In September 2005, after 25 years of working in military, federal, and municipal law enforcement, Franco Angelini retired. His career as a K9 Handler and Trainer began in the US Army as a Sgt. and Military Police K9 officer in 1984. After the military he moved on to work for the United States Secret Service (Uniform Division) from 1986 to 1988. After the Secret Service, Franco became a K9 Handler/Trainer for the Harrisburg Police Department (Pennsylvania) where he retired in 2005. In conjunction with being a K9 Handler and Police Officer for the city of Harrisburg, he also instructed at Castle's K9 Inc. After retiring from the police force in 2005 Franco worked full-time as the lead instructor at Castle's K9 Inc.

Franco has been running his K9 Bite Dr. Decoy Seminar since 1994. At the conclusion of 2015, the "K9 Bite Dr." achieved a milestone by graduating an excess of 2,000 students! He has, and continues, to work with private companies, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, and with military/special operation units on a national and international level.

Franco now concentrates all of his efforts on educating students in the art of decoying-helper work so that handlers may be able to attain their goal of becoming accomplished handlers, proficient trainers, and professional decoys. The K9 Bite Dr. Decoy Seminars have been held nationally as far north as New Hampshire, as far South as Florida, and as far West as Hawaii, covering 25 states in-between. Internationally Franco has hosted seminars in Canada, Australia, and England.

Mark Carr started his career of public service as an Emergency Medical Provider going from EMT to Nationally Registered Paramedic. Mark went on to be a Correctional Officer and then a Police Officer on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Mark served in the Law Enforcement & EMS community for 20 years before medically retiring in 2016. Mark’s LE career involved assignments as a Patrol Supervisor, K9 Handler/ Supervisor/ Trainer, SWAT Operator/ Tactical Medic/ Counter Sniper and Team Leader. Mark is a Maryland Certified General Law Enforcement Instructor and Firearms Instructor as well as being a Trainer of Utility and Narcotics Detection Teams through the NAPWDA since 2010.

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After working for Castle’s K9 for many years as the Trainer of two regional K9 training groups, Mark founded Tydewater Strategic Services, LLC. in 2016 as a Public Safety Training, Consultation and Sales company. As the President and Head Trainer of the company Mark has contracts for many local agencies for initial and monthly training programs.

Chris is a police sergeant for the South San Francisco Police Department located in Northern California. Chris has been a police officer for 17 years and is currently assigned as a patrol sergeant on graveyard. Chris was a K-9 handler for 13 years, worked two dual-purpose K-9’s and was recently assigned as the supervisor of the K-9 Unit. Chris is a team leader on the North Central Regional SWAT team and started the SWAT / K-9 program with his last K-9 partner. Chris is also a member of the San Mateo County Terrorism Counter Assault Team, firearms instructor, Taser instructor and was a Field Training Officer for 12 years. Additionally, Chris is a canine evaluator for the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) and is the Vice President and trainer for Trident K9 Consulting which is responsible for training law enforcement K-9 teams in Northern California.  

Ricky Farley has owned and operated the Alabama Canine Law Enforcement Officer’s Training Center since 1992. He has had the privilege of training police service canines for over 28 foreign countries as well as over 1500 police departments inside the United States.
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Over his 21-year career, Mr. Farley has trained canines in areas of narcotics, explosives, accelerant, and cadaver detection as well as apprehension. 

Daniel Gumm has been a police officer with the Wichita Police Department since 2004. He was selected for the department’s K9 unit in 2009 and became a certified instructor in 2011.

Officer Gumm also became a certified SWAT dog instructor in 2019 and is an adjunct instructor for the Utah POST canine program. Officer Gumm has instructed multiple K9 basic courses and provides weekly training for the south-central Kansas region. Gumm is currently assigned to the department’s Patrol South Bureau.

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Gumm has handled one drug detection/handler protection dog and 2 patrol dogs in his 11 years as a K9 handler. In 2017 Officer Gumm was involved in a shooting incident that left the suspect and K9 Rooster dead.

