Meet Our Team!
Veterans and Volunteers in One!
Many of our staff members have served our country at one point, and they have decided to support those who were once in the same place as them.
Our team is determined to connect with you and your dog, in and outside of training. They are confident, driven, and are knowledgeable about dog training and behavior.
-Board Members-
Director of Operations
Mark Fry
Mark spent 11 years as a US Naval Flight Officer. He was deployed to the Atlantic Fleet with Special Projects Reconnaissance Squadron Unit 2. He was also deployed to the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, including Iceland, Sigonella, Sicily, Rota, Spain. Primary Mission intelligence collection on the Soviet Fleet.
Following his separation from Navy, Mark worked in sales and marketing for several large companies including Pfizer Labs, Kodak Clinical Diagnostics and Johnson and Johnson over the last thirty years.
Mark and his family have adopted six Labrador Retrievers over the last 20 years. He trained detection canine dogs for illegal substances and bed bugs, as well as therapy dogs for VA visits in the metropolitan hospitals. He is currently volunteering as the WLC Director of Operations and one of the Lead Trainers.
Vice President
Melanie Jacob
After 33 years with the Probation Division of New Jersey (Monmouth County), Melanie retired and started to volunteer with the Monmouth County SPCA. Winters got too cold so she moved to Cape Coral in 2016, and volunteered with Gulf Coast Humane Society until she found Wolfhounds Legacy!
She has done everything imaginable with dogs outside of direct training. Mel loves fostering and helping all the dogs, so all the dogs know her as Grandma! She truly believes that this is the best job!
Melanie does a lot of the behind-the-scenes work, as she handles all of the veterinary care and Veterans Affair forms for the dog and handler pairs. She loves being in Cape Coral, but loves going to New Jersey to visit with her family and friends!
President and Co-Founder
Faye Maliszewski
. Faye co-founded the nonprofit organization in 2016 with the dream of saving two lives at a time. She has been training dogs for 20 years, from search and rescue to obedience and service.
She learned different techniques from other trainers and applied their techniques to her own. Faye lives in Cape Coral with her husband and her own German shepherds; one of which is her husband’s service dog, Jaxx, who flies back and forth to their Wisconsin home.
Faye’s love of dogs, in addition to being in a close military family, ignited her passion to the rescue world, so this was her way of giving back .
Faye now heads Wolfhounds Legacy’s Wisconsin Chapter and runs classes during the summer alongside her son, Jak.
Inventory Officer
Travis Faulkner
Travis Faulkner is a retired United States Air Force veteran. Originally from Goshen, Indiana, Travis moved here to southwest Florida to be close to his wife’s family.
Travis has a B.A .in Transportation and Logistics Management and is proud to be serving Wolfhounds Legacy as one of its board members. Additionally, Travis was accepted in the program himself where he was paired with his own service dog, Ruby.
Event Coordinator
Jeffrey “Jeff” Demond is a retired U.S. Navy Senior Chief with over 20 years of active duty service. He also happens to be a disabled veteran. He was injured late in his career after multiple deployments. He required several reconstructive surgeries to repair his ankles and shoulders. Due to the unique nature of Jeff’s medical condition, he was prescribed opioids, benzodiazepines and countless antidepressants.
After numerous years of being overprescribed harmful, addictive opioids, both on active duty and retirement, Jeff found a better way of life. Luckily for Jeff, someone introduced him to medicinal cannabis. Jeff stopped taking most of his pharmaceutical prescriptions, as if by a miracle. He has been clean and sober since 2010 and continues to use cannabis. Jeff uses cannabis to manage his pain and alleviate PTSD symptoms, including depression. Since finding a better way to manage his condition, he has advocated for the use of medical marijuana. As a passionate patient rights activist, Jeff and his wife, Tara, recently founded “The Grateful Veteran” – a non-profit designed to aid service members financially with their medical marijuana doctor visits and state fees.
Through “The Grateful Veteran”, Jeff has helped over 500 veterans obtain their medical cannabis card. Jeff has been busy hosting and attending numerous local events throughout the year. Jeff has helped to raise money for the Cape Coral Military Museum and has also donated funds to the Wolfhounds Legacy.
-Volunteers-
Our volunteers are the foundation of our program; we would not be where we are without them. They foster, help with training, handle communication, and support our veterans whenever they can. They are a big part of Wolfhounds Legacy, and we would not know what we would do without them!
People choose to volunteer with Wolfhounds Legacy for a variety of reasons. Whether it be required or just for fun, all are invited to apply to become a volunteer.
Some of our volunteers are retired veterans, previous students of the program, and even college undergraduates. Many of our trainers are volunteers as well. We love our volunteers!
Our volunteers are the foundation of our program; we would not be where we are without them. They foster, help with training, handle communication, and support our veterans wherever and whenever they can.
