Tailhaven Habitat™
A Wellness-Centered Nonprofit
Where Dogs Are Home™
Reducing dog homelessness, one group at a time.
Tailhaven Habitat™ is an emerging Connecticut nonprofit focused on reducing dog homelessness through a wellness-centered network of small, lifelong sanctuaries where rescued dogs thrive.
As we envision a future where more rescued dogs will have a permanent place to belong, our habitat model will support and complement the vital work of other rescue and adoption organizations.
Our journey will begin with a currently developing Pilot Habitat on the residential property of our founder and first Guardian, Erika Dworkin, BCHN®, in Glastonbury, Connecticut. From there, we envision a responsibly developed network of permanent homing sanctuaries where 5-35 rescued dogs can experience stability, thoughtful care, and a true sense of home.
Pupdate: Celebrate Our Progress With Us!
What We Have Done So Far....
Began planning our first Pilot Habitat in Glastonbury, Connecticut.
Began devising our Guardian model for future Tailhaven Habitats and inviting interest from future Guardians and supporters.
Started building our Board, advisory, volunteer, and staff community: people who share a passion for rescue dogs, aligned values, and a compassionate, growth-minded culture.
Refined our organic, human-grade meal recipes for 5 years by feeding our founder's own dogs (now ages 1–9), with excellent results. These meals will nourish every Tailhaven Habitat rescue.
In progress with our application for recognition as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and registration with the state of Connecticut.
Our Why
Dog Lives Matter
Tailhaven Habitat is being created from our simple, deeply held belief: all rescued dogs deserve stable, permanent, loving homes where they can feel secure and form lasting bonds. We want to provide them holistic care that supports their physical health, emotional well-being, and a high quality of life through lifelong nutrition, enrichment, and love.
Dogs enrich our lives in so many ways. They . . .
Give us companionship, comfort, loyalty, trust, joy, purpose, and connection.
Teach us patience, resilience, forgiveness, presence, and unconditional love.
Help us through trauma and adversity, including grief, illness, loneliness, and major life transitions.
Support children facing anxiety, depression, grief, and other challenges in schools, hospitals, and counseling.
Assist those who need physical, sensory, medical, or emotional support.
Protect and serve alongside military personnel, and in police K9 units and search and rescue teams.
Encourage people, especially the elderly, to stay active and engaged in life.
But their value is not defined solely by what they give us. They are inherently valuable and deserve respect, tenderness, protection, and love because their lives matter.
Through Tailhaven Habitat, we will reduce dog homelessness by expanding the lifelong placement options available to socially stable rescued dogs. To this end, we will collaborate with rescue organizations, animal welfare professionals, and communities already working so hard to help them.
Why Our Mission Matters
The need for more lifelong, wellness-centered homes is very real.
The State of Dog Rescue in the United States
In just one year, in 2025 alone…
"Many shelters are struggling with staffing and veterinarian shortages, and too few adoptions."
Christa Chadwick, V.P. of Shelter Services, ASPCA
2.8
Million
dogs entered U.S. shelters and rescues
1.5
Million
dog intake events did not result in adoption
320K
dogs
were euthanized in U.S. shelters and rescues
56%
of community
dog intakes were strays in the first half of the year
10
DOG CONDITIONS
were found to be related to or exacerbated by obesity*
66%
of Stray
dogs in the U.S. sheltering system were not reunited with their owners
*Obesity Related Health Conditions: arthritis; bladder/urinary tract disease; soft-tissue trauma; torn knee ligaments; liver disease; low thyroid hormone; spinal disc disease; diabetes; chronic kidney disease; and heart failure. These canine health conditions, linked to or worsened by obesity, are based on Nationwide Pet Insurance claims data from their 2021 report. Nationwide is America's first and largest provider of pet health insurance. Nationwide Pet Insurance 2021
Statistics are quoted directly or calculated from data reported by Shelter Animals Count, a program of the ASPCA and a leading national source for animal sheltering statistics. Shelter Animals Count 2025 Annual Data Report
Our Mission
Tailhaven Habitat™ creates and oversees small wellness-centered, lifelong sanctuary homes for socially stable rescued dogs, led by carefully selected and trained Member Guardians.
Our Vision
We envision a growing network of small Tailhaven Habitats offering more rescued dogs the security, belonging, and lifelong care of a permanent home.
Our Habitat Guardian Model
Security. Belonging. Permanence.
Tailhaven Habitat will be designed around one simple principle . . .
Socially stable rescued dogs deserve the security and belonging of a permanent home.
Small, Lifelong Sanctuaries
Carefully formed groups of socially stable rescued dogs will live together in home-like sanctuaries.
