Ryan and Laura Taylor have a heart for animals that beats far beyond the walls of their business, Puppy Dreams.

Story: Rheya Tanner Photography: Fred Lopez

If you know nothing else about Ryan and Laura Taylor, know that their whole heart belongs to animals. “We’re big proponents of adoption,” says Ryan. “We feel strongly that there’s no need to go to a breeder when there are so many dogs out there who need a home—and they’re often the best ones.”

The couple currently owns one dog and five cats—all rescues. “When we lived in Orlando was when we acquired most of the cats, because there were just a lot of strays showing up on our porch,” says Ryan.

When they met, Ryan owned a dog named Lucky, and Larua owned a cat named Ross. Since then, they have always given their animals L- or R-based names. “When we took in our first stray, I named her Rachel, so the cats could be Ross and Rachel from Friends,” says Laura. “She was pregnant, and had a few kittens, one of which is Lynx, who we kept, and the other two now live with my mom.”

Even the cats without alliterative names follow a theme of their own. “It was always our thing to name the street cats after rappers,” says Ryan. “We had a cat named Tupac. We still have Biggie and Macklemore.”

It was only a matter of time, then, before their fervor for their furry friends led them to becoming the owners of Puppy Dreams Pet Boarding. “Laura’s always had this dream of owning a farm with hundreds of animals,” says Ryan. “So this kind of scratches that itch for both of us.”

Puppy Dreams represents both the past and the future for the couple. The dogs who rest and play during their boarding or daycare stay have many fun-filled adventures ahead. While the dog who peers out from the left of the Puppy Dreams logo—the late Lucky—reminds them of what has always mattered most. Sweet Dreams

Ryan and Laura first met in downtown Orlando 17 years ago. “It was the fourth of July,” says Ryan. “I went to see fireworks with my friends, she had gone out to dinner with her friends, and we went to the same bar afterward.”

“I knew sooner than he did, maybe around three months in, that this was going to be a longterm thing,” says Larua. “But he took forever to figure that out.”

“I definitely thought it had promise!” says Ryan. “I’m a very analytical person—I’d rather look over things a hundred times from every which way possible. I eventually realized that I was a better person all-around with her in my life.”

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FAST FACTS

Married for: 13 years

Pets: One dog named Leo; five cats named Rachel, Lynx, Biggie, Macklemore, and Xander

Occupations: David works in sales, and Laura is an accountant

Fave local hangout: Plant Street Market Favorite

Activities: Travel, enjoying downtown Winter Garden

Secret talents: Ryan is an Iron Man triathlete

No. 1 rule in our house: Laura is always right

TV family that’s like us: The Brady Bunch but with fur babies

Most used phrase: Leo, come inside!

One time we cried happy tears: When I found out my CF medication worked for me. It was life-changing.

Favorite vacation spot: Key West, NYC, or Italy

Last book read: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Fave TV show: The Office

A cause that matters to us: TNR efforts, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, animal rescues

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The two have lived in and around Orlando for all these years. “We built a home in Bronson’s Landing and lived there for six years before moving to downtown Orlando,” says Ryan.

Specifically, the Thornton Park District. “It was the best neighborhood you could live in downtown,” says Ryan. “We loved the restaurants and bars; we could walk to see a concert or a Magic game and then walk home.”

Though the area was perfect for them, the century-old house they lived in was less so. “We wanted to upgrade it, but being in a historic neighborhood and not having a huge lot, we were just so restricted in what we could do,” says Ryan. “So we had to decide between dealing with the house or moving.”

Eventually, they chose the latter, and began exploring their options. “Because we’d been in Bronson’s Landing before, we knew downtown Winter Garden was up-and-coming,” says Ryan. “Plus, if we could get into the golf cart district, we can have kind of the same atmosphere we fell in love with at Thornton Park.”

