Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at High Tail Hikes? 

We make every piece of BioThane gear by hand and to order from our workshop in west Oakland, California. Since 2020, we’ve slowly built out our space with the help of friends, family, and plenty of visits from the resident shop dogs. What started as making leashes in the corner of a small apartment at the height of COVID has grown into a production facility of nearly 1,000 square feet—complete with multiple workbenches, shipping tables, storage, and an office. Founder Liz Williams' husband Gregg is a professional fabricator with an engineering background, who works on site managing the warehouse and dedicates lots of time to designing custom tooling, jigs, laser files, and workflow solutions for us - and fixing stuff that breaks (thank you Gregg)! Thanks to Gregg and the incredible work of our longtime Production Manager Cory Abshear (and the rest of our awesome team), we ship out hundreds of custom BioThane leashes, long lines, collars, and other products each week from this facility!

Although we're proud of how far we've come, we're still a small but mighty operation! Our team consists of three part-time employees and a few dedicated contractors, and we make up for what we lack in spotless, Pinterest-ready aesthetics with heart and grit. Our space is uninsulated, so depending on the season, you'll find us bundled up in hoodies and parkas or sweating it out in tank tops. We share our bustling warehouse with 20+ makers, fabricators, and fellow small business owners—meaning lots of noise, activity, and creative energy. Finally, we're all current or former R+ dog professionals and dog guardians ourselves, so our lives are full and busy (and our pockets are full of treat dust). We'll never be polished or corporate, but we're full of heart and passion (especially for dogs), just the way we like it! 

Join us for a behind the scenes tour of the space and some nuggets of High Tail Hikes history! 

The original shop space before build out. 

Cory has been our Production Manager since late 2020. Here, she stands next to a batch of wholesale leashes for Jeffrey's Pet Store in San Francisco, CA. Cory has made tens of thousands of leashes in her time at HTH and is a true bad#&!

Another pic from our early days when we were first building out the space. Pictured left to right is Jarlaen, Liz, and Cory (with Liz's dog Charlie below). 

Cory and a visiting shop dog who has figured out who has the treats (probably half of my behind the scenes photos are of Cory with a visiting pup 💕🐶)

Morgan is Cory's partner, a dear friend of High Tail Hikes, and a contractor who helps out frequently at the shop. Here he is packing orders!

A view of some of our workstations on a quiet day at the shop. 

Our friends Jen and Ali helping out during a busy holiday season. 

BioThane boxes ready to unpack. We get a shipment of this size about every two weeks; this the the raw material we use to make all of our gear!

Liz with packages ready to ship. 

One of our tools, a measuring wheel.

Alyssa, our Shipping/Fulfillment and Social Media specialist, trimming leash ends. This is a custom trimmer that Gregg designed and built for us. 

Alyssa getting BioThane from a storage shelf. This was another custom project - we laser cut shelves and installed them in an Ikea bookshelf to hold rolls of BioThane. 

Amanda packing orders. Amanda has moved on from High Tail Hikes but is a dear friend and will always be a part of the family. 

Cory making leashes while Shelby waits patiently for more snacks. 

Very important content creation moment.

Packages waiting to ship.

Another visit and snack break with friends. 

That's all for now! Thanks so much for stopping by!