26+ years’ Working dog experience,
22yrs of which seen continuous canine operations in hostile environments; 8yrs directing canine programs in support of high-profile government organizations including the US Department of State and the Department of Defense in Iraq and Afghanistan. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
15 years of continuous canine operations in Northern Ireland deployed with the British Military Army Dog Unit, during some of the most challenging & hostile times in its history; completing 2,342 recorded operational detection tasks, against live devices.

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Paul completed 6yrs as a working dog adviser in support of the British Government Defense Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) and more recently worked alongside Auburn University`s Canine Research & Development Program on various US Canine Defense & Research projects.
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Paul had recently returned from briefing the EU Working Dog Commission (representatives of 22 – countries) on Body-worn Explosive K9 Detection.

Ray Herndon has approximately 25 years of law enforcement experience. He served as a city police officer and Sheriff’s deputy in North Carolina as well as dedicated many years of service to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. He retired from full time service in North Carolina in April of 2015 and is currently employed as an Agent for the Meridian Police Department Criminal Interdiction Team in Meridian, Mississippi. He has been actively involved in full time highway criminal interdiction since 2001. He is a certified canine handler and his responsibilities specifically include exposing the various criminal elements that exploit and seek refuge within the transportation industry. Ray has made numerous apprehensions and successful prosecutions of individuals involved in many types of criminal activity to include drug smuggling, cargo theft, equipment theft and more. Ray has simultaneously been involved in the commercial motor vehicle industry since 1986. He not only drives commercial motor vehicles but actually owned a small fleet of commercial motor vehicles that operated throughout the continental United States. He has been involved in many types of transportation operations such as refrigerated goods, dry freight, cargo tanks and more. He has an intricate industry knowledge that has been beneficial in his law enforcement career. This parallel experience has given Ray the unique opportunity to teach law enforcement officers nationwide about the transportation industry and how it is commonly exploited. In 2011, Ray founded Diamondback Training, LLC which is a program designed to train law enforcement officers in fully understanding the transportation industry, how it operates and how to recognize when it is being exploited for criminal gain. Ray has also partnered with select transportation industry officials to educate and develop “best practices” to minimize exploitation of their equipment, thus encouraging partnerships between law enforcement and the transportation industry. Ray is responsible for the seizure and removal of approximately 70 million dollars worth of contraband from the Interstate Highway system. His largest single marijuana seizure to date is 4000 lbs. His largest single cocaine seizure to date is 220 kilograms. He has testified numerous times in the state and federal court systems. He has also been accepted in both state and federal court systems as an expert witness in criminal interdiction cases

Travis Hicks is the owner and head trainer of Flatline K9, a dog training business located in Southern Illinois. Flatline K9 offers training in the areas of obedience, behavior modification, personal protection, working dogs, and hunting dogs. Travis has been in law enforcement for close to 20 years and is currently employed as a Police K9 officer for the Cambria Police Department along with his Dutch Shepherd Ryker. Travis also served more than twenty years working as an EMT-Paramedic

Mike is a current 26-year law enforcement veteran and 17-year veteran police service and working dog handler in the Chicago Metropolitan area.  He has handled multiple dogs specialized in patrol, narcotic-contraband detection and human remains detection.  Mike is currently a K-9 Team Sergeant for a multi-jurisdictional mobile field force, serving the Chicagoland area.  He has more than 8,000-hours of training in law enforcement and police service dog operations.

Mike is the recipient of numerous awards from the Bartlett (Illinois) Police Department, the Cook County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Office, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois D.A.R.E. Officer's Association.

Mike is the lead instructor for Sheepdog Guardian Consulting and maintains the most comprehensive canine legal website, “Canine Legal Updates and Opinions” and contributed to multiple magazines, and podcasts.  He has taught and written about police service and working dog operations, industry standards and legal updates for over 10-years and studied under Terry Fleck, Ed.D..  Mike is a committee member with the Illinois Tactical Officer’s Association K9 Committee (Subgroup: Patrol K9) and former member with the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Working Group Canine Compliance.

