David and Jenny Abarbanel needed a Philadelphia buddy.
After three years of marriage, they’d moved to the city in January of 2018, finally ready to get a dog after discussing the possibility for a few years. Jenny had taken a position that allowed her to work remotely, giving her the chance to spend time with a pet while David traveled for work. “We decided me being at home was the perfect time to get a dog,” Jenny said.
Jenny had grown up with black standard poodles, due to her father dealing with severe allergies. The couple was open to other breeds until there was a death at Jenny’s childhood home. “After losing a family dog I’d grown up with, and seeing my family’s connection to this dog, my husband said, ‘we’re getting a poodle,’” Jenny said.
Jenny was used to the more docile black poodle version, but they took home a red one after discussing what would be best for their home. “The red poodles have a different temperament,” Jenny explained. “They’re a little more active, a little feistier. We decided that that was the right move for us. This was my husband’s first dog, so that was the combination of what we wanted.”
They named her Lola when they brought the two-month-old puppy home, and they found out quickly that she had some things to say. “She’s the sweetest dog, but she has opinions,” Jenny shared. “She’ll groan about certain things. She doesn’t like doing ‘down.’ She’ll do all these other tricks, but every time we ask her to go down, she’ll do it, but she’ll do a little sassy bark. She’s done that ever since she’s been a puppy.”
They knew they wanted to get her into training quickly after she arrived. “She is very smart and very sassy,” Jenny said. “Poodles need a lot of stimulus. We knew that living in a city and having her be well behaved when people came to the house was very important. Very quickly after we got her, I found Philly Unleashed.”
Now 16 months old, Lola has been through Puppy Kindergarten, Level 1 and 2, and she is working on her recall skills through the Recall Bootcamp workshop. She’ll start Level 3 soon, and she enjoys every minute of it. “Lola loves to go to training,” Jenny shared. “She’ll cry all the way there. She’s a very alert dog anyway, but she’s much more attentive because she wants to do well. With the training, she’s a much more pleasant dog to be around. As she’s gotten older, we’ve seen the training helped her calm down and helped her be a more pleasant member of the family. It’s been hugely rewarding to do training. A little bit of training and instruction can make a huge difference in terms of how you feel about bringing your dog out into the world.”
And while David is often away for his job, Lola is always overjoyed when he comes back. “She is hugely excited to see him when he gets home,” Jenny said. “Although I do most of the work, we joke that he is her favorite.”
