Meet Our Team

Cassie

President & Co-Founder

Cassie is President and a co-founder of Mid-Minnesota K9. She has been involved in Search and Rescue (SAR) since 2018 as a handler, field technician and administrative support volunteer. She is a certified NASAR SAR Tech II, reinforcing survival skills learned during her 4 years in the United States Army. She's certified in human and pet first aid/CPR, and wilderness first aid. 

Cassie is the owner of Copper Pines Boarding & Training Center and Off Leash K9 Training Central MN, both based in Osakis. Her dog boarding career is based on the idea that her clients should be as well cared for as her own 6 dogs while their families are away. Her dog training career, which began in 2012, is based on the goals of raising confident puppies, building strong relationships between owners and their dogs, keeping dogs safe and fulfilling their mental, emotional and physical needs through training. Years spent rescuing and rehabilitating dogs before becoming a trainer provided invaluable insight into helping misunderstood dogs find their way forward with their families. Nutrition is an important aspect of her approach to dog care and she completed certificate programs in Canine Nutrition in 2021 and 2024.

Cassie appreciates how rare it is to find an especially gifted dog to partner with for therapy work, and has waited nearly 10 years for the right dog to come her way (rescuing and rehabilitating other dogs along the way). Quill is her future Emergency Responder & Crisis Response Therapy Dog partner. She’s also passionate about helping others interested in partnering with therapy dogs to meet their goals through training and support.

Natalie

Vice President & Co-Founder

Director of Search & Rescue Program

​MN-TF2 Canine Manager

Natalie is a dedicated and experienced K9 Handler and Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteer with several years of experience. As a co-founder, Vice President, and Director of Search and Rescue for Mid-Minnesota K9, she plays a crucial role in shaping the organization's mission. Additionally, Natalie is the founder and owner of Birchwood K9, where she specializes in training canines for search and rescue, detection, obedience, and building strong handler-canine relationships. Her approach is rooted in behavioral psychology and learning theory, enabling handlers to achieve their training objectives effectively. Currently, Natalie is enhancing her expertise by completing the Scandinavian Working Dog Institute Master Trainer course. She also contributes as an Assistant Instructor for the K9Sensus Foundation. She is a certified NASAR SAR Tech II.

Natalie holds multiple wilderness certifications and currently deploys two certified dogs: K9 Oliver and K9 Cali. The newest member of her team, K9 Everest, is a Labrador puppy in training for wilderness and disaster work. Natalie's career includes providing K9 assets for numerous SAR deployments, spanning wilderness missing persons cases and criminal investigations.

In addition to her SAR work, Natalie holds a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and is a licensed professional clinical counselor in Minnesota. She is the founder, owner, and Clinical Director of Birchwood Counseling, where she specializes in animal-assisted therapy and supporting trauma survivors. Natalie's commitment to promoting the welfare of both dogs and people highlights her dedication to helping others through her unique expertise and compassionate approach.

Sharolyn

Treasurer/Secretary & Co-Founder

Director of Emergency Responder Therapy Dog Program

Sharolyn is a co-founder of Mid-Minnesota K9, serving as Secretary and Treasurer, as well as Director of Emergency Responder & Crisis Response Therapy Dog Program.  She has been involved in Emergency Response for over 20 years, giving her real-world experience in the field.  She has served as an Emergency Medical Responder, a Search and Rescue K-9 handler, and after retiring from active SAR in 2023, Animal Assisted Therapy.  

Sharolyn has always approached life desiring to learn and apply that learning, which means her certifications are fairly extensive in the field of Emergency Response.  She is a graduate of the National Search and Rescue School, a certified instructor through National Association of Search and Rescue for Urban Search Management, and certified NASAR SAR Tech II. She is the instructor of Search Management Systems at Minnesota North College, as well as human and pet First Aid/CPR/AED.  Her recent training includes animal behavior and human-animal relationships.  Sharolyn is a small-business owner, starting her company “ARI-SAR” as more requests came in for her to provide training to Law Enforcement, Fire, and Search and Rescue personnel on search management, skills and protocols. She is a K9 trainer, and also a published author.