Mike is a certified instructor in the following disciplines:

·         Use of Force

·         Below 100

·         Non-Lethal Training Ammunition

·         Handcuffing

·         MEGITTS XVT

·         PPCT/Defensive Tactics

·         Firearms

·         Rifle/Carbine

·         OC Chemical Spray

·         Less Lethal Impact Munitions

·         Chemical Munitions

·         Distraction Devices

·         Instructor Development

·         CEW

Mike has also consulted on cases in federal and state court and has worked with the Illinois Law Enforcement Training & Standards Board for a Subject Matter Expert content developer for a new Narcotic-contraband legal course initiative through the Executive Institute at Western Illinois University (requirement for all Illinois Narcotic-contraband Detection handlers, both new and renewal qualifications).

Mike brings a unique perspective to the police service and working dog legal update arena because he is not an attorney, but an active dog handler with a background as a former union chapter president and current designated officer-in-charge.  He has dedicated his career to studying and researching use of force and K9 Legality.

Jim is a 31-year police veteran canine handler/trainer who has been involved in the blasting industry since the 1980s. He works in the Science and Technology Field and is involved in explosives research. He has worked throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Ljunggren was an Explosives Odor Detection canine handler and deployed at the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013. He is the Homemade Explosives and Post Blast instructor for the Massachusetts Department and Fire Services Training Program.

Cory has spent the last 15 years working in the zoo industry managing large animal programs, teaching courses on animal training, and working with nutritionists on a daily basis to achieve peak health and body condition on the animals in his charge. Cory has an extensive background in the animal health, husbandry, training, and nutrition. He has worked with thousands of large and small animals around the world as a consultant to their animal management needs.

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As the National Industry Manager for the Eukanuba/Royal Canin, Cory focuses on the Canine nutrition needs specific to the working dog performance athletes. He consults with individuals, law enforcement departments, government agencies, search and rescue teams and other organizations to provide optimum results from a nutritional aspect for their canine partners working in the field. Current duties also include field work with the Royal Canin/Eukanuba Pet Health Nutrition Center out of Ohio on new product development specific to working and other performance dogs.

Jim is the owner of NC K9 LLC in Stantonsburg NC. Jim has been handling and training police canines since 2005. Jim served as a police officer in New Hampshire for 15 years and handled two police canines during that time. Since moving to North Carolina in 2014, Jim has trained police canine handlers and military canine handlers from all over the United States and several foreign countries. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
NC K9 LLC specializes in providing trained police canines and handlers courses to Law Enforcement. Jim also conducts decoy, tracking, detection, and problem solving seminars to enhance your canine unit.

Jason is the Training Director and owner of Highland Canine Training, LLC which was founded in 2006 and is located in Harmony, North Carolina. Having earned his Police Canine Instructor’s Certification in 2003, Jason has been training dogs for over 25 years. He has trained canines in the areas of Narcotics Detection, Explosives Detection, Human Detection, Police Patrol, Scent Discrimination Tracking / Trailing, Termite Detection, Mold Detection, Human Remains Detection, Allergen Detection, Bat Guano Detection, Urban Disaster, Wilderness Search and Rescue. Jason has trained over 900 working dogs and handlers for detection, police patrol and search and rescue. Jason’s work in the K9 detection training and patrol dog training has qualified him as a subject matter court expert.

Jason has been a sworn Police Officer since 1995 and served Reidsville Police Department in North Carolina for over 10 years as a Police Canine Handler, a K9 Unit Supervisor, Vice Narcotics/Interdicition Unit Supervisor and an Operator on the SWAT team. Using his professional background, Jason conducts police canine handler courses and seminars throughout the United States including Police and Military personnel at NASA and the Pentagon as well as for Special Forces units of the United States Military and for foreign Military and Police Departments. Jason has been an Instructor/Speaker at national and international K9 conferences for several years. Additionally, Jason provides oversight of all other trainers’ courses offered at Highland Canine Training, LLC. 

