Family Owned & Operated
DISCOVER K9 is a family-owned and operated business run by Rickey & Kelly Hooker from their home near Defuniak Springs, Florida. When you call or email, you will reach Kelly- she handles all of the contacts, reservations and questions. Kelly is also responsible for picking up and returning your dog. If your dog is enrolled in our 30 day in-house training, he/she will be trained by both Rickey and Kelly. They will work together to plan the training program for your dog.
Rickey & Kelly will be glad to conduct free demonstrations of their own dogs or dogs they are currently training whenever possible. Please feel free to contact Discover K9 with questions regarding demos.
Experience
Rickey Hooker is the Owner and Training Director of Discover K9. He is currently the Eglin Air Force Base Military Working Dog Trainer. He has been married to his wife, Kelly, for 13 years; and they have 2 children . They have been stationed at Eglin for more than 4 years and plan to stay in the area. Although Rickey received his first formal dog training/handling at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas; he has really been learning about dogs his entire life. He continues to work hard to perfect his skills as a dog trainer/handler/teacher. Rickey has sought out training from some of the best dog trainers in the country and enjoys studying what others do right and wrong with dogs. He has a unique ability to incorporate many different ideas to form his own training approach. Rickey is a great teacher and enjoys helping others perfect their techniques too.While at Eglin AFB, Rickey was chosen by the military to attend a NORTH STATE K-9 ACADEMY of TARHEEL CANINE INC., a civilian K-9 Trainer's School which earned him the title of "Master Trainer". During this six week school, he gained experience training civilian obedience dogs, their owners and new dog handlers. He attended a Drug and Explosive Detection Instructor's Course taught by Randy Hare with Alpha K9 
from Jackson, MS. He has also attended seminars taught by Fred Hassen of SIT MEANS SIT from Las Vegas, NV where he learned the proper use of Remote Collar Training. Most recently, he worked in conjuction with Jason Purgason - of Highland Canine Training in North Carolina to conduct a week long Basic Police Canine & SWAT and Advanced Detection seminar for Eglin Air Force Base near Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Rickey is currently in charge of the training of all Eglin's Dogs and Handlers. Although his official job is in the Working Dog Field, he has dealt with hundreds of behavioral and obedience problems; and the civilian schools that he has attended have given him extra skills to tackle even the most difficult dogs and he enjoys the challenge. Rickey enjoys teaching and helping other handlers with their dogs. He has trained 2 K9 teams for Niceville Police Department and has consulted other local agencies. He recently adopted his Military Working Dog Jacco. Jacco served the US Air Force for 10 years and retirement. He spent almost 7 months in Kirkuk, Iraq with Rickey in 2004. SSgt Hooker recently took Jacco to USPCA Mini-Trials in October 2006 earning a score of 195.5 out of 200 possible points; this was the first time Jacco had competed.
For more information on MWD Jacco's Retirement and for details on The Military Working Dog Memorial fundraiser; go to
www.militaryworkingdogmemorial.com