Matthew Rook
Matthew Rook is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Hurricane Creek K9, a nationally recognized working dog training and procurement organization based in Georgia. A former law enforcement officer with more than two decades of policing experience, Matt served as a K9 Handler, K9 Unit Supervisor, and Chief of Police before transitioning full-time into professional canine development and training leadership.
Throughout his career, Matt has specialized in patrol and detection canine selection, bite development, handler instruction, and operational K9 program design. He has trained and supplied working dogs for law enforcement agencies across the United States. His expertise spans patrol dog development, handler schools, supervisory K9 leadership, and policy development for modern working dog units.
Matt is widely respected for his practical, street-tested approach to canine training, emphasizing real-world deployment readiness and operational effectiveness. His instruction style blends operational experience, behavioral insight, and clear, hands-on teaching that resonates with handlers, trainers, and supervisors alike.
Class: The Decoy Makes the Dog: Building Confident Dogs for Real-World Deployment
Behind every confident, committed patrol dog is a skilled decoy who understands how to shape behavior with precision, timing, and purpose. This course takes an in-depth look at the science and mechanics behind effective decoy work, showing how decoys directly influence grip development, targeting, engagement, nerve strength, and a dog’s ability to perform under operational stress. Far beyond simply “catching bites,” decoys are one of the most powerful tools in building reliable street-ready police dogs, and poor decoy work can create lasting weaknesses that surface in real deployments.
This dynamic course blends practical field experience with behavioral principles that explain why dogs respond the way they do during bite development. Through live demonstrations and scenario-based instruction featuring an all-female decoy team from Hurricane Creek K9, attendees will see how movement, pressure application, reward timing, environmental context, and decoy presentation shape the finished patrol dog. Handlers, trainers, and aspiring decoys will leave with a clearer understanding of how to evaluate and improve decoy work in their own programs, ultimately producing stronger, more confident, and more dependable dogs.