Named after Eli Manning, the starting quarterback for the Giants, it seems fitting that Eli the Australian Shepherd is a bit larger than life. “My husband is a Giants fan and he loves Eli Manning,” Addie Pangaro, Eli’s owner, explained. “He gave me the option to name a child or dog Eli. I chose dog.”
Addie and Joe brought Eli as a puppy home four years ago. “I’d just been wanting a dog for a long time,” Addie said. “We saw Eli and that was that. It was love right away.”
Living in southern Philadelphia, they knew socialization and training would be important for him, and decided to enroll him in Puppy Club through Philly Unleashed at Companion Pet Hospital. “We knew that [Australian Shepherds] were really smart,” Addie said. “We wanted to start socializing him right away.”
Then Eli started to develop anxiety around other people and dogs. They pulled him from classes. “We had done on one on one classes to get him acclimated again, and see how he was doing,” Addie shared. “After talking to Nicole about him staying overnight at Farm camp, everybody loved him and he loved it there. It was a great outlet for him and a wonderful environment. And he is exhausted when he comes home.”
The built-in training was also a plus. “He needs to be busy,” Addie said. “He likes to work.”
Now, he’s been visiting the farm every week for the past two years, learning everything from advanced obedience to tricks to agility. Addie and Joe have been supplementing his time at the farm with some training at another location, not connected to Philly Unleashed, where he can learn how to herd sheep, building on his down, stay, and listening skills.
Addie encourages others to maintain the training. “The more you do it, the more it’s ingrained,” she said. “He could be in another room, and I could say ‘sit’ and he’d sit.”
Addie describes Eli as a momma’s boy, since they spend the most time together, but training has helped with his manners and some of his fears. “I think he’s such come a long way because we’ve worked so much on it and he’s so busy with training and working,” Addie said.
But that doesn’t mean Eli is shy about asking for attention. “He does a lot of sitting and staring at you, and barking if he wants your attention,” Addie said. “If he doesn’t get your attention, or you’re ignoring him, he’ll come sit on you. He’s very quirky. That especially happens if it’s dinner time.”
Their hard work is apparent, and they like to have fun while training, too. They’ve been working on tricks like “spin” and “play dead.” And Eli is often a common sight on the Philly Unleashed Instagram, flashing that signature Eli smile. “He’s such a brat, but he’s a good boy … He knows how to work you that’s for sure,” Addie shared. “He’s just a happy dog.”
