About

MEET THE TEAM

McKenzie Homan

Owner
McKenzie graduated from Carroll College, in her hometown of Helena, Montana, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a minor in Anthrozoology. She grew up working with animals, training horses, going on cattle drives, and living with dogs. She began working professionally when she was still in high school, training cutting horses for Montana cowboys. In college, her training focus switched to dogs. As part of her coursework, she trained a rescued German shepherd for live tracking, search and rescue, and narcotics detection. For her senior project, she adopted a shelter pup and trained her for scent work and human remains detection. McKenzie has traveled to Africa to train dogs and handlers for Working Dogs for Conservation, trained dogs from beginning to fielding for invasive species detection, and has started anti-poaching tracking.
In her four years of running SkyHi she has handled and lived with approximately 1500 dogs.
When not running SkyHi, McKenzie helps her husband Kyle operate his back-country ski business, riding her horse, or is out and about in the mountains, rivers, or other wild-places in Montana and beyond.

Phil Nyhof-AM Shift Lead and Facility Maintenance

Phil has been with SkyHi since 2018. Originally from Michigan, he made his way to Montana via South Dakota in 2010. Dogs have always been a major part of his life, from his own furry family members to volunteering with animal rescue organizations. The dynamics of canine/human and canine/canine relationships and interactions never cease to amaze him. Seeing canine personalities develop and become more nuanced over time makes each day unique.

Faith Brown-PM Daycare Shift Lead and Boarding Manager
Hi, I'm Faith! I've lived in Montana working towards 7 years now, but was born and raised in Georgia! I grew up with a passion for animals and as an adult, I've owned and cared for many different animals including a chinchilla, a bunny, 2 fancy rats and 1 hairless, three cats, a bird, and finally a dog of my own! I've been with SkyHi almost 2 years; I'm excited to continue learning more about our canine four-legged friends and am primarily interested how they socialize, interact with us humans, and how their brains work in relation to training and communication! I love watching dogs personalities grow and change, and love being able to help provide a safe, fun place for them to hangout and play! I enjoy spending some of my free time with my dog Esco, going on fun hikes and adventures. Some more fun facts include: Star Wars nerd, animal figurine collector, and movie fanatic! I hope to one day pursue a career in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, while dedicating some of my home life to fostering and rehoming neglected dogs.

Kellie Lindeman- Assistant General Manager and Training Coordinator

Kellie was born and raised in Wasilla, AK before moving to Helena to attend school. She recently graduated from Carroll College with a Bachelor in Anthrozoology and an Associates in Accounting. She is currently working towards her dog training certification to develop her knowledge and skills with training to ensure she gives the best service SkyHi can provide! In future, Kellie hopes to open her own boarding and training facility. During her free time, she enjoys taking her dogs, Lucy and Lilly, out on hikes and to the breweries around Helena!

Kristi Rydeen: Daycare Attendant and Canine Enrichment Coordinator
Kristi received her Master's Degree in Psychology and subsequently pursued a PhD in Behavior Analysis at the University of Nevada (UNR) and UCLA. She established a clinic for young autistic children at UNR, taught Behavior Modification at UNLV, and landed back in Montana to be close to her family and begin a private practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor to families and children. Her loves have always been family, children--big, small, furry or otherwise!

Emma Catherine Putman-Daycare Attendant and Pm Half Day Leader

Born and raised in Montana, Emma has circulated through a lot of hobbies in her life, but all of them always go back to working with animals in one way or another. Currently, Emma is finishing up her last semester at Helena College University of Montana working towards a degree in English. Though she aims to eventually teach English abroad, she hopes to continue working with dogs and horses as a part of permanent career as well.

If Emma isn't playing with your pups, you can often find her in the mountains riding her horses with her pups right along side her!

