Tim Houweling

Instructor

Firefighter/Paramedic: Mountain View Fire Department (California)
Canine Coordinator: FEMA California Task Force 3
Canine Search Specialist: FEMA California Task Force 3
Canine Evaluator: FEMA
Instructor: FEMA Canine Search Specialist Course
Member: Yosemite Search & Rescue Dogs (YODOGS)
Member: California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA)
Instructor: multiple California State Fire Marshal Courses
SWAT Team Member: Tactical Medic
Former, Founder: Monkey Tail Ranch, providing service dogs to veterans and children with autism
Former, Founder: Good Dog! Autism Companions

Tim Houweling is a former Investment Banker and Certified Public Accountant. For over 15 years, Tim has been a professional dog trainer. He is also a paid Firefighter/Paramedic. In addition to certifying 4 of his own Search & Rescue dogs, Tim has trained hundreds of Service Dogs and pet dogs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Tim has deployed to numerous disaster zones. Tim is currently pursuing his masters degree from the Harvard Extension School.

Athena Haus

Instructor

Fire Science & Emergency Medicine– Sinclair Community College
Executive Director-K9 Karma
President– Ohio Disaster Search Dogs
Founding & Former Member, Search Team Manager; Canine Coordinator- FEMA: Ohio Task Force One
Former, Canine Search Specialist; Canine Evaluator – FEMA: Ohio Task Force One; California Task Force One; Indiana Task Force One
Former, Subject Matter Expert, Instructor– FEMA Canine Search Specialist Course
Region III Rescue Team-Member
Evaluator & Instructor – Indiana Homeland Security Search and Rescue
Tactical Medic & Instructor-Tri-Med Tactical

Athena Haus has 28 years of experience in the field of Search and Rescue with 26 of those in public service, as a Firefighter/Paramedic and Fire Officer. She was a Founding Member of FEMA Ohio Task Force One where she served as a Search Team Manager, Canine Coordinator and Canine Search Specialist when the team was in its infancy, helping to build the training program and current disaster site. She has also served as a Canine Search Specialist for FEMA California Task Force One and Indiana Task Force One, working both human remains detection and live find canines. Athena has deployed as a Canine asset with all three FEMA teams while she was a rostered member. She is the founder of K9 Karma, a canine training business, specializing in the working canine and behavioral canine issues.

For the past 20 years, she has traveled the country as an instructor, evaluator, and facilitator for search and rescue, as well as, tactical medicine classes and workshops. Athena specializes in live find disaster search and wilderness, as well as, human remains detection land and disaster. She has responded to countless disaster and missing person searches for local, state and federal agencies. She has managed several large scale local incidents as the Commanding Fire Officer operating in a Unified Command Structure. She frequently consults as a subject matter expert for large scale disaster training exercises, providing guidance in search strategy and planning and resource management. During her years as a disaster and fire service responder, Athena repeatedly saw that there was a lack of resources and training opportunities to fully prepare canine handlers and teams to manage canine injuries. She established BARK; Basic Aid to Responder K9 program, partnering with Tri-Med Tactical, providing training at the Ohio Fire Academy, Ohio Tactical Officer Association, IDHS as well as other organizations. This training ensures that teams with canines embedded in the disaster and tactical environment have access to basic, real world, hands on canine medical training.

Posts by Erin Perry, MS, PhD

K9 Decon: Your Partner’s Health And Safety Are On The Line

Part 3: Blue-Green Algae & Your Search Dog

Tim Houweling

Instructor

Registration Opens on November 1st!

Tom Haus

Instructor

Athena Haus

Instructor

Kathleen Kelsey

Online Program Director

Nick Fathergill

Training Director

Deana Hudgins

President/CEO