Wolfpack Working Dogs Club Members

Kathy Dolan started training dogs at the ripe old age of 10, when her parents bought a black Labrador Retriever named Shannon. Armed with books from the library and some treats, Kathy trained Shannon to compete in obedience and trick dog competitions, usually bringing home blue ribbons. 

In 1998, Kathy was introduced to the world of SAR and joined AVSAR in Pennsylvania. She completed mission ready status with her Australian Shepherd in wilderness live find and HRD with her Labrador Retriever. During that time, Kathy certified as a First Responder.

Fast forward to 2009, Kathy moved to the Black Hills of SD with 2 German Shepherds and set out to find a team to train SAR dogs, in that process she met another trainer with a strong background in Schutzhund and Wolfpack Working Dogs was born. Kathy titled the GSD's in the CGC, BH, RHFL-E, RHFL-A as well as competing in IPO.  Kathy is also a AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator.

Currently, Kathy has a 10 year old GSD who still loves work and two young Belgian Malinois, one doing HRD and the other just starting training in IGP sport.

Shannon Croft is an original member of the group.  She has always taught the family dogs "stupid pet tricks" as she now calls them. She was interested in canine search and rescue prior to joining the Wolf Pack in 2009. As a member of the Wolf Pack she served as Secretary/Treasurer for six years. Shannon earned a degree in Veterinary Technology in 1997 at EWC. And received her Fire Fighter 1&2, Wildland Fire Suppression and First Responder Training, among other leadership classes as a member of the BVFD between 2015-2020.  
She has trained two of her own dogs in Live Find Air Scent and HRD disciplines. Shannon has assisted with the training of many other dogs in all search disciplines (except avalanche), obedience, IPO (previously Shutzhund) and service dogs. When she is not working or driving from one site to another in her full time RV lifestyle, she studies everything canine. Shannon has attended seminars, online classes and reads about all aspects related to canine search and rescue. Including training tactics, behavior, diet, scent theory, ethics, legal, navigation/orienteering, decomposition, biology, olfaction, taphonomy, and even a little entomology.
She has been involved with several searches both live and HR in the SD and WY Black Hills area with a successful HR find. Shannon has titled dogs in AKC Rally, CGC, BH and RHFL-E (live find SAR).  She is striving to add more of the alphabet to these certifications.

Christine Dentz is one of the long-term members of the group.  She wrote the following about her dogs:

"I grew up in Maryland, moved to Denver in 1980, and moved to SD in 1998. I joined WWD in 2005(?) when I adopted Mick from American Belgian Malinois Rescue.  We got our BH in Schutzund under Judge Lajos Foldevari. When Mick passed in 2016 from bone cancer I was looking for another rescue when I learned of a litter of puppies in California. So I got Oscar, and have been training him with the Wolfpack for Search and Rescue. I'm a Coordinator for ABMR (American Belgian Malinois Rescue), and I'm on the Board of American Belgian Malinois Club. I'm also into restoring old cars and trucks. Although age and injuries hamper my physical abilities, I support the group as much as I can."

Christine is always available to play victim for the search dogs, and help in any other way on things that need to be done.  Thank you Christine!

Sharon started training dogs in schutzhund/IPO/IPG in Houston, TX in 1983.  She was a member of the Spring Valley Working Dog Club and the United Schutzhund Clubs of America. She titled two dogs to SchHII, and two more dogs to SchHIII while living in Texas.  She taught a class on Applied Animal Training at the University of Houston, Clear Lake Campus.  

After moving home to the Black Hills, Sharon was a member of Lawrence County Search and Rescue for eight years, and trained and certified her search and rescue dog with the International Police Working Dog Association (IPWDA) and the North American Police Working Dog Association (NAPWDA).  She taught an applied animal training class for Black Hills State University at the Humane Society in Rapid City, SD for four years.  She has been an American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator for over 10 years.  

She currently is training a 5 year old German Shepherd in schutzhund/IPO/IPG (they keep changing the name!), and a 3.5 year old Australian Shepherd in wilderness area search.

Don Zafft has been a member of the Wolfpack for 5 years.  He wrote the following about his involvement with dogs.

"Stationed in England in 1984 I obtained two German Shepherd dogs from a amazing breeder she taught me a lot of to look for in a GSD. One of the GSD‘s I took to entering confirmation shows and had success in England Canada and United States with him. After retiring from the military and my civilian job I obtained another Gsd  and was talked into training classes with him. That’s when I started with the Wolfpack. My five-year-old German Shepherd is continuing to train in HRD. I am also looking forward to training him in obedience and protection work"

One of Don's greatest contributions to the group is his desire and willingness to play victim to the search dogs, play with, and otherwise socialize our dogs for us.  We really appreciate it.