Justin has over 25 years of professional dog training experience and was a Law Enforcement Officer for 17 years. He spent 10 years as a K-9 handler and trainer. His unique background and experience in civilian dog training and as Police service dog training sets him a part from other trainers in his field.

Justin’s passion for dog training is evident. He has assisted thousands of pet dog owners in enhancing their relationship with their dogs, bridging the gap of communication with their beloved four legged family members. Justin utilizes a proven, reliable, humane and clear, real world training system, which produces results and a dog who knows its job and loves its job. During his Law Enforcement career, Justin was fortunate enough to have been able to work three patrol dogs. Justin is a former member of the Davie Police Department and their K‐9 unit where he was a handler for K‐9 “Vader”, a Belgian Malinois who was produced from his own breeding program.

Going from watching Vader take his very first breath in life, to becoming a productive K-9 partner was extremely rewarding. K-9 “Bosko”, an all black GSD (German Shepherd Dog) was responsible for hundreds of arrests and apprehensions of violent felony offenders and has been instrumental in the recovery of numerous articles of valuable evidence. Post retirement, Bosko obtained his Brevet in French Ring sport. His last patrol dog K‐9 "Zeke" is a sable GSD who has been raised from a puppy by Justin and his wife Alison. Zeke was a proven, vigilant and tenacious police service dog during his career. Most notably defending his handler during a deadly force encounter and officer involved shooting. Zeke will continue to work and compete in civilian dog sport.

Justin was a Corporal and trainer for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which had 60 dogs department wide. During his professional dog training career he has trained with hundreds of Police K‐9 teams, competed in Schutzhund, Ring Sport and other dog sports. He has also trained dogs for celebrities, professional athletes and thousands of pet dog owners. Justin graduated and has been awarded a diploma in the NePoPo Gold training system, the modern language of dog training by Bart Bellon.

Current Board-certified Emergency Room Physician at Pocono Medical Center.  EMS Director for multiple EMS agencies, current Physician for Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department SWAT team, and Tactical Combat Care instructor.  Prior to current position was SERT team physician for Stanly County Sheriff Department in Albemarle, NC. Urban Search and rescue certified. Passions include Tactical Medicine and Prehospital Medicine.

Eric is the owner and head trainer of VanEss K9 Academy LLC, and cohost of the @working_dog_radio podcast. Eric is a 23 year veteran of law enforcement. His current assignment is as the full-time K9 trainer for a busy K9 unit as well as the Training Director of the @policek9association , which consists of 40 K9 teams. Eric handled 4 dogs on the streets to include as a member of a busy, inner city swat team. Eric spent several months training dogs for Naval Special Warfare Group 1 in Coronado, California. His specialty is large group scenario based K9 training where he puts dogs and handlers through very realistic, and often very challenging, scenarios with the main goal of creating a team that will succeed on the street and go home safely. Eric and his training can be found on Instagram at @vanessk9

Aaron served six years in the Marine Corps in both the Infantry and Diplomatic Security. Aaron then went into Law Enforcement in the Northern Virginia region where he served 15 years with time in patrol, community policing, narcotics, full-time SWAT, SWAT K9 and patrol K9. During his tenure in law enforcement, Aaron went back to school full-time at night and earned a bachelor’s degree in security studies from The George Washington University.

Aaron then started a veteran owned and operated business - Ridgeside K9, LLC while still working as a patrol K9 on the midnight shift. Ridgeside K9 started as a small, family-based operation focusing on rehabilitating dogs with behavior problems. Ridgeside K9 grew expeditiously in the DC metro area due to word of mouth. Within 18 months Ridgeside K9 grew to boarding, board and trains, dog sales, private lessons, and coast to coast transports. Ridgeside K9 also partnered with Activpower Inc. to create new K9 products. Within two and a half years Ridgeside K9, LLC bypassed its 20 year goal of growth and revenue. In August 2018 Aaron decided to leave law enforcement and focus solely on Ridgeside K9 and its continued growth.

