# What I did today...



## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)




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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

You made a poster?


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## Nathen Danforth (Feb 12, 2009)

Congrats Chris!


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Nice job Chris. How'd you like Deacon?


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Nicole Stark said:


> Nice job Chris. How'd you like Deacon?


Thanks.

I liked Deacon. He was sharp and I thought fair. I heard a couple of people complain that he's too tough for a club trial but I think he's great and I would think the same thing if he failed me tonight. I like that he was competitor and was a K9 handler for years so he know what a real is like in the work. I think that's the best benchmark for something like schH.


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## Alan Fielding (Dec 7, 2009)

Congratulations Chris! I guess it feels good to pass the BH and get that over with. Also validates that your training is going as it should.Good luck with your future titles!


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Congratulations, Chris!


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Chris Michalek said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I liked Deacon. He was sharp and I thought fair. I heard a couple of people complain that he's too tough for a club trial but I think he's great and I would think the same thing if he failed me tonight. I like that he was competitor and was a K9 handler for years so he know what a real is like in the work. I think that's the best benchmark for something like schH.



Chris,

Congrats on the BH.
Looking at those tracking scores, you're probably lucky you didn't try a SchH I.
Where's the video?


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## Skip Morgart (Dec 19, 2008)

Congratulations to Chris and his dog. It's always good to get the very first one under your belt.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Chris Michalek said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I liked Deacon. He was sharp and I thought fair. I heard a couple of people complain that he's too tough for a club trial but I think he's great and I would think the same thing if he failed me tonight. I like that he was competitor and was a K9 handler for years so he know what a real is like in the work. I think that's the best benchmark for something like schH.


Good job congrats! got that one out of the way. Having Doug Deacon in your score book means you ain't playing and fishing the easy judges he has never wavered in how he judges through all the years people that show up and expect to get something that ain't there will not get it from Deacon.
I don't think you will ever see him Judging at the Mali Nationals he don't like most of them but if he dose you prolly got something .
Any surprises or holes exposed with your dogs training


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Thomas Barriano said:


> Chris,
> 
> Congrats on the BH.
> Looking at those tracking scores, you're probably lucky you didn't try a SchH I.
> Where's the video?



You guys would be all over me if I videoed my routine while doing it. Deacon might have laughed though.

All of the dogs that failed tracking all failed on the the same field. The ones that passed tracked on a different field.

Not sure if I would have passed tracking or not. I can't say he's a super tracker but he knows how to track and is pretty methodical about it. The dog that got 60 in tracking is known to be an excellent tracker and I track with that guy three times per week. But I work on tracks with lots of cross tracks and other ****ed up shit. Apparently, that particular tracking field was full of cross tracks.


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## Laura Bollschweiler (Apr 25, 2008)

Congratulations on the BH! Nice to get that out of the way. Any surprises in your routine, any of those "my dog never did that before?" kind of things? Did your dog perform as you had expected?



Chris Michalek said:


> Apparently, that particular tracking field was full of cross tracks.


My guess is that dogs might react to cross tracks on a trial track a little differently than on a training track. There's probably lots of different things already going on: more people, more stress in the air, etc., and also no rewards on the real track...and then add in a cross track and a dog who might normally be pretty sure of themselves may take it or it may blow their minds a little. Were they cross tracks from tracking people, like a tracking field that had been used, or just random wanderers? Because if they were tracking dogs there, there might be a little scent of or even bits of bait left in the cross tracks and now you've got a dog finding reward for the cross track.

Just my speculation and I'm sorry to go off topic but this kind of thing intrigues me. I think too much about stuff and then I ask how I can address it in my own training.

So Congrats again!!

Laura


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

Good job Chris .


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Laura Bollschweiler said:


> Congratulations on the BH! Nice to get that out of the way. Any surprises in your routine, any of those "my dog never did that before?" kind of things? Did your dog perform as you had expected?
> 
> 
> 
> Laura


I expected excellence because that's all we've seen from him in training for the past year. If you see on the chart one of my friends got a 96 in his IPO1 OB. It has always been a debate between who's dog would be better in OB. No debate at the trial! I was worried at first. The on leash portion was terrible. He went into "I'm going for a walk mode" and he got very flat and wanted to sniff and piss on the the trees in the middle of the field. 

After I took off the leash he was much better. He nailed the motion exercises and I was worried about that too. I had been sick all week and only worked with the dog twice before the trial. On thursday night, I practiced at the club and when I went through the exercises, Sit = Stand and Platz = Sit. It was a mess. I took him off the field and did the protection routine instead of correcting the shit out of him on that field. I figured if he knows he gets to bite on that field some of that urge would help on trial day. In the end, I just had faith in the dog and all the training we've done over the past year. We passed, that's all that matters. :wink:

As for the cross tracks on the tracking field, my buddy said a tractor had gone through the field a few times and left some dirt that was hard as a rock.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Nice, you passed. =D>


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## Laura Bollschweiler (Apr 25, 2008)

Ha, you'll never have to worry about a leash again in trial 



Chris Michalek said:


> As for the cross tracks on the tracking field, my buddy said a tractor had gone through the field a few times and left some dirt that was hard as a rock.


That's not cross tracks. That's just a ****ed up field. I hate that "luck of the draw" aspect of tracking. 

Laura


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## Courtney Guthrie (Oct 30, 2007)

Congratulations!


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Very nice!


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Congratulations to both of you!


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

Congrats Chris!

You're allowed to post again !


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

thanks for all of the comments guys.

Sch1 coming in Jan.


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

maggie fraser said:


> Congrats Chris!
> 
> You're allowed to post again !


Yeah, like we've ever been able to stop him ;-)


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## Tamara Champagne (Jan 20, 2009)

Chris Michalek said:


> thanks for all of the comments guys.
> 
> Sch1 coming in Jan.


Congrats on the BH, Chris. And good luck on the Sch1 this winter!!!


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

Well done Chris and good luck with the SchH 1 in January.


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