Meet the Team

AMERICAN TACTICAL K9 SOLUTIONS

Materializing Tomorrow’s Innovations Today

Meet the Team

We are a team of highly qualified and talented individuals with a broad knowledge of the canine. We have various backgrounds with dogs and our combined experience makes us the most unfailing, professional and personable team in the industry. You simply will not find more reliably trained dogs when it comes to American Tactical K9 Solutions as our unique approach to training surpasses all others.

Sandi Hansen

Sandi has lived her entire life with and trained multiple dog breeds and sizes, from Chihuahuas to Belgian Malinois. She has been involved with teaching classes at dog clubs as well as working with juvenile inmates at the Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility for Project HEART (Humane Education for At Risk Teens) where she was certified as a Canine Good Citizen evaluator for AKC. She is also responsible for launching Project FETCH (Friends Educating and Training Canines for Homes) for the Nebraska Humane Society in early 2004.

Sandi works with untrained rescue dogs to help them succeed in everyday life with humans. She has trained in various venues, but is most proud of her work with American Humane Association and NoHo Films where she worked as Dog Trainer/Handler for the movie “California Dreaming” starring Lea Thompson, Dave Foley and Sandi’s dog Heidi as “Bounder”. Sandi has also trained her dogs for stage productions “Annie”, “Gypsy”, “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “Oliver” at the Omaha Community Playhouse and various stages in the Omaha area.

Sandi specializes in scent detection and environmental enrichment activities as well as advanced behavioral issues and treatments for dogs.

Jason Swangstu

With 8 years military and 2 years military/civilian training, coupled with 2 years law enforcement and 10 years fire department (including military and civilian), Jason is well-rounded in keeping up with the everyday business management of American Tactical K9 Solutions.

Born and raised in Beloit, Wisconsin, Jason grew up surrounded by dogs of several different breeds. Once into adulthood, he fell in love with the working class of canine to include hands-on training and living experience with the Labrador Retriever, Rottweiler, English Mastiff and Akita.

Jason stays current in the field of dog nutrition, behavior and scent detection by reading, attending seminars, and getting his hands on as many different breeds as possible. He is also the link between rescues/shelters and American Tactical K9 Solutions for taking in the “difficult to handle” rescues and turning them into confident and Reliably Trained Dogs.

Lexi

Lexi was adopted from an animal shelter at 10 weeks of age, where she was very sick and needed to be nursed back to health in her first couple of months with us. She is a Belgian Malinois and enjoys nothing more than working with humans!

Lexi has trained in various venues including: Tracking/Trailing, Agility, Flyball and of course, Scent Detection. She has a nose that is unstoppable, and is true to her breed standard of having the ability to work longer and harder than most other breeds.

In her spare time, Lexi enjoys toting around her stuffed bunny, assisting with laundry chores, playing fetch and hanging out with her soul mate, Ty. She is truly a clown, and always fun to have around!

Lexi’s nose is relentless and she is a trooper in the defense against bed bugs!

Sacia

Sacia (pronounced “Sa Sha”) is our newest rescue in the fight against bed bugs. She was adopted from a rescue in Belvidere, IL where she had been saved from a high-kill shelter in Chicago.

Sacia appears to be a Malinois mix, and is proving to be a valuable asset to ATK9S. Her high drive and scenting abilities are fun to watch and work with, and her zest for living is most obvious when she is working.

In Sacia’s spare time, she enjoys visiting her “grandparents” as well as her human sister and enjoys chewing on bones and gathering them into groups in different locations.

This dog is eager to please, and it’s obvious that she truly enjoys her job hunting for bed bugs!

Tyler

Tyler “Ty” is a purebred Australian Shepherd given to us by a friend a few years back. Coming from a working line of Australian Shepherds, Ty has a strong working instinct and is very driven in bed bug detection work.

Ty has trained in Flyball, Agility and Obedience and in his spare time he enjoys playing Frisbee and hanging out with his soul mate, Lexi. He also enjoys visiting his brother who lives nearby, and cuddle time with the humans.

Ty is grateful that he has a job to do on a daily basis, and his happy-go-lucky nature makes him a pleasure to work with day in and day out.

Dogs in Training