Howard is a civilian police K9 trainer located in Shelby NC. From a young age, he had a passion for working dogs, along with a hunger to learn. This passion put him on a path to assist with training police and protection dogs with an acquaintance at a neighboring county Sheriff’s Office. Also on that path was an opportunity to become familiar with the sport dog world. As his knowledge, experience and love of working dogs grew, that path eventually led him to his local police department in Shelby NC. He was offered a job to be a civilian police K9 trainer and for over 25 years, he has been employed to oversee the procurement, development and training of the Shelby Police Department’s K9 teams. He has since contracted with the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office to oversee the training there, as well. Howard has developed many successful K9 teams over the years, and has been rewarded by their successes in the service of the community. In 2018, he and his wife created a private business under the name of White Beard K9, Inc. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and experiences, hoping to impassion and broaden the skills of others to be successful in the world of working dogs.

Scott Clark, Owner and Founder of High Drive K-9, has been a Police Officer for the City of Coral Springs Police Department, Broward County, Florida since January 1999. Since 2001, he has been assigned to the K-9 Unit where he currently serves as an active K-9 Handler & Head Trainer. He has been working and training patrol and detection dogs since 2002. He is a current certified State of Florida FDLE K-9 Team Instructor and FDLE K-9 Team Evaluator. 

In addition, Scott is the K-9 Unit Head Trainer, Multi-Jurisdictional K-9 Head Trainer, SWAT K-9 Team Leader, Trainer and SWAT K-9. Scott has a vast knowledge in Canine Behavior, Decoy Development, Bite Building, K-9 Tactics, K-9/SWAT Tactics and has countless K-9 & SWAT Deployments.

Currently Assistant Team Leader and Medic for his agency's SWAT Team. Prior to his 14 years in Law Enforcement, Scott had a 15 year career in Fire/Rescue, EMS, HazMat and Technical Search & Rescue, including a member of FEMA PA TF-1. Scott also teaches Tactical Medicine and Active Shooter Response outside of his Police Agency

Dave Dourson is the Co-Owner and Co-Founder of Kinetic Performance Dog Food. Dave has 30 years of experience in various blue-water business ventures that focused on filling a “need” that, many times, in the corporate world, were overlooked by CFO’s that focused on profit over quality. Dave and his partner, John Howard, met while working for a large, mid-west based, pet food company in 2009. With a desire to focus on animal health over profitability, the two left corporate America and started their own company in 2011. The pair spend countless hours working with various kennels across the United States on K9 nutrition and conducting nutritional seminars. Dave has conducted seminars for various divisions of the DoD, Homeland Security, USSS, Military Divisions and numerous State and Local PDs.

Brian Gagye is a dog psychologist and President of Canines on Duty.  He served in the United States Marine Corps as a Scout Sniper. After his time in the Marines, he worked for a sheriff’s department in Michigan until he was injured in the line of duty and  later worked for a specialized security company.

Brian has also been training dogs for over 25 years and specializes in dog psychology. 

Brian ran his own kennels for 10 years and sold them to focus on his studies in cognitive  psychology. He has taught his dog psychology and problem-solving seminars for police officers and civilians internationally.

Brian is currently finishing his B.A. in psychology. He believes it is not just

understanding dogs, it is also understanding how we perceive information. He knows that how we perceive information is translated into plans of action (behavior) which make or breaks the relationship we have with our dogs. He teaches how situations effect a dog's behavior and how to adjust the handlers mindset, assisting in fixing problematic areas

Robin has been involved in detection work since 2001, beginning in wilderness and human remains detection (HRD), which expanded into disaster work. She trains and deploys with Nebraska Task Force 1 and Iowa Task Force 1 and responds at the request of local law enforcement to aid in searches. She is also certified explosives and narcotics detection dog handler.

She has trained and certified five different breeds to the FEMA certification standard over the past 13 years, is a FEMA evaluator and instructor and has been certifying and coaching canine teams in multiple disciplines since 2007. She is a certifying official with several national search and rescue organizations, and serves as the K9 Branch Manager of the Alliance of Emergency Response Instructors and Examiners. She also sits on the American Academy of Forensics Sciences Dogs and Sensors Committee as a Subject Matter Expert (formerly SWGDOG).

