Our Trainers

Jake Kemp (Owner)

Jake@mountainstatek9academy.com

Jake has had a passion for dogs his entire life. He began training dogs as a hobby in 2000 and decided to turn his passion into a career in July 2008 when he attended the Tom Rose School for Professional Dog Trainers in St. Louis, Missouri. While there, he graduated from both the Professional and Master Dog Trainer programs at the top of his class. In March of 2009, he was asked to go to work for the Tom Rose School as an instructor and trainer for The Dog House. During his time there, he helped instruct many students to become well-rounded dog trainers. With Jake's instruction and guidance, his students achieved multiple titles in AKC obedience and protection sports such as IPO and PSA. Jake is well versed in tracking and specific odor detection and has instructed many students in these areas as well. Additionally, Jake is an experienced decoy and has worked with protection dogs in training for a variety of venues including protection sports, personal protection and law enforcement applications. He was certified as a PSA trial decoy in 2010 and was selected to decoy the PSA Nationals in 2012, 2013, and 2014. He was also selected to be the assistant Midwest Director for PSA in 2012. Jake has personally titled multiple dogs in AKC Obedience, PSA and IPO. Jake and his Belgian Malinois, Alice, achieved many significant accomplishments including the following:

Jake's current accomplishments:

AKC Companion Dog (Obedience Title) with scores of 196, 197 and 197.5 (perfect score is 200)
Schutzhund BH
PSA PDC
PSA 1
1st place at PSA 1 Regional and National Championships in 2010, earning High Obedience, High Protection, and High in Trial for both trials
3rd Place at PSA 2 National Championship in 2011, earning High Obedience
Assistant Director for the West Region in PSA
PSA Emeritus Decoy

Kari Herron (Koch) (Owner)

kari@mountainstatek9academy.com

Kari has more than 35 years of experience training dogs and their owners. In July 2008 Kari attended and graduated both the Professional and Masters programs with a "V" rating from the Tom Rose School for Professional Dog Trainers. In January 2009 she was hired as the Training Director and Instructor until November 2014. Kari's experience includes AKC, Flyball, PSA (Protection Sports Association), and Schutzhund. Kari exhibits in AKC and PSA where she competes at the national level, and has professionally trained over 10,000 dogs of all breeds and ages from basic obedience, Police K-9, service and therapy dogs. Kari works closely with numerous rescue organizations in Colorado and Missouri to help dogs find their forever homes through education for people as well as their dogs. Kari has achieved many significant accomplishments with many of her dogs including the following:

Kari's current accomplishments:

AKC Canine Good Citizen(CGC) Evaluator
PSA PDC
PSA 1
1st Place PSA 1 Midwest Regional Championship in 2011 (earning High Obedience, High Protection, and High in Trial)
2nd Place PSA 1 National Championship in 2011 (Earning High Obedience)
Brevet
BH
AKC Novice
Multiple Flyball Titles

Dylan Near

Dylan@mountainstatek9academy.com

Pictured with his working Labrador Retriever, Suede, and Pitbull mix, Kodi, Dylan has had a passion for studying dogs' behavior and finding the best ways to communicate with them from a very young age. In addition to the basic childhood chores, he was also responsible for training his family dogs, an Akita and a Cattle Dog mix rescued from the local shelter. In 2020, he rescued Kodi, a Pitbull mix with human and dog reactivity. Working with Kodi was a challenge that blossomed into a passion for finding ways to provide even the most stubborn and aggressive dogs the freedom and structure they need for a fulfilled and happy life. Today, Dylan has successfully titled Kodi with his Canine Good Citizen. While continuing his education at MSK9, Dylan aspires to earn hunt titles with his black lab, Suede, along with obedience, trick, and other sport titles.

Dylan's Current Accomplishments

AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator
AKC CGC - Kodi 2022

Gator Schott

Gator@mountainstatek9academy.com

Having grown up in Ravenna Nebraska, Gator has always had a passion for dogs, spending a lot of his time hunting with Labradors and Weimaraners before making his move to Colorado in 2014. Gator joined the MSK9 team in January of 2020 and completed the MSK9 Apprentice Trainer Program after some brief time as Operations Manager. He has a Labrador Retriever named Rowe and together they have successfully achieved an AKC Jr. Hunt Title. In January of 2021 he expanded his pack when he rescued his Doberman, Ronald. Gator and Ronald have worked diligently and titled in protection with a PSA PDC in 2023.

Gator’s Current Accomplishments:

AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator
MSK9 Apprentice Program Graduate
AKC Junior Hunt - Rowe 2022
AKC CGC - Ronald 2022
AKC CGC - Rowe 2022
PSA PDC - Ronald 2023

Patrick Ostrander

Patrick@mountainstatek9academy.com

Patrick has always had a passion for dogs. Growing up in Waco, Texas, he volunteered at a local shelter but never knew there was opportunity to turn his passion into a career. After high school, he served for four years as an Army Medic and went on to earn his Bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Texas State University. After a move to Colorado in 2019, his eagerness to work with dogs led him to MSK9. While working as a kennel technician, he completed Top Tier K9's Pet Dog Trainer Class. The skills learned in this course helped him tremendously as he entered MSK9's Apprentice Trainer Program, becoming a full-time trainer in 2022. He loves learning alongside his rescue cattle dog, Ahsoka, in multiple disciplines such as agility, trick, and hunt-style retrieve. He is grateful to be fulfilling his passion by creating better relationships between owners and their dogs through training.

Patrick's current accomplishments:

Top Tier K9 - Pet Dog Training Certification
MSK9 Apprentice Program Graduate
AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator
AKC CGC - Ahsoka 2022