Our Team

Through her tenacity and passion, DeeDe has grown Dog Tag Buddies from a kitchen table conversation to the organization it is today. She is the wife of a combat veteran with 21 years of service and founded Dog Tag Buddies after seeing the relief their own dogs brought her husband when he returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. Her love of dogs and desire to help Montana veterans drives her passion for Dog Tag Buddies and has become her true calling in life.

In 2018, after three years splitting her time between Dog Tag Buddies and her career of over twenty-one years with the State of Montana, DeeDe now fully dedicates her time to the organization. She spent the bulk of her career at the Montana Department of Labor as an unemployment investigator and adjudicator, eventually retiring as a business and security analyst. She takes a hands-on approach to driving the growth of the organization and works directly with program participants, trainers, staff, volunteers, and our Board of Directors to achieve her goals. For her, being able to assist veterans and rescue dogs brings together the best of both worlds, especially knowing she is giving two lives a second chance.

Credentials:

• Certified Trauma Informed Care Trainer
• Certified Question Persuade Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Instructor
• Certified Council for Professional Dog Trainers – Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed
• American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Evaluator
• American Kennel Club Level 1 AKC Fit Dog Instructor
• International Association of Canine Professionals – Professional Member
• International Association of Canine Professionals – Dog Trainer Foundation certified
• Completed This Able Veteran PTSD Essentials Service Dog Trainer Academy 6/2019
• Completed This Able Veteran PTSD Service Dog Trainers Academy 10/2019
• Canine CPR Certified
• Human CPR Certified

Kati Grove has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and over 9 years experience in Banking Operations, including 3 years of Operations Management and 3 years of Project Management experience. She is also trained in Lean Six Sigma methodology and is a graduate of the SWGSB Bank Operations Institute.

Kati is the daughter of DeeDe Baker, our founder and executive director, and shares the same passion for helping our veterans and rescuing dogs. She has been involved in supporting animal rescues for several years, and has 3 rescue dogs and a cat of her own.

Kati was selected as one of the 2019 40 Under 40 award recipients by the Billings Gazette and brings a unique business and project management perspective to the operations of Dog Tag Buddies.

Bonnie Lusby served as a member in the 82nd Airborne from 1979 to 1983. Since her time in the military, Bonnie has dedicated her time to working with dogs, from grooming to working in a veterinary clinic and training to showing in obedience, where her dog earned Dog of the Year.

In the past ten years, Bonnie has expanded her reach in terms of training experience. In 2005, she became a trainer for and handler of narcotic K9s. She was certified with NPWDA and still has her DEA license. She’s conducted trainings specialized in obedience, nose work, shed hunts and behavioral issues.

Bonnie began running the Prison Paws program and built it up to 35 trainers. She is also a certified AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator. Bonnie works with some of Rimrock Humane Society, Circle Two Rescue and Tomcat Rescue’s animals with behavioral issues.

Credentials:

• Certified with the North American Police Work Dog Association
• American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen evaluator
• American Kennel Club Temperament Judge
• International Association of Canine Professionals – Professional Member
• Trainer for the Trainer, Thinking for a Change
• Trainer for the Trainer, Women’s Needs and Risk
• Attended seminars in clicker training, positive-only training, behavioral adjustment training and the healing powers of stones/crystals for dogs
• Completed This Able Veteran PTSD Essentials Service Dog Trainer Academy 6/2019
• Completed This Able Veteran PTSD Service Dog Trainers Academy 10/2019
• Completed Penn Foster Dog Trainer Certification program
• Canine CPR Certified

Dave Powell is a retired Army Colonel with 28 years of experience at increasing levels of responsibility and authority from Platoon-level to Department of the Army, including support to Presidential Commissions. He served in the Army from Vietnam to Iraq eras. He has extensive background in the application of management techniques, re-engineering/efficiencies processes, resource management, government contracts, operations research and systems analysis (ORSA), logistics systems (field to theater and industrial base), acquisition, and installation/facility management. He holds extensive knowledge in the Department of Defense (DOD) and Army (DA) Planning, Programming, Budget Management, and Execution System (PPBES), National/DOD/DA/AMC Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), major ORSA studies for 3/4 star-level decisions, Army Industrial Base, and development of the first major CORPS simulations with logistics incorporated. He received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) and three Legion of Merits (LM).

He has 19 years of civilian experience, including working as Vice President of Operations of a major corporation, as well as COO, CFO, and Director of Operations at numerous smaller companies. His responsibilities included overall management, project management, subject matter expert, consultations for general office and Secretariat-level DOD officials. Areas of support included major acquisition and development projects (ex: Hybrid-Electric heavy trucks, mobile critical part manufacturing), BRAC implementation, analytical studies, major command downsizing, retrograde/recapitulation of major combat equipment from Iraq/Afghanistan, NASA Space Station support, strategic planning, budget management, and support to non-profit organizations. He also volunteers for several local organizations who serve veterans and/or animals.