Robin is the CEO of the K9Sensus Foundation and dedicated to coaching the human end of the leash.

Randy Hare is living his lifelong dream of working with animals and people. Experience and talent in dog training have landed him spots on regional television, in various K-9 Magazine articles, and on national television. In 1987 he appeared on “Late Night with David Letterman” to perform a complicated trick he had taught his (then) six-year-old German Shepherd. Randy’s real start, in the late 1970’s, was training hunting dogs. Then, in the early 1980’s he attended a Professional Dog Trainers School where he gained a solid foundation in training dogs for Obedience, Protection, Police Dog Training, and Tracking. By invitation Randy returned to the school as an instructor for one semester, helping train other dog trainers.

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While Randy continued to further his education into dog training, the school was his first professional experience with training dogs. In 1984 Randy opened his first training center in Monroe, Louisiana where he trained Obedience, Protection, Police Dogs, and Narcotics Detection Dogs. His very first police dog, trained for the Monroe City Marshall’s Office, finished 15th in the nation from a field of 140 dogs at the United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) National Police Dog Trials in Detroit, Michigan. This accomplishment earned him an award from the Ohio Dog Training School, the first award of this kind to be given by the group. Then, after training hundreds of dogs, Randy became interested in police dogs and law enforcement. In police dog training he experienced his work in action: real criminal apprehension, real tracking, real detection work, real handler protection, and, last but not least, real obedience.

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While still training dogs for private citizens, Randy trained and competed against other handlers and trainers with his personally trained police dogs while also competing successfully in Schutzhund competitions. In his first National Police Dog Trial, Randy finished 7th out of 150 top dogs in that year’s national event held in St. Cloud, Minnesota. This began a 5-year span of over 30 competitions where Randy won or finished in the top percentile in 96% of the competitions: those competitions were Police Dog Trials, Schutzhund Trials, and Narcotics Detection Dog Trials and involved four different self-trained dogs.

Randy says he now has a gift for learning from everyone he meets and from every dog he trains.“I went through a period early on when I thought I knew everything. I really grew as a trainer and a person when I faced the fact that you never stop learning and you never know it all. Thanks to a close and dear friend of mine, Walter “Buzzy” Tomlinson, for finally making me understand that. I believe the dogs that I have trained have probably taught me more than I have taught them.”

John is Co-Owner and Co-Founder of 3-Amigos Nutrition Group and Kinetic Performance Dog Food. John has nearly 30 years experience in Sales, Marketing and Animal Nutrition and formerly managed the Pet Food Division of a large animal nutrition company. An owner and amateur bird dog trainer, John has been directly entrenched in nutrition for working and sporting dogs for more than a decade. John oversees all the Marketing and Nutrition activities for 3-Amigos and the Kinetic brand. When he’s not in the field with his Labrador Retrievers, you’ll most likely find him working on new products, managing ad campaigns or writing Nutrition articles for working and sporting dog publications.

Bradley Gillespie has been handling and training working dogs for 20 years. He has trained Police and Military dog teams globally. Brad is currently employed as a handler trainer with the second largest Police K9 program in Canada where he specializes in patrol, tactical team integration and Explosive Detection. Brad is the Ontario Director for the Canadian Police Canine Association and has been the SME for several international K9 research projects. Brad considers himself a lifelong student of the game and believes in a foundation of objective evidence in terms of training whenever possible. He is continually striving to better train operationally reliable K9 teams through training programs that are repeatable, reliable, fundamental, teachable and learnable.