But even Laura, who is wellversed in real estate, was surprised to discover Lake Cove Pointe. “We didn’t even know it existed,” she says. “We first saw a house on Highland, but it was an older house, which we didn’t want to get into again. So when I found this place, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is so pretty.’”

“It’s like the best-kept secret of Winter Garden,” adds Ryan. “I like the diversity of home styles. It doesn’t feel cookie-cutter like a lot of newer neighborhoods do.”

So they packed their things— and their cats—and departed for LCP. “A few of them were outdoor cats, but we didn’t want to just leave them,” says Laura. “That’s why we wanted to enclose the patio. They’re inside cats now, but they still love to use the cat-io!”

Though Winter Garden’s downtown is different from Orlando’s, Ryan and Laura are delighted with the lifestyle. “Sometimes people ask us if we miss being downtown, and there are some things we totally do miss, but this is honestly just as good,” says Laura.

“Plus, now that we’re a little older, downtown Orlando doesn’t have quite the same appeal,” says Ryan. “That was the whole idea of moving here. It’s the same atmosphere, but for a different audience. Our lifestyle hasn’t changed a whole lot—just the people we’re around. There’s nothing like sitting outside at the Crooked Can with the huge oak trees overhead. It’s just a vibe.”

Living the Dream

One of the Taylors’ favorite pastimes is entertaining. “Because we don’t have kids, we decided to make the most of our lives together,” says Ryan. “We have made our social lives a priority.”

“Normally we entertain family or a few friends,” says Laura. “I love cooking, and our kitchen is open to everything, so it’s easy to socialize no matter where you are in the house.”

They also make it downtown often. “Maybe more often than we should!” says Ryan. “Restaurant-wise, we love Market to Table. We frequent all of them.”

“We go to Plant Street Market every weekend,” adds Laura. “Every restaurant is super great; we try to visit them once or twice a week.”

As for making neighborhood friends, well, they’re working on it. “Because we’re the third house in, we rarely end up going into the neighborhood,” says Laura. “We know a few of our neighbors, but not as many as we’d like.”

“We did recently meet one of our neighbors, the Soulsbys,” says Ryan. “We were out on our patio watching a Michigan State game, and they must have been out on theirs watching it as well. It was a close game, but we beat them in the end, and we heard them cheering. So we shouted, ‘Go Green!’ and heard back, ‘Go White!’ That was a pretty cool way to meet.”

Of course, they’ve also met a few neighbors through Puppy Dreams. “We know the McNultys because they bring Lucy. The Panabakers have Sugar and Spice. The Comstocks have Boise,” says Laura. “We’re not always there when they drop off the dogs, so we usually know the dogs before their parents!” Dream-Come-True

It wasn’t long after they’d settled into their little piece of the Pointe before the opportunity to own Puppy Dreams came to their door. “We’d lived in this house for maybe a year when I found the listing,” says Laura. “The folks who started Puppy Dreams ran it for 20 years and wanted to retire, so they put it on the market—the business and the property.”

“At first I was like, ‘yeah, right,’” says Ryan. “But it was a pretty good chunk of land in an up-and-coming area. Plus, we both really care about animals, so it was a business I could see us doing.”

So, the couple went in on Puppy Dreams, and manages it while they balance their day jobs. “The plan was that he would take care of the marketing and I would do the books,” says Laura. “We rely on the staff to keep it going.”

“We’re fortunate to have an amazing staff,” says Ryan. “That’s the key, is the wonderful people working there. There are times when we get involved to fill in the gaps, but for the most part, we let the staff do what they do best.”

Puppy Dreams currently employs seven people, most of whom have been working there for several years. In fact, Ryan and Laura are some of the newest people there. “We’d only owned the place for six months when COVID hit,” says Laura. “That was nerve-wracking.”

“Everybody had their own worries, but as new business owners, we were especially nervous,” says Ryan. “We didn’t have anyone boarding, so we started doing daycares, since people still had to work. Now we have a huge client list for daycares.”

But if they had to say which dog loves daycares the most, it’d probably be their own puppy, Leo.