Habitat Guardians
Carefully selected, trained, Tailhaven-certified Guardians will provide daily care for our Habitats.
Standards & Oversight
Tailhaven standards, training, systems, and oversight will connect individual Habitats in one responsible model.
Tailhaven Habitat is currently developing our Connecticut Pilot Habitat and
the systems and standards needed to responsibly build a future network of Tailhaven Habitats.
Our Wellness Philosophy
Essential. Not an add-on.
Appropriate Nutrition
Fresh, whole foods and thoughtfully selected organic ingredients are central to our wellness philosophy. Nutrition and supplementation will be individualized to support each dog’s needs.
Enrichment & Environment
Our Habitats will support movement, exploration, play, rest, social interaction, and mental stimulation according to each dog’s needs and preferences. Indoor and outdoor spaces will be designed around canine safety, comfort, and well-being.
Emotional Well-Being
Consistency, companionship, security, and stability help dogs feel at home. Our permanence-based model is designed to foster trust, belonging, and lasting bonds.
Building Our Pilot Habitat
Our Connecticut Cottage Vision
We are developing our first Tailhaven Habitat on two acres in Glastonbury, Connecticut, as a small, home-like sanctuary for a carefully selected social group of medium-sized rescued dogs. Our vision includes a tiny-home-style Canine Wellness Cottage with abundant windows and dog doors, a generous fenced grassy yard with flexible divided areas, trees around the property perimeter, and dedicated spaces for play, exercise, climbing, exploration, and rest. Our Pilot Habitat will help us thoughtfully develop and refine the standards, systems, and Guardian practices that will guide future Tailhaven Habitats.
Proposed Pilot Habitat | Glastonbury, CT | Conceptual AI Rendering
Proposed Pilot Habitat Interior | Glastonbury, CT | Conceptual AI Rendering
Inside, the approximately 760-square-foot Canine Wellness Cottage will feel like a cozy shared home, with an open living and resting area, twin bed bunk-style sleeping spaces, and plenty of comfortable dog beds, along with flexible divided areas for quiet time, feeding, and individualized care. A food preparation area with a sink and refrigerator-freezer, storage, laundry and grooming space, durable easy-care surfaces, climate and sound control, and easy access to the outdoors, will support both the dogs’ daily lives and their caregivers.
Meet Our Founder
Erika Dworkin, BCHN®
I often joke that I live in a dog house and it’s really not much of an exaggeration. My three rescued pups from the South have six dog beds, an ottoman, two chairs, an eight-foot sofa, and my king-sized bed at their disposal. They sleep where they want, go where they want, and are truly at home.
Dogs have carried me through some of the most difficult times in my life. I brought Xena Opera home after losing my beloved dog Sydney just three weeks before my father died. Kayla later joined us from a foster rehabilitation home because I knew Xena needed a playmate. And then came sweet Puppy Miley, the street urchin—because she needed a home and, apparently, we needed a little more chaos in our lives.
Each of them has deepened my belief that the extraordinary love, loyalty, comfort, and joy dogs give us deserve to be returned with the same generosity. Over time, that belief became something deeper.
I came to view Tailhaven Habitat as a spiritual mission, a calling to elevate humanity by elevating the place dogs hold in our often difficult human world.
I believe the way we value and care for dogs says something important about who we are as individuals and as a society.
Tailhaven is my way of honoring all that dogs give us by giving rescued dogs the security of knowing they are home, the freedom to be themselves, and the thoughtful, individualized care they need to thrive throughout their lives.
As I grew up in a wellness-focused family and am Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition®, my life and work have shaped Tailhaven’s essential wellness philosophy. I am currently completing the Feed Real Institute’s Certified Professional Canine Nutritionist (CPCN)™ certification to deepen the knowledge that will help guide our approach to canine nutrition and wellness.
As Tailhaven’s founder and first Guardian, I am thrilled that I will have the privilege of bringing this vision to life at our Connecticut Pilot Habitat and working with our team to build the foundation for future Tailhaven Habitats.
Join Our Community
The right people, resources, expertise and connections will make a meaningful difference in how Tailhaven Habitat evolves.
Whether you are ready to make a contribution, share professional knowledge, volunteer your time, introduce us to someone, or simply follow our progress, there is a place for you in our community.
Help Us Create a Place
Where Dogs Are Home™
Tailhaven Habitat is just beginning.
You can help advance our mission by volunteering your time, contributing expertise or resources (including land), connecting us to someone who can help, making a donation (coming soon!), or simply following and sharing our journey.
Every contribution, connection and expression of support will help us move one step closer to our first Tailhaven Habitat and the creation of our envisioned Habitat network.