A retiree from the Terre Haute Police Department, Dan was assigned to the Organized Crime & Narcotics Unit working undercover and specializing in Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. He was the first K-9 Dual Purpose handler/trainer for Terre Haute PD, working 2 DPN and 1 SPE dog while on the street. Dan is a state certified instructor through the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy as well as a certified K-9 instructor/trainer through Vohne Liche Kennels. He has instructed seminars and classes in several states. He also has taught many classes with foreign students at VLK. Dan has certified dogs with AWD, NNDDA, State of Indiana, and the State of Oklahoma. On top of all of this, Dan has judged K-9 competitions throughout the US and has even traveled to Afghanistan to train Afghan handlers on VLK bomb dogs destined to protect their president Karzai. He has been an instructor for Vohne Liche Kennels since 1996 and began his full time career in 2005.

Dr. Maughan is an Excet, Inc. contract Research Scientist for the Department of Defense out of Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.  Dr. Maughan earned her PhD in Animal Science at the University of Delaware and started specializing in enhancing canine olfaction in her post-doctoral studies at the U.S. Army. The DoD Olfactory Sciences Team focuses on bench-to-battlefield solutions for Military Working Dogs and their handlers whether that is developing a new training tool or debunking training myths. 

Marty Mahon is a police sergeant with the South San Francisco Police Department, located in Northern California. He has been a canine handler for 18 years and is currently the head trainer of the canine unit, which consists of 7 dual-purpose canine teams. Marty and his canine are assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration, San Francisco Field Division, where he is responsible for drug interdiction and investigations of drug trafficking organizations. Marty specializes in drug trafficking, canine detection, canine unit supervision and the use of canines at the Federal level. Marty is a canine evaluator for the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST), and the California Narcotics Canine Association (CNCA). Marty also trains canine teams in Northern California in patrol and detection. Marty is the owner and head trainer for Trident K9 Consulting, where him and his team train law enforcement K9 Teams in Northern, California.

Paul ’s canine passion started at the age of 6 years old. That passion for Police Canine work was instilled by Paul’s Grandfather who was a Police K9 handler /Trainer. Growing up Paul was voluntold often to wrap up and take bites from whatever Police K9’s that his grandfather was training at the time.

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Mr. Orcutt spent ten years active duty as a United States Marine and served in the First Gulf War and later served in the Somalia conflict. After leaving the Corps Paul was hired to perform contract work for the Central Intelligence Agency as a K9 Handler / Trainer for a Clandestine K9 Program . While in performance of his duties for the agency Paul has operated, trained and certified canine teams for duty in the most hostile and austere condition. While deployed with OGA over several years Paul and his K9 partner Iro and later with K9 Lucy found more than their fair share of Explosive Devices and IED’s and were directly responsible for saving hundreds of lives.

JC Richardson started a career as a Deputy Sheriff for Wicomico Co Sheriff’s Office in Maryland in 1998. Shortly after he was given a chance to enter the K-9 unit. Since 1999 to present he has worked 4 dual purpose patrol/ Narcotic dogs. In 2007, JC became a master trainer and took over the training duties for the 8 K-9 Teams for the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit.  Since 2007 JC has expanded the monthly maintenance training to approx. 30 K-9 Teams from Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. In 2015, JC started Delmarva K-9 LLC to provide police K-9’s to departments throughout the country. Delmarva K-9 currently has dogs working in many local departments. JC has been qualified as an expert in Maryland and Federal Courts systems. ⠀

• President and Master Trainer at Excel K9 Services Inc. established in 2001. Excel K9
Services Inc. provides police service dogs to public and private agencies and organizations. Excel K9 also provides Explosive Detection Teams to stadiums, arenas, marathons, cooperate events, amusement parks around the country. We also provide Narcotics / Firearms Detection Teams at drug treatment facilities, schools and private businesses. Excel K9 Services Inc. currently has 6 full time and 21 part-time employees.
• NAPWDA Master Trainer in the areas, Utility, Narcotics and Explosives Detection
• OPOTC Canine Evaluator
• Guest instructor on Police Service Dogs and Training Technics / Practices at seminars
across the country to include guest instructor in four different countries.
• Retired Sergeant from the CMHA Police Department (Cleveland, Ohio)
• Attended S.K.I.D.D.S (SWAT and K9 Officer Working Together)
• Graduate of Police Executive Administrative Leadership School
• Graduate of SWAT Operators School and served as supervisor of full time team
• Expert Witness in Court on Police Service Dog Training and Tactics related to detection and
Use of Force.
• Valor Award Recipient

Don Slavik is the Executive Director of the United States Police Canine Association. He was a twenty-two-year canine handler and trainer for the St. Paul Police Canine Unit, where he trained all facets of canine ideologies. 

