31759 Block St., Garden City
734 812 7973  

greatamericandogs@gmail.com

NEW CLASS SESSION STARTS 
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28th!

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Coach Profile:  Betsy Bernock

Betsy follows in the footsteps of two previous generations of canine professionals. Her grandparents raised and trained Scottish Terriers, Collies, Dachshunds, Airedales and Poodles.  Her parents raised and trained Poodles, Golden Retrievers, Airedales and Dachshunds.

Betsy has spent her lifetime living with and learning from hundreds of dogs.  She has 40 years of training experience and 30 years of coaching experience. Betsy currently trains and competes with her dogs in hunt tests, obedience, agility, rally and dock diving.

Betsy has also spent decades working with rescue dogs - from coaching rescue dog families in her classes, to fostering and placing rescue dogs, to raising rescue dogs of her own (right now which are two Jack Russell Terriers), to founding an organization for local Labrador rescues - to funding, supporting and guiding several dogs from the Katrina catastrophe.

Betsy has also donated several puppies from her breeding program through Thunder Myst Retrievers to the Paws with a Cause organization, and several Thunder Myst dogs are now enhancing the lives of others.

Shown here with "Kasey" the family Dachshund that was born just six months after Betsy - her parents had to frequently retrieve her from the dog crate, which Betsy would sneak into during the middle of the night.

Betsy started breeding Retrievers in 1984, and today with her husband, Steve, is Thunder Myst Retrievers.  Since meeting Steve, her Labrador Retriever roll call (with a Jack Russell Terrier and a couple Dachshunds mixed in) is below:

HRCH Thunder Myst Monsoon MH SH JH WCX 
GRCH Can CH Thunder in the Myst JH CC WCI CGC TDI 
- UKC's first Top Ten BOB winning Labrador!
- UKC's ONLY 3-time Top Ten BOB winning Labrador!
UCH UAG1 HR Thunder Myst Real Wyld Chyld SH WCX CGC
- UKC's first chocolate show champion!
Thunder Myst Cinderbella SH
UCH Thunder Myst Wyld Man BIMBS
SHR Thunder Myst Raging Storm RA RL1 WC CGC 
UAG2 Thunder Myst Built Ford Tough JH OA OAJ WC 
HR Thunder Myst Rush the Passer SH WCX
GRCH Oakhaven Thunder Myst Big Texan CC BIS
UCH Lakeview Some Kinda Wonderful
GRCH Thunder Myst Nautical Wheeler WC 
- UKC Top Ten BOB winning Labrador
UCH Diamond's Are Forever Lil WC
UCH Thunder Myst Mossy Oak Mudslinger
Thunder Myst Shenanigans JH WCX
GRUUJ UAG2 Thunder Myst Drew's All In RA RL2 CGC WC
UAG2 UCD URO1 USJ Thunder Myst Wyld Goose Chase JH RA CW-ZR1 CW-OB1 CGC WC
SHR Thunder Myst Raging Tempest JH WC
Thunder Myst Free Ride WC
UCH AKC CH Gemdach Can't Hide Redneck RN URO1 CW-OB1 CGC TDI
UCH AKC CH Gemdach ThunderMyst Lilredrodeo
Oxford’s Mocha Molly CGC

Betsy is an AKC licensed retriever hunt test judge through the master level and is one of the most experienced Michigan AKC hunt test judges. 

She is also an AKC Canine Good Citizen and STAR Puppy evaluator.

Betsy is a member in good standing of:

Great Lakes Obedience Club of Michigan
Music City Hunting Retriever Club
Musical Sport Dog Association
Omega Farms Conservation Club
TriTronics Influentials Club

Here is a snapshot of some of Betsy's past dog accomplishments:

Betsy grew up in the Dog Daze 4-H Club based out of Dearborn, Michigan. She spent years competing in obedience and junior showmanship events, including the annual Wayne County Fair and Michigan State Fair.  Betsy was a top competitor in both obedience and junior showmanship with her toy poodle, Abby.

Betsy and Abby went on to earn an AKC and Canadian Kennel Club CD title.  At the age of 11 Betsy competed in the Gaines Regional Obedience Tournaments and the Detroit-Windsor Dog Obedience Association Tournament with Abby and earned qualifying scores at each event.

In 1976 Betsy's parents purchased their first Golden Retriever. Pictured here at a Golden Retriever club field training day, "Kalua" was just 8 weeks of age. This is the day that was Betsy's first exposure to retriever field work and she was hooked from that day forward.

In her early teen years, Betsy was still very competitive in junior showmanship, and had a passion for the show ring. She wanted to grow up to be a professional handler and started by showing dogs owned by others.  During her formative years Betsy earned conformation championships and gained experience training and showing Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Shelties, Siberian Huskies, Whippets, Ibizan Hounds, Dachshunds, Collies, Rottweilers, Irish Water Spaniels, Schnauzers, Afghan Hounds, Schipperkes, Pulik, Bouviers and more.

pictured above showing a 
"Merry" Irish Water Spaniel in
the southern US.

Near the end of her junior showmanship career, Betsy won Best Junior Handler at the prestigious Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show in 1982.  This was the icing on the cake of her successful years competing in juniors.

Betsy's interest in the show ring continued as she showed the family's Golden, "Spirit", in conformation.  (Spirit was a "Kyrie" Golden Retriever.) This picture is from the 1980 Golden Retriever Club of America Regional Specialty where Betsy handled Spirit to a first place class win in the American Bred Dog Class.

When Betsy was an older teen she spent several years campaigning "Zeb".  (Zeb was a "Kyrie" Golden Retriever and son of AFC Holway Barty.) 

Zeb was one of the most titled Golden Retrievers in his day, carrying 14 titles in obedience, tracking and field, including an obedience trial championship.  This was in the day prior to the explosion of agility competition.

Golden Glow's Remember Me Am/Can CD 

Suzie joined the household during Betsy's high school years. Suzie was an adult when she moved in, and together she and Betsy earned AKC and Canadian Kennel Club CD titles.

During her childhood and early adulthood, Betsy spent years traveling and attending seminars on obedience, breeds, conformation and tracking.  She studied with and learned from Bob Self Sr., Bernie Brown, Barbra Goodman and Pauline Czarnecki (obedience); Ed & Marallyn Wight and Glen Johnson (tracking); George Carlton, Jeffrey Lynn Brucker, Joanne Hurd and Karen Mayo (conformation / showmanship); Rachel Page Elliott and Marcia Schlehr (structure, movement and Golden Retrievers), to name a few.

Gunnstock Voyageur XS Baggage CGC TDI

"Delta Sue" was born in 1990 and was Betsy's constant companion for 12 years. While she never became a top working obedience dog (Delta Sue HATED obedience!), she earned championship points in AKC, UKC and Canadian Kennel Club dog shows, earned her Canine Good Citizen certification and was a registered Therapy Dog. 

In 1995 the Training Place was contracted with Superpetz in Westland, Michigan to provide dog training services. During 14 years in that location, Betsy led the Training Place to become the most successful training center location within the Superpetz national chain.  She also taught obedience classes at the Superpetz in Toledo, Ohio prior to the store closing.

Training Place was a dog obedience training center founded in the early 1980s by Ron and Judy Kaiser, Betsy's parents. Ron Kaiser was an AKC, UKC and Canadian Kennel Club obedience judge.

Here are some of Betsy's personal and other professional accomplishments:

• Paychex
• The Gates Corporation
• M-CARE / University of Michigan
• The FTD Association