors. I am a former reporter and business owner. I worked on environmental policy for a Governor and a U.S. Senator. I was an energy-sector lobbyist. I am passionate about my family and friends and am grateful for the relationships I have with them. And I am an enthusiastic Dog Mama (and foster mom and rescue advocate) to my dogs and try to give them even a fraction of the love and devotion that they give to me and my children every day.

So Alex, Penny and I are taking to the mountains, the streams, the battlefields, the parks, the seaside, and who knows where else and we want to take you with us. We hope to provide you with some history, with some unknown facts, with some of the area’s culture and with some potential new places to explore throughout DC, MD and VA. But most of all, we hope to inspire you to get out with your canine friends. No regrets!

Happy Tails and Happy Trails!

Fondly,

Kathleen