His desire to support veterans stems from his own service history of taking care of his people, as well as from his immediate family history. His dad was a career Army enlisted officer who served during WWII in China behind enemy lines and G-4 (Logistics Office) for the 1st Infantry in Vietnam. His uncle was enlisted in WWII, served in D-Day and Battle of the Bulge. His other uncle was a career enlisted soldier during WWII in the Philippines, was in the Baton Death March, and was a Prisoner of War in the Philippines and Japan. His son served in Desert Storm with the 101st ABD. Many of these relatives suffered from PTS without treatment or support, although family dogs played a big role in their resiliency. These family members served their country for a combined 92 years.

His education includes various advanced degrees and certifications in Business, Industrial Engineering, International Studies, and Public Administration.

Chelsey was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California (but we won’t hold that against her) but calls Montana home. She graduated from Montana State University and was commissioned as an intelligence officer in the United States Army in 2009. Chelsey deployed to Afghanistan in 2011-2012. While she initially intended to make the military a career, she was completely changed by her experiences in Afghanistan. Chelsey subsequently made the tough decision to leave the Army.

Once a civilian she began working with Canine Companions for Independence in Santa Rosa, CA. She went through their apprentice dog training program and became a certified service dog instructor through Assistance Dogs International in 2017. Chelsey has spent the last five years training service dogs for veterans and helped get Canine Companions’ PTSD service dog program up and running. She also serves as the Veteran Programs Specialist and supports veterans’ programs across the country.

In her free time Chelsey enjoys mountaineering, backpacking, and climbing. Chelsey and her husband hiked the Continental Divide Trail this past summer and they spent as much time as humanly possible in the backcountry. Chelsey is also a volunteer Peer Support Specialist for Wounded Warrior Project in Missoula. She is very excited to be working with Dog Tag Buddies and helping her fellow Montana veterans.

Kailey Passon is part of a 5th-generation ranching family on the Highline. She is also the owner and head trainer of Hi-Line Canine, LLC. She has been professionally training dogs for 3 years now and says she couldn’t ask for a better job! She joined the Dog Tag Buddies team in 2021. She has worked with dogs of all ages, shapes, and sizes, doing basic and advanced obedience, therapy and service dog work, boarding and training, and a lot of puppy training. She is also k9 CPR first aid certified. She hopes to expand her business further and train more working stock dogs for ranchers.

Kailey is a 2020 graduate of Carroll College with a BS in Anthrozoology and a minor in Sociology.

Alongside dog training, she is also working with her husband to take over my family’s cattle and sheep ranch. They currently have 15 head of cattle of their own and hope to expand that a little more each year! Kailey’s favorite things to do outside of work are riding her horse Abe, traveling with her husband, and spending time with family and friends.

Mary has been working detection dogs, in Search & Rescue, since 1994 and a general dog enthusiast all her life. She’s had the opportunity of instructing SAR detection seminars for over 18 years as well as evaluating SAR detection teams during that same time period.

Mary was a SAR Instructor/Evaluator with the International Police Work Dog Association (2011 – 2023) as well as an Evaluator for the Tri-State K9 SAR organization (2007 – present).  Over the years, she has participated in AKC obedience, Field (hunt) Trialing, Schutzhund/IPO, Mondioring, SAR and Scent Work/Nosework.  She has instructed/evaluated SAR teams in Pennsylvania, Ohion, Arizona, Utah, Montana, Wyoming & Idaho.  She, and her husband Dave, currently reside in Helena, Montana and are members of True North Search Dogs.

Mary has also been a Canine Search Specialist with the following FEMA teams; UTTF1, NMTF1 and TXTF1.  While with UTTF1, she and her canine Phoenix, responded with the team to Hurricane Katrina.  When living in Texas she responded to several incidents with TXTF1 as well.

Mary became a United Nosework Judge in 2013, before UKC took it over in 2015, and judged a few trials in Texas, before moving to Montana in November 2015.  Currently, she is a Scent Work judge for AKC as well as a Senior Nosework Judge for UKC and NACSW.  She has had the opportunity to judge Scent Work trials in Montana, Idaho, Utah & Washington, New Jersey, California and Illinois. Mary was asked to judge at the German Shepherd Dog Club of America National show in October 2020 in Springfield, Illinois.

Over the past few years she has been teaching seminars for Scent Work in Montana and Idaho and local classes in Helena.  She started competing with her current SAR dog in January of 2019 and she quickly earned Level/Element titles for all three organizations and is readying for her third NW3 with NACSW.

She has also trained and titled IInca, a Belgian Malinois that she and Dave fostered for the MWD program at Lackland AFB.  IInca washed out of the program and was a house dog for a few years before beginning her journey in the Scent Work/Nosework Arena.

Mary’s also owns and trains Watcher, a 3 year old German Shepherd, who happens to be Leighton’s nephew and the scent detection genes run deep in this awesome boy!  He is flying through the levels in AKC Scentwork and loves to compete.

Mary looks forward to her partnership with Dog Tag Buddies and the Veterans they serve.