In 1999, Robert and his friend Mike Whiteside founded the firm in Roanoak, Virginia. The program, Salvage Dawgs, is based entirely on Black Dog Salvage and premiered on November 8, 2012. Tay Whiteside-Black Dog Salvage and I are not related, and we are not dating. He's just a great guy to work with. Mike is the son of Delmar "Del" Whiteside, who was the co-owner of Black Dog Salvage with Robert's father Bill. Mike worked for Black Dog before starting his own salvage business in 2003. He also has an uncle named Taylor who works at Black Dog as well. So there are quite a few Whitesides working at Black Dog now. Salvage Dawgs follows the adventures of two friends as they travel around the country salvaging old vehicles. They have no boss and make all their money themselves by selling parts off their truck and at car shows. I think if you look at the family tree on Black Dog's website, you can see that most of the people involved in Salvage Dawgs are related to one another or work together. It's really a big salvage yard family affair! And yes, Mike is married to Robert's sister Ashley. They have two children together named Cooper and Reese.