Melissa Unke: Receptionist and Daycare Attendant
Melissa was born and raised in upstate NY before moving to Helena to attend Carroll College, where she majored in Anthrozoology and Sociology. During her Junior year at Carroll, she fostered and found a home for a shelter dog named Stella. Melissa learned a variety of obedience, scent work, and service work tasks during her training of her foster dog. Stella was adopted by a family in Helena and regularly frequents SkyHi's daycare! Melissa now lives in Helena with her own dog, Oakley, and loves spending as much time outdoors as possible. Melissa has had dogs her whole life and plans on never letting that change. She hopes to pursue a career in canine scent work, but for now is enjoying learning everything she can from her work at SkyHi!

Madison Krumm: Runner and Daycare Attendant
Madison graduated from Chatfield Senior High, in her hometown of Littleton, Colorado and has always loved animals more than anything. She grew up working with animals, training horses, and living with German Shepherds. She has 9 years of working with and taking care of animals even though she is only 19. The bond she shared with her dog was immeasurable and she knew from a young age that she wanted to work with animals. Madison has volunteered at the Dumb Friends League Humane Society for a few years when she was younger, and has experience with a variety of dogs and cats. She’s had a passion for wildlife ever since she was young, one that resonates with her to this day; In the future Madison hopes to work with endangered species. She is extremely excited to be working at SkyHi, and looks forward to all of the learning and experience that comes with it.

Delaney Lester: Reception, Daycare Attendant, Sunday Boarding Manager
Growing up in small town Omak, Washington, Delaney was raised with many animals, including multiple dogs. Being raised around animals gave her a passion to work with them, so Delaney moved to Helena to pursue a degree in Anthrozoology at Carroll College. There, she trained and fostered a shelter dog through her junior year canine classes, before graduating in 2020, learning much about canine behavior and training. From there, she decided to continue working with dogs because it was something she understood well and enjoyed. Through her experiences with Anthrozoology classes and working with SkyHi, someday Delaney hopes to train an accelerant detection dog to assist in arson investigations. Her favorite things to do with the dogs at work is to play some fetch and boop noses!

 Megan Ehl: Daycare Attendant and Runner Trainee

Megan is currently attending Carroll College and is double majoring in Anthrozoology and Psychology. Megan has been in love with dogs and loves seeing the new opportunities each dog brings. She has experience in being a puppy raiser, training and raising service dogs. Megan grew up in Portland, Oregon but fell in love with Montana when she came here for school. Most of her time is spent around dogs whether at work or not. Megan hopes to work with dogs and children in a therapeutic setting in the future.

Krista Alcock: Daycare Attendant and Runner Trainee

Krista is currently a junior at Carroll College pursuing a degree in Anthrozoology with a minor in Psychology. Originally from Ohio, she has been interested in pursuing a career with dogs throughout her life and has gained experience volunteering at local animal shelters. Throughout her junior year, she has been fostering and training a shelter dog, focusing on obedience and agility. Additionally, she will spend her senior year training a latex detection dog. She intends to remain in Montana after graduation to pursue a career in dog training.

Samantha Posey: Daycare Attendant and Runner Trainee
Hi my name is Samantha Posey born and raised in Missoula, Montana. I have a 6yr old Australian shepherd mix (Bear) and an 8yr old Corgi (Tater-Tot). They are my boys!!
A little bit about me, I am married into military life and my husband and I have found our selves stationed in Helena, MT for the next few years! We have been to California and have just left our home of fours years in Okinawa, Japan! Such a crazy experience! I have always wanted to work with animals, especially dogs and cats. Until Japan I was always volunteering at animal shelters. In Japan I worked at a boarding facility for over 3 years as a receptionist and animal caretaker for over 75 dogs and 25 cats. I have learned so much and really love this type of work. I am so excited to learn what a daycare group is all about at Skyhi Kennel! I know I have so many new things to learn.
I love getting to know what makes every dog special and unique. Also to create special relationships with every single fur baby and their owner.

Silly fact: At the facility I worked for, I was known as The Kennel Queen!