MEET THE TEAM
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McKenzie HomanOwner/Trainer
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 three years of running SkyHi she has handled and lived with approximately 800 dogs. She has achieved certifications for public, service, and conservation detection dog training through the American Society of Canine Trainers. See certifications below. | ||||||
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Molly McKinney-TrainerMolly is a Carroll College graduate with bachelors' degrees in Psychology and Anthrozoology and a Master's degree in Canine Developmental Science. As part of the Anthrozoology program at Carroll College, she trained a dog for narcotics detection. After the Anthrozoology program her dog, Ruger, went to work for Working Dogs for Conservation as an anti-poaching dog in Zambia, Africa.
Post-graduation, Molly worked at a local dog boarding facility while also serving as a volunteer and contracted trainer for Working Dogs for Conservation. She attends yearly American Society of Canine Trainers conferences. These conferences allow her to work with disciplines including: conservation, search and rescue, human remains detection, and police K9. She is a certified public, therapy, and conservation dog trainer through ASCT. She began training and placing working dogs in 2014 and has since devoted her life to learning and growing as a working dog trainer. | ||||||||
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Phil Nyhof-Daycare Manager
Phil is originally from Michigan, and moved to Montana via South Dakota in 2010. Phil came to working with animals a bit later in his varied employment history, but has always known that it would happen sooner than later. Alongside volunteering at local humane societies, Phil has spent time volunteering with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, UT. After moving to Montana Phil got the chance to begin working directly with animals as a veterinary technician and kennel manager. Phil is enthusiastic about and interested in the dynamics of canine/human and canine/canine relationships. He is extremely excited to be working for SkyHi, and looks forward to all of the wonderful learning and experience that comes with it. In the future, Phil hopes to continue to work with dogs, especially dogs showcasing either shy or feral behavior. |
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Jeane Stafford-Boarding Manager/ Assistant Trainer
Jeane has been part of the team for 2 years and was recently promoted to Boarding Manager. She lives on site on the kennel property and is in charge of overseeing kennel staff, integrating new dogs into the pack, and maintaining the property and yards. She has two lovely dogs who work in a supervisory role out at the kennel. She enjoys hiking with her dogs, and being in the great outdoors. She is interested in growing as a trainer and learning about sustainable agricultural practices. |
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Skyler Howard- Boarding Specialist/ Assistant Trainer
Skyler is from Vashon Island, Washington and came to Helena to study Anthrozoology and Psychology at Carroll College. She has always loved animals. In high school she was a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind and raised five puppies, three of which became working guides. She's volunteered at a vet clinic as well as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah and the Lewis and Clark Humane Society. Through the Carroll College Anthrozoology program she fostered a dog for a year working on scent training as well as various service tasks. She recently adopted her own dog and aspires to do scent and tracking training. She is a certified public trainer through the American Society of Canine Trainers (see certifications below).
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Leah Zitnik: Daycare Manager
Leah is a football mom: Go Panthers! An animal lover with vet-tech experience, she loves to be outdoors or snuggled up with her cat reading the newest Outlander book. She is a certified Massage Therapist, so when she is in the back hanging out with the daycare pups the dogs line up for the best petting session ever! |
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Cecilia Graves- Daycare and Boarding Specialist
Cecilia is from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and graduated from Carroll College with bachelors’ degrees in Anthrozoology and Health Sciences. During her junior year she was introduced to dog training and fostered a shelter dog, working on a little of everything, from basics to service tasks. She is currently puppy raising a service dog and hopes to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine while continuing to learn and grow as a dog trainer. |
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Faith Brown-Daycare and Boarding Specialist
Faith is originally from Georgia, she grew up there and moved here to Helena early in 2015 right after graduating high school. She has worked in various fields since then, gaining heavy knowledge in the customer service industry. However, she has always known that she wants to dedicate her life to dogs in one way or another. She has spent time volunteering at animal shelters as a younger teen, and is now gaining even more experience as an adult working with dogs directly here at SkyHi, which has been her dream. Faith has one dog of her own at home as well, and they are always enjoying fun hikes and walks downtown. She hopes to one day pursue a career as a veterinary technician, while dedicating some of her home life to rescuing and rehabilitating neglected/feral dogs. |
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Kellie Lindeman- Daycare and Boarding Specialist
Kellie is a senior Carroll College student studying Anthrozoology and Accounting. She was born and raised in Wasilla, Alaska. Her junior year she trained and fostered a shelter dog working on basic obedience as well as scent and tracking. Learning from her past experiences at kennels as well as from SkyHi, her eventual goal is to start her own day care and boarding facility in Boise, Idaho. |
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Kristi Rydeen: Daycare Specialist
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! |
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Kailey Kleinjan—Daycare and Boarding Specialist
Kailey is a senior Carroll College student from Chinook, Montana. She is studying Anthrozoology and Sociology with a focus in Criminology. During her junior year, she fostered and trained a shelter dog for a variety of tasks, including basic obedience and scent work. She currently has a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd puppy named Paisley that she is training through the Anthrozoology program. She is training Paisley to be her herding dog and is hoping to do some Search and Rescue work, as well as narcotics detection. After graduating in May, she plans on moving back home to become the manager of the dog shelter in her hometown, start up a dog training business, and eventually take over her family’s ranch. |
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Melissa Unke-Daycare and Boarding Specialist
Melissa is a senior Carroll College student studying Anthrozoology and Sociology with a focus in Criminology. She was born and raised in Rochester, New York. Her junior year she fostered and trained a shelter dog in tasks like therapy and scent work. She enjoyed doing scent work with her dog so much that she hopes to pursue a career in either narcotic or pest detection. Her favorite part about working at SkyHi is getting to know the dogs and their different personalities and getting to spend time with them each week. |
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Emma Catherine Putman-Daycare Specialist
Emma has been born and raised in Montana. She’s 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. Although she’s mainly had serving jobs throughout high school, after working as a barn assistant senior year, learning how to teach others how to ride horses, serving didn’t quite do it much for her anymore… Emma is currently attending her second year at the Helena College University of Montana working towards her associates of arts. She’s hoping to get a teaching degree and use it to study abroad and tutor people learning English, while also getting the opportunity to see the world. At home with her family, she adores the company of her golden retriever, Rue, her two horses, Sunny and Italy, her flock of chickens, her cat Luna and her two goats. People ask her if she has her own farm and she always answers no, she just loves animals so much why not collect them all! |