Kim Berkley is an extraordinary trainer from Caseyville, Ill., who has set the dog world on fire
these past few years. She is on a deeply impressive run: She won the Masters Obedience
competition this year at Westminster, she won the last three Rally National Championships with
her Border Collies Zayne and Zuko, and she’s won the prestigious Janet Larson Versatility
award at the Border Collie Nationals seven times overall. Kim also showed three of her dogs
who finished in the top ten of this year’s National Obedience Championship.
Clearly, Kim is not afraid of a challenge. Years ago, she started out in obedience and agility as
many people do, by training her pet, a Great Dane named Aalaina Zar, in obedience. Aalaina
Zar turned out to have limited aptitude for the sport, but Kim was able to train her next dog, an
Australian Shepherd named Mr. Personality, or Cody, to her first Utility Dog title. Following
that, Kim worked with her Standard Poodle Dino and Miniature Poodle Bruno, then added
Lucy, a splendid Golden Retriever; a great Labrador Retriever, Huntleigh; then a string of four
CH OTCH English Springer Spaniels beginning with her beloved Dani. Kim always feeds
Purina ProPlan, which keeps her dogs healthy and strong.
When a friend asked her to take on Rev, a Border Collie who’d excelled in obedience and was a
herding champion but had never done agility, Kim stepped in confidently. The goal was to win
the Janet Larson Versatility award at the Border Collie National, which at the time was only six
months away. Kim had never done any herding, but she was happy to let the highly
accomplished Rev be her guide in that sport. She and Rev never wavered. Rev took the BC
Nationals by storm, securing her first of several Janet Larson awards by competing successfully
in agility and herding, then cementing things in the obedience ring by winning the Utility class
and the High Combined competition.
Working with Rev seemed to awaken in Kim an affinity for Border Collies, and she’s enjoyed a
stunningly successful run with them ever since. First was Zayne (RNC TC OTCH14 AGCH
MACH5 PACH RACH Norwood Color Me Zayne UDX15 OGM RM4 RAE3 HSAd HSBd
HXAd HXBd MXC PDS MJC PJS MXPB MJPB PAX MFG TQX T2B5), who won the AKC
Rally National Championship in 2022 and 2023, plus the AKC Obedience Classic in 2023 and
the prestigious Westminster obedience competition in 2024. Zayne also followed Rev’s lead by
winning several Janet Larson awards. Next came Zayne’s son Zuko (RNC TC OTCH7 MACH2
RACH Bolser Zuko You’re The One UDX7 OGM RM3 RAE3 HSAd HSBd HXAd HXBd
MXS PAD MJS MFB TQX T2B3), who won a final Janet Larson award.
Kim’s big goal was to win a triple championship. It all started when Zayne captured a five-point
major at a Border Collie Specialty show at a Louisville cluster in 2022. Despite that big win,
completing Zayne’s breed championship took time, and a village, to complete. But it was a
huge accomplishment, as at that point there had been only 16 triple champion Border Collies
since 1980. Just one year later, Zuko added his name to that illustrious roll when he completed
his herding and breed championships in 2023. Zayne now has eight different championship
titles in front of his name – which may be a record!
Zuko, like his sire, is a stand-out dog in rally. After finishing second to Zayne at the RNC in
2022 and 2023, Zuko won the 2024 Rally National Championship in 2024 – with both dogs
posting perfect 400 scores all three years. Zayne also finished second at the RNC in 2020 and
2021, and Rev placed third in 2020.
In 2023 and 2024 Kim handled three of her dogs – Zayne, Zuko, and her Springer Spaniel Dolly
(CH OTCH2 RACH Polesitter Here You Come Again UDX5 OM8 RM2 RAE3 DS) – to top 20
finishes at the AKC National Obedience Championship. To make it into the top 20 at this
prestigious event with one dog is a huge accomplishment. To make it with three dogs is nothing
short of phenomenal.
Before there were dogs, there were horses
Kim started out working with horses. She got her first pony when she was four, her first horse at
13, and her first Arabian horse when she was 16. She worked as a babysitter to pay for their
upkeep and for riding lessons, soon mastering both Western and English riding styles. In the
beginning she competed in fun shows, but it wasn’t too long before the student became the
teacher when Kim started her own training business.
She continued riding herself, pursuing a personal goal of winning a national championship. She
came close in 1984, winning a reserve national championship with her Half Arabian JJ Beau
Jangles. Five years later, Kim won her first national championship with Koko Captain. In 1992
she won the National Champion in Costume competition with the stallion Focus Alimus. Two
years later, Kim won national championships in both Arabian Show Hack and Side Saddle. The
following year, in dressage, Kim won National Champion, first level, and Reserve National
Champion, second level.
And the riders Kim had trained, both adults and children, were also winning big; in 1993 the
first horse Kim had trained from the outset won a national title. Kim took great pride in
watching her students succeed and felt she learned something from all of them.
Despite the thrill of these many accomplishments, Kim began to understand that training and
showing horses was exacting a personal price in stress and physical danger. So in the early
1990s Kim started working with her first two pet dogs in obedience. After Cody notched that
first obedience title, Kim began to think seriously about shifting her training focus from horses
to dogs.
Life helped her make that decision in 1992 when she was nearly killed by a horse falling on her.
It was a slow process, though, as Kim’s last great show horse, Vivacious Leigh, or ViVi, won
two Arabian English Show Hack national championships in 2003.
Two years later, Kim’s transformation from horse to dog trainer was complete when she opened
Dog Sports at Kim’s, a 20,000-square-foot, climate-controlled building that hosts AKC agility
and obedience trials. The DSK complex also boasts a dock diving pool where dock diving trials
take place. Once DSK was launched, Kim began working with dogs exclusively, and she soon
became a perennial winner, finding joy and deep satisfaction in training dogs, showing them,
and teaching her students to excel as well.
Copyright 2024 Kimberly Berkley
