Libby Rockaway

Libby Rockaway has been fascinated by the science of dog training her whole life, and she has a broad range of experience. She began in 4-H Dog Club at age eight and advanced to teaching the club as well as her own “Kids and Canines” classes for children. She competes, and has titled, in American Kennel Club (AKC) Obedience and Agility with her Corgi, Zoe, and Border Collie, Elliott.

Libby trained forty puppies, one at a time, during her high school years. This is how she discovered that eight- to ten-week-old-puppies can learn a LOT, and that they begin learning from the moment they are brought home.

The puppies Libby trained have been part of a puppy prep program that she and a local breeder of Comfort Retrievers™ developed. These pups have gone to homes throughout the U.S. and as far away as Brazil and Dubai.

By working with an identical age and breed of pups, Libby was able to study puppy training methods and motivators. She developed a standard training protocol and an achievement chart that illustrates just how much the pups are capable of learning.

With this experience, Libby began to train service dogs, raising a litter of pups in her home and training her first diabetic alert dog (D.A.D) in 2014. She discovered that training these service dogs is a true passion of hers!

As a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) and the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP), Libby attends many of the national conferences, as well as regional Diabetic Alert Dog conferences to continue her education about canine learning and behaviors.

Libby is from Lexington, KY, and is attending the University of Pennsylvania, studying Cognitive Science; she is involved in the University of Pennsylvania Working Dog Center.