Denise Alvord is a firefighter/paramedic in Colorado and has been heavily involved in multiple aspects of mountain search and rescue since 2005. She has certified/worked 3 dogs in trailing, air scent, cadaver (land and water recovery), avalanche and disaster. She is a K-9 testing evaluator for state and national certification organizations. Denise responds regularly to K-9 requests across Colorado and has had opportunity to work and train in a variety of terrain and climates across the United States and internationally. Denise has instructed at numerous local, regional and national police and SAR K9 seminar.

Nick Hodgen has been a Police Officer for 15 years and a K9 handler for 11 years. He is currently a Patrol Sgt. and K9 Handler in a small NH department, working his 2nd dual purpose dog who he trained on his own, outside of the traditional ‘K9 academy’. Nick is the Head Trainer for a regional NH/VT K9 training group. He is a certified PSA and IPO Decoy and has also been awarded Top Regional USPCA Decoy several times. Nick has also raised/developed several individual puppies who later continued on to become certified SAR and dual-purpose Patrol K9’s. He has had opportunity to instruct for many police, sport and SAR dog workshops.