- John Kavanagh was born March 3rd 1948 and passed away August 5th 2010. He attended ASU and graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Science degree. His love for dogs began in 1962 when he followed his passion for breeding collies, thus was the beginning of Kingsmark Kennels. He then went on to becoming a professional handler in 1975, where he traveled all over the country. He had successfully showed Kingsmark Collies for over 49 years. He has had over 50 champions and were still counting! John’s dedication to animals also turned into a career of caring for them. He was Northern Arizona’s most experienced kennel owner! He will forever be missed and never forgotten!

- John left an amazing legacy for his daughter Shannon Gottschammer to carry on. She was born and raised with animals her entire life. Shannon began Showing dogs at the age of 5 and had her first champion at 7.She is going to continue showing and breeding her father’s amazing line of  champion collies as well as mainting the distinctive mark on the collie breed. She is Passionate about four legged friends and could not be happier to take over the family business. With 25 years of animal life experience, you could say she is now Northern Arizona’s most experienced kennel owner!

-Rich Gottschammer has lived in Flagstaff, AZ since the year 2000. Shannon and Rich were married in 2007 and thus began his journey into the family business. He was originally a small town boy from Belleville, IL who went right into the Marine Corps at age 18. After accomplishing his goals as a marine, he became a hardware representive for a company out of Texas, which led him to Arizona in the year 2000. Rich has always been involved in the inner workings of the kennel and now has accompanied Shannon in making Kingsmark the finest pet facility Flagstaff has to offer.

-Becky Hendershot has lived in Flagstaff, AZ since 1984. She began her journey with Kingsmark Kennels in 20006 and is attending college for business management. She has many animals of her own and is passionate about making sure that our guest receive exceptional care! Becky is the lead kennel attendant on the weekends and is always happy!

- Terry Gurkowski attended Tulsa Jr. college in Oklahoma. Soon after studying Liberal arts he felt that he needed a change of pace, then found himself in Flagstaff, AZ. Terry has been in Flagstaff since 1980 and started at Kingsmark Kennels in 1995. He’s a well-rounded animal enthusiast who does an amazing job caring for our guest.

Misty moved to Flagstaff from New England in 2011. Her enthusiasm for outdoor adventures and desire to explore new landscapes is what brought her to the Southwest. She is passionate about environmental conservation and has a degree in Environmental Planning. Misty adores all animals, and has previous experience caring for pets at a veterinary clinic. We believe she’ll make a great new addition and true asset to the Kingsmark Kennels team.

-Jennifer Schultz has lived in Flagstaff since 1990. Jennifer is a huge animal lover and would take every animal home with her if allowed. Her aspiration in life is to become a homicide detective and is going to be taking classes in criminal justice. Jennifer fell in love with the idea of working with animals as well, thus She began shaping her future with Kingsmark Kennels in 2008. Jennifer does a great job and is one of the main people who will greet you at the door during the week.

-Chantelle is currently a senior at NAU, majoring in speech pathology. She’s grown up with animals her entire life and doesn’t feel comfortable unless she’s surrounded by a few dogs. After grad school, she plans on combining animal therapy with speech therapy. She loves training dogs, and wants to train therapy dogs to help children with speech disorders become more comfortable speaking. She’s also planning on opening an animal sanctuary. Chantelle joined the Kingsmark Kennels team in 2011 and is proving to be worth her weight in gold.

-Mike Dimitrov has lived in Flagstaff since 2008 and joined Kingsmark in 2011. Though he is especially a dog enthusiast, he’s cared for many different animals most of his life. Mike is starting a new family of his own and plans on providing for them by taking exceptional care of your family member while here at Kingsmark. We think he’s going to make a great new addition to the Kingsmark team!

Amanda Martin has lived in Flagstaff for the past 16 years. She is a senior at Coconino High school. Her aspirations in life are to one day own a rescue ranch that works with abused animals and youth. After she graduates high school, Amanda plans on finishing her freshman year at Coconino Community College and then attending a university either in Arizona or out of state with a possible major in agri-business or animal husbandry. Amanda absolutely loves animals and loves being able to work with all sorts of dogs and cats every day at Kingsmark Kennels. She has been working at Kingsmark since June of 2011.