Sharolyn has partnered with K9’s going back over twenty years, although she’s shared her most of her life with dogs.  Her first SAR dog was a gentle German Shepherd named Ari, and since then, she certified and deployed with five different SAR dogs in multiple disciplines, retiring with K9 Levia, who was certified in advanced mantracking and human remains detection.  Sharolyn began her journey into Animal Assisted Therapy with K9 Baruch in 2022, and it opened a whole new world for her as she realized how effective our dogs can be in helping us.  

Carla

Wilderness SAR Handler 

Carla has spent her life surrounded by animals and animal training. In her youth she began her training journey competing with horses and then after graduating college with a degree in Animal Science, she took those early skills and grew them to train canines.

She has effectively trained and worked with two amazing volunteer working canines in wilderness area search and therapy dog Squirrel as well as therapy dog Gopher. Her experiences with these two dogs, combined with her love for animals and her community, solidified her passion for professional volunteer working dog training and
volunteering. She has served as an assistant trainer for two training schools in the Twin
Cities, as well as volunteering in rehabilitation of rescue dogs, basic early veterinary care and assisting in the coordination and implementation of therapy animal testing with PetPartners. She is NASAR SARTech II certified, Wilderness First Aid Certified, and CPR First Aid Certified.

Carla’s current partner EZO has held a certification in Human Remains Detection with
NASAR and as a new member of the team is looking forward to continuing education and training so they may become deployment ready. Her other partner Nutria is training for Wilderness Air Scent and is hoping to start testing soon. Carla has spent the last decade in volunteer search work as a handler, trainer, leadership and support services for her teams.

In addition to SAR and animal work. Carla works in molecular diagnostics and enjoys spending time and going on adventures with her family.

Rose

Wilderness & Urban Disaster SAR Handler 

Rose found search and rescue work while training her partner Willow through Copper Pines’ Scent Detection class. Having recently moved to the Alexandria area, she had goals to find a meaningful volunteer opportunity, and to build connections with people who had similarly intensive training goals as she had for Willow. Mid-MN K9 offered a solution for both, and she has deeply appreciated the way the team supports their dogs and each other while doing valuable work in our community and beyond. 

Rose’s background is in youth development, adult training and development, data analytics, and fundraising. She is passionate about aligning her actions with that of the greater good and developing the potential in others to live fulfilling lives. In training Willow, she learned that this passion applies not only to humans. Developing Willow’s confidence and seeing her growth has been incredibly rewarding, and she looks forward to the opportunities ahead of them as they complete certification requirements.

Aaron

Wilderness SAR Handler 

Aaron has been volunteering in search and rescue for almost 5 years. His K9 partner is a European Doberman named Luna and just turned 5 in May, who started training when she was just 3 months old.

The team previously certified in HRD with NAPWDA and are currently working on testing out to be certified under ARDA.

Aaron started volunteering in search and rescue when he got Luna to give her a job, keep himself active and to help out surrounding communities.

Aaron has a background in healthcare, EMS and public safety/law enforcement. He has
worked as a EMT/Paramedic for 6yrs, in public safety/law enforcement for 3yrs and
is currently a deputy in Traverse County.

Alissa

Wilderness & Urban Disaster SAR Handler 

Alissa has been training animals since she was young, but switched from horse training to dog training after getting a very busy-minded rescue dog. That dog, Lyka, led her to search and rescue. Alissa and Lyka now compete in NACSW nosework events while Alissa trains Kyber, a Belgian Malinois, as her SAR K9 partner with a goal of certifying in USAR and wilderness human remains detection. 

The time spent working with Lyka and Kyber as well as other detection dogs affirmed her interest in Search and Rescue. Alissa works as a firefighter and paramedic in her full-time job, and combining the ability to help the community with dog training has been the ideal opportunity. Alissa holds multiple certifications in EMS and Fire, as well as Peer Support. Having trained with members of Mid Minnesota K9 in the past, Alissa was eager for the opportunity to join the team.