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After retiring from St. Paul, Don went to work for ATF as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in animal psychology, olfactory capabilities, training methodologies, and behavioral patterns using food and play rewards to achieve or shape canine behavior. He instructed courses for ATF Special Agents, U.S. Federal Agencies, canine teams from several countries, and State and Local Law Enforcement. Don also taught at ATF’s National Odor Recognition Test (NORT) and predeployment classes for military branches imprinting new explosives and testing canine teams in scenario-based exercises.

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Following ATF, Don became a Department of State employee as an SME in canine methodology monitoring training, deployment, and evaluation of canines contracted to the Department of State in Iraq. He reported directly to the highest Regional Security Officers at the Embassy any discrepancies involving canines used to defend the Embassy from person and vehicle explosive IED’s.

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Don is a Canine Expert Witness and testified in City, State, and Federal Courts. In the United States Police Canine Association, he is a Level III Trainer, National Judge, and Past National President.

Ted has been involved in Police Working K9's for over a decade.  His specialties are grip work and development, patrol and utility work and proper decoy work, detection training and K9 policy and case law.  Ted acts as the training director for our PSA club and is a certified trial decoy. Ted teaches decoy, handler schools and our SWAT/SORT integration seminars for Torchlight K9 as well as our decoy camp for police service trainers and handlers and does numerous camps for military special operations.  Currently, Torchlight K9 is the only private company in Oklahoma with CLEET Accredited courses in K9. Ted is also one of the co-hosts on working dog radio and Co-own's HRD Police K9; a scenario based training company for police K9 handlers.

Todd is a former special operations (tier 1) bomb technician and explosive materials expert.  He has identified/disposed of/decommissioned several thousand bombs (IED to nuclear). He has done additional work with several USG agencies as a subject matter expert, project manager and operations.  Todd is an adjunct professor at New Mexico State University where he lectures and instructs on explosive identification, detonation and disposal. Mr. Wilber is the founder and President of Precision Explosives, LLC.

Mark Wynn is a well-versed trainer from numerous backgrounds and disciplines of dog work. He has trained and handled all types of Police Service Dogs, Military/Contract Working Dogs and IPO and has applied them all over the world. Mark worked for the Phelps County Missouri Sheriffs Department as a K9 Deputy and was awarded Outstanding Handler of the Year for the State of Missouri by the Missouri Police Canine Association in 2007. In 2005 Mark started training his own Police Service Dogs, striving to provide better working dogs to departments and kennels in the United States. He specializes in the selection and training of green dogs and training of police service dogs in all phases of patrol work, man trailing and narcotic/explosive detection.

Mark has served as a Kennel Master and Trainer in both Iraq and Afghanistan while supporting the United States Department of State and Department of Defense fighting the war on terror. He was the Kennel Master of the Baghdad Embassy Project (Largest K9 Contract in the world) and managed 103 Explosive Detection Canines.

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Mark also served as a trainer for the European Union Customs K9 Trainers and Directors in the area of detection and spent two years in Slovakia and Europe training, studying with civilian trainers as well as their military/police K9 trainers where he is the only American to ever study and complete Argalasov Dvor Trainers School and Decoy/Helper School in Slovakia.

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Mark has served as a trainer for Multi-Purpose Canine teams for teams of the United States Special Operations Command as well as Tier 1 Units of other NATO allies special operation K9 teams in their home countries. He also travels to Africa yearly to train teams in Manhunting to support Anti-Poaching work in Zambia to help fight the war on Ivory and Rhino Horn.