“It’s almost embarrassing,” says Larua. “He runs to the door to get in, and then I literally have to drag all 60 pounds of him to the car and physically pick him up and put him in the car every time we leave.”

Leo is the first dog the couple has had since their Puppy Dreams mascot died four years ago. “It took him that long to be ready for another puppy,” says Laura.

“I think what triggered it for me was the adoption events they were doing up at the Crooked Can,” says Ryan. “There was one dog I was enamored with, but someone was already looking at adopting it. At that point, it flipped the switch, and I realized I was ready.”

It wasn’t long before they stumbled upon a social media post from a rescue with Leo’s picture in it. “I just showed her the picture and gushed about how cute he was, and she took it upon herself to contact them,” says Ryan. “We drove down to south Florida on Valentine’s Day to pick him up.” Dream Away

Though animals are the Taylors’ greatest passion, they are far from their only passion. “My biggest claim to fame is completing Iron Man,” says Ryan. For the uninitiated, the Iron Man Triathlon is considered one of the most challenging one-day sporting events out there, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and an on-foot marathon to cap it all off. “I’ve done a lot of smaller triathlons, but Iron Man was definitely the life goal.”

Ryan has also completed the Boston marathon and the Chicago half-marathon, among other footraces. “I was supposed to run RED, WHITE, AND THE BLUES

Though the fireworks of Independence Day were what brought Ryan and Laura together, the day takes on a whole new meaning now. “The Fourth of July is such a different thing for us now because fireworks scare the animals,” says Ryan. “We’re definitely far less focused on that holiday.”

the New York Marathon last year to raise money for cystic fibrosis, but it got postponed. It’ll happen either this year or next year.”

The two also do plenty of traveling for pleasure. “We have emphasized a lot of the things that people who have kids sometimes sacrifice,” says Ryan. “So we try to capitalize on travel.”

Locations to date include Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Hawaii, and Turkey, as well as visiting the Florida Keys once per year. Cruising has played a huge role in helping them decide on their next destination.

“One of our favorite vacations was the Mediterranean cruise we took in 2014,” says Laura. “It gave us an opportunity to see a lot of different coasts and decide which ones we wanted to take a longer trip to later.”

“It gave us a taste of so many unique places that were so far and away from where we’d been before,” adds Ryan.

The next destination on their travel itinerary is (hopefully) a trip to Mexico for their 13th wedding anniversary on June 5. “If this issue drops while we’re there,” says Larua, “we’ll be ready to come back and say hello!”

Breathing Easy

Most of us take each breath without thinking about it, and take that for granted. But for more than 30,000 Americans, a genetic condition called cystic fibrosis (CF) can turn every breath into a battle. Laura Taylor is one of those Americans. “I struggled to breathe. I was tired all the time,” says Laura. “It was hard to get around, and I had a lot of sinus infections.” CF affects the cells that produce certain bodily fluids—mucus, stomach acid, sweat—causing them to produce more viscous, stickier fluids that clog the body’s passageways. Most people are diagnosed by the time they are 2 years old, but Laura didn’t receive a diagnosis until she was 19. “Some people have it in their GI tract as well, but my cystic fibrosis is all lungs,” she said. “I was really sick for a few years before I started reaching out to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation through my doctors.” The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation gladly let her participate in research studies for new treatments for CF, including the study for the medication she takes now. “I was lucky to be able to be on it long before it was approved by the FDA,” she says. “Thanks to it, I have had no symptoms for years.” Because she is symptom-free, Laura is no longer eligible to participate in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s research studies. But she still stays involved with the group however she can. “ They have an annual walk called Great Strides in Baldwin Park,” she says. “They also do Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month every May. “When we first met, she would get really sick once a year and have to have an IV put in,” says Ryan. “But ever since she’s been on her new medication, she’s been able to live a normal life.” “I was even able to run the Chicago Half-Marathon with him,” says Laura. “That was a big deal.”