by Elizabeth Silverstein

When the pandemic hit, Ellie Zilberfarb was eleven weeks old.

And she was what her owner, Chris, describes as a lot to handle. “She was a handful,” Chris explained. “She was a very difficult after the first few weeks. A lot of jumping and biting.  I was talking a lot to my breeder about her behavior.”

Chris and her husband, Mike, had had golden retrievers for the past 25 years. They’d had two at the same time for seven years, and then lost both within a year of each other between 2018 and 2019. “It was pretty tragic for our family,” Chris explained. “I was like, ‘My kids are older. Let’s just wait.’ We couldn’t wait. So, we started looking.”

They brought home Ellie in February of 2020. “They’ve always been such great dogs for us,” Chris shared. “We jumped in. We were very excited. But it’s been a long time since we had a puppy. It’s been much different than we remembered.”

It had been nearly a decade and a half since they’d brought home their last puppy, Chase, who would have been 16 years old today. “The kids were really little,” Chris said. “I think we forgot a lot of the puppy stuff because we were so focused on raising and running around with the kids.”

They didn’t remember Chase getting into as much trouble as Ellie does. “Ellie is a very high energy, impulsive Golden Retriever puppy,” Chris said. “I recall Nicole used the words, ‘sassy’ and a ‘diva’ to describe Ellie. When Ellie went to Puppy Farmcamp way back in March, I recall Nicole saying, ‘When we think of Ellie, we think of party.’ That tells you what kind of puppy she is. She’s nonstop. She doesn’t just chill.”

They found Philly Unleashed soon after bringing Ellie home, signing up for Puppy Kindergarten in February. They’d gotten a package of classes, attended two, and then the pandemic arrived, shutting everything down. She spoke with her breeder and with Philly Unleashed trainer Jess as the challenges grew with Ellie. Jess suggested  she talk to Nicole. After Ellie spent some time back with the breeder and her pack of dogs,  Puppy Farmcamp was established, and Ellie was off to Farmcamp two days a week. “It was great!” Chris said. “She got training time, socialization time and she was exhausted when she got home!”  “From there, I was like, ‘Okay, where do we go from here for training?’”

They started outdoors group classes with Cassi on Saturday mornings. Cassi realized Ellie was more advanced due to all of the training she’d received, so they did a few private lessons to focus on certain areas of concern. Then Nicole asked if Ellie could be her personal assistant for virtual Puppy Kindergarten classes.

Chris has always had the desire to train Ellie to be therapy dog, and she plans on continuing to work toward that goal. Ellie is now 10 months old and moving through Level 2 with trainer Alicia. “I’ve worked with a lot of  trainers at Philly Unleashed and they’ve all been great!” Chris said. “It hasn’t been your typical class progression. It’s morphed into a different type of training development for her.”  

Chris has realized along the training journey that she’s needed to be more patient. “It’s helped me realize that it’s just not about Ellie, it’s about us,” she shared. “I remember what Nicole said and what Cassi said: ‘We have to remember that they don’t know.  It is our job to help them. They most often don’t  know what the right behavior is. They are puppies and they’re not innately born with all knowing all the appropriate behaviors. They don’t have understanding of what to do or what’s right or wrong.’ Our job is to help them and not expect them to always know the right choice or way to act There will be ups and downs and it’s going to take much more time than we think.”

If she has any questions, she knows the team is right there to help. “The thing that’s great about Philly Unleashed is that I don’t have any problems reaching out and asking a question, because I know they’ll respond to me if I have an issue or need a recommendation,” Chris shared. “They’re there to answer. That’s why I love my breeder and Philly Unleashed. They have always been there for us. They want what’s best for the dog and for the family. And it doesn’t all fit into a perfect bucket. Each dog is different, and you have to work with each personality trait and ability.”

Plus, Ellie is pretty adorable, and in moments of calm, she’ll snuggle. “She’s just so darn cute,” Chris said. “She’s smart. She’s very smart. One of the things we love the most about her is how much she loves the water. . She’s in her glory when she’s swimming. We have taken her dock diving, which is so much fun. She loves it and she loves to jump and swim in the ocean. That’s the most fun thing to do with her – take her to the beach or taking her dock diving in the pool. She loves it. That’s where she thrives. When we go to the dog beach, she’s not as interested in the other dogs. She just wants to fetch the toys and swim in the ocean. It’s so much fun  to do with her.”

Chris advises other dog owners to be patient. “That’s what I struggle with the most,” Chris explained. “I get impatient with myself when I get impatient with her. It’s okay. I’m going to get frustrated with her, but that doesn’t mean I can’t step back and refocus. You have to work at it. If you want the behaviors to change the way you want them, or you want them to learn new behaviors, it’s going to take work. It’s just like raising a kid, toddler, or teenager. You have to help them and be patient. And don’t leave anything on the floor! You can’t expect them to learn everything you want n a short period of time and you can’t expect them to not resort back to behaviors you don’t like for the first couple of years. It takes consistency and continual training and working with them. I know that this is the way it is. I do still get frustrated, but I have to remember to continue to try to be patent. I have to keep remembering that it’s going to get better and I have to work at it.”