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The adventure begins…

Posted on August 1, 2019February 16, 2020 by Kirsten Barnhart

Hello! As you can see this blog is very new but it’s been a long time coming. Long story short, my dogs are my best friends. I have two of them: Caesar and Jeter. For the most part, Caesar is my main travel buddy as Jeter can be dog aggressive and I don’t like to risk taking him in public.

Caesar in Brandywine Creek, Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Caesar is an 8 year old German Shepherd/Blue Heeler mix. I have had him since he was a small, 8-week old ball of fluff. He’s been my best friend since they day I brought him home. Caesar is my hiking partner. When he was 6 years old I found a love for hiking and wanted to be able to take my dog to new places. We began to train. Last October we hiked 10 miles together in Hocking Hills. Then, in November we ventured to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and hiked 8 miles there. Earlier this spring we went back to CVNP and hiked another 10 miles. We love nature and going for hikes together. Almost every day we go for 3-4 mile walks in our hometown of Van Wert or we go to our favorite local park in Decatur, Indiana.

Jeter doing something odd with his sniffer

Jeter is a 7 year old American Bulldog/Rottie/Lab mix. He came into my life when he was 12 weeks old. The people who had him were giving him away for free because they “found a new puppy.” He was covered in fleas, rope burn, had several wounds, and had tape worm. He also has lasting joint issues from whatever he suffered before he came into my life. He’s a very sweet dog but he is a big baby. He needs constant attention which is likely why he does not get along with other dogs, including his brother, Caesar. Caesar and Jeter have been kept apart 24/7 for the past 5.5 years after an incident that left Caesar injured. Rather than re-home Jeter to a place that would probably be far less patient with him than I am, I made it work.

This is just a little bit of our story. My dogs are my best friends. I’m often sharing photos and stories of them and our adventures on my facebook. I wanted to be able to do that in a more concentrated form, which is how this blog came about. This blog will be dedicated to sharing photos and adventures that my dogs and I have together. I take Caesar on a lot of trips and often struggle to find information regarding dog-friendly trips and adventures. I’m hoping this blog can help fill that gap.

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About

I am Kirsten and this is a space where I share the adventures I have with my dogs.

TPAR started as a blog about my life with Caesar and Jeter. It’s developed into a place where I can share hidden gems in local communities to take your dog, advice and tips I’ve learned along the way, and a space where sometimes I just get the things in my head out.

Since I began this blog, Jeter has passed and Gatsby has entered my life. Today, I continue to tell the stories of the dogs in my life. I hope you’ll find something useful here and grow to love taking your dogs on adventures too.

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