4-H Woof Dog Club Member Savanna Wins Best Junior at Philadelphia Kennel Club

Written by Liam Frank, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Somerset County Marketing & Communications Coordinator

This past November, Somerset County 4-H Member Savanna Michalak of Woof Dog Club competed at the Philadelphia Kennel Club with her dog, an Australian Shepherd named Hawk, and won Best Junior at the competition. Savanna has been training dogs since early childhood, and has a very decorated training career, earning several titles with Hawk alone (GCHS, CH, ATT, TKN, CGAC, CGUC, BCAT). While working with dogs has brought Savanna great success, it has also taught her valuable life lessons.

Savanna was born with an eye condition known as strabismus, which caused complications including migraines and lazy eye. This was difficult for a myriad of reasons, including being subject to bullying due to her symptoms of the condition. This affected Savanna’s confidence so much that she was unwilling to participate or speak in class at times, so to not draw attention to her eye condition. Despite the support from her family, simply getting through the day was a difficult task, until Savanna took up an interest in dogs.

At age 7, Savanna brought home her first dog named Sky. Sky offered Savanna a sense of relief, security, and eventually confidence as she began training with Sky. Savanna joined Little Woofers club at Somerset County 4-H in 2017, and eventually graduated to Woof. While at 4-H, Savanna has learned a great deal about training and public speaking, which has helped grow her confidence and self-esteem. Savanna became an American Kennel Club Junior Handler with Sky, and the two went on to claim various accolades including the Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dog certification, Trick Dog title, Rally Novice title, CGC and CGCA title, and more.

Since working with Sky, Savanna advanced on to showing at the AKC conformation level in both the Juniors and Breed rings. Savanna and her current dog, Hawk, continue to earn titles. Together they have earned titles such as completing his Championship, Grand Championship, and Grand Championship silver. They also earned his Canine Good Citizen, Canine Good Urban Citizen, and Canine Advanced Citizen titles. Hawk has also passed his temperament test, trick dog testing, and therapy dog test. Hawk ran fast cat and earned his BCat title. In 2023, Hawk won a best in specialty show and best of opposite at Westminster, always with Savanna at the end of his lead. Savanna is now advancing her handling skills by showing more breeds of dogs, currently also showing a Whippet and a Soft Coated Wheaten.

As Savanna extends her career as a trainer, Hawk represents an extension of Savanna’s belief in herself after overcoming adversity. Savanna and Hawk are champions not only in competition, but also in life.