About Us

Ann Wichmann began training service dogs in 1975, when she became the first female park ranger in the State of Colorado. She worked as a Park Ranger for the City of Boulder Mountain Parks, and then as Park Manager for the Boulder Parks system.

Co-founder of Front Range Rescue Dogs, Ann has also co-founded a park ranger service dog program, Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado, and Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States. She served on the FEMA Canine Subcommittee from 1991 until 2004, helping to develop both the teaching curriculum and national standard for the Disaster Search Canine Readiness Program. Ann was one of the original FEMA system evaluators, starting in 1992, and continued evaluating through 2010. She was a Chief Evaluator, a Lead Instructor, and a Mentor in the FEMA system. Ann continues to serve as an evaluator for NSDA, NASAR, AERIE, and Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States.

Ann has taught throughout the country and spoken internationally on the development and training of search dog teams in both wilderness and disaster environments. She has certified nine canines to the FEMA disaster standard and seven canines to wilderness airscent standards. In addition, Ann has trained, handled and certified dogs in water, cadaver, and avalanche search. She and her dogs have responded to search emergencies since 1984, including multiple wilderness searches; the World Trade Center disaster in 2001; the sugar plant explosion in Scottsbluff, Nebraska; multiple hurricanes; the flood in Fort Collins, Colorado; as well as tornadoes in Limon, Colorado, and Greensburg, Kansas.

Throughout her career as a dog handler, Ann has traveled the world, sharing with, and learning from, other successful handlers and trainers. Trained as a teacher, Ann has been noted for her remarkable ability to communicate and to inspire people to learn about the wonderful, complex world of working with dogs.

Ann bought Jenner’s Run for its capacity to host small-group training seminars, both for dog handlers and horse trainers. Her hope is to offer opportunities for sharing our knowledge and learning about our partners — canine, equine, and human!