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Permalink Reply by Paul on January 27, 2008 at 5:52pm

I think that depends a bit on the individual dog. My family has had at least 2-3 corgis that would have been extremely trustworthy around small children - but they also had one that turned a bit snappy near food and couldn't be trusted with other dogs.

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Permalink Reply by Charlie on January 27, 2008 at 6:43pm

As Paul wrote, it would depend on the individual dog's personality and temperament. If I were considering a dog now and children in the future, I would be looking at an older dog (at least one year old) who has been around children. Puppies don't develop their full personality traits until around 2 years old. With an older dog, you know what personality you're getting upfront.

You could probably find a retired show dog from a breeder (with children) who is trained, or maybe consider a rescue Corgi which has been "tested" in a foster home with children. I'd also ask about barking! Some Corgis bark at everything, which would make the baby's nap time a bit of a challenge. :)

Talk to a lot of breeders while you decide. Some don't recommend their particular lines with children, and some do. Good luck, and keep us posted!

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Permalink Reply by Carol Braitman on January 27, 2008 at 7:07pm

I have 2 girls that were 4 and 8 when we got Augie. I went to the dog show in our area, and looked at the corgis there. Augie's dad, Sonnie, was there. He let my younger daughter and her friend pet him, and love on him. I asked the handler if he was being bred, and they gave me the card for the breeder. I contacted her, and talked with her quite a bit. I decided to buy a puppy from her. It was a great decision, Augie has the same temperment as his dad. We got him at about 5 months, because we were traveling, and she had started training him. He came to our house, and acted like Nana from Peter Pan. He let the girls push him in a baby carriage, and dress him up to play house. He is also extremly protective of all of us. If they are outside, he has to be with them. He has trained Char to be the same. Char is the only one who has nipped heels, and only when the girls run really fast. Augie will get after her if she does it also. She's never hurt anyone. As I've said before , Augie is a really compliant dog, and will do whtaever I ask him to. These dogs are so smart, I think they are the perfect family dog.

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Permalink Reply by Laurie on January 27, 2008 at 7:22pm

When we first got Rosie she tried to chase and nip our three year old granddaughter. We would pick Rosie up and put her in her crate where she would almost always fall asleep after a few minutes in her crate. As Rosie got older, we taught her to come and we would distract her by playing school(obedience) etc. My granddaughter and Rosie are now the best of friends and Rosie understands that little girls give treats and are not for chasing. We also had a slight problem with her being a little jealous of our new grandson. We gave her lots of attention and love so that she didn't feel left out. Our grandson is three months old now and Rosie loves him and accepts him like he has always been there. We worked with Rosie to sit in front of little ones and wait to be greeted. It took awhile and lots and lots of treats, but now she does it with out fail for both grownups and little ones. Rosie is very food motivated.

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Permalink Reply by Kristen on January 27, 2008 at 7:34pm

Each of my Corgis has come from a breeder that had small children or allowed small children to handle them from their earliest stages. We also make a point to socialize our dogs with young children. My own children are 21 and 19 so, but we would take the dogs to my youngest daughters softball games. Young kids tend to clamor around dogs so they became used to the kids and we could control the interaction. With Basil you could take the youngest of child and give him Basil's lead and Basil would simply walk the child up and down the fence line. The child thought they were walking Basil. He was the best baby sitter. We have never had one of the dogs forcibly herd children, but I know it can happen. I'm a firm believer that a well socialized dog is a well behaved dog and will be more predictable around small children. Food aggression is something to work on early so that you can avoid any conflicts. I would recommend a Corgi, but would strongly encourage picking a breeder with small children and other animals and then find situations to continually expose them to people of all ages. They are social creatures. My nieces and nephews are all quite young and I feel confident with them aound the Corgis. Good luck! PS--check out Carrie Hall's profile picture.

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Permalink Reply by Buckley's folks on January 27, 2008 at 9:24pm

I do agree that it depends upon the dog. My parents had multiple corgis in the house, but my sister and I were teens when the dogs were brought home. Because of that, those three dogs never had much exposure to kids and honestly, they didn't like them very much. They would avoid them when out on walks, and small visitors to my family house would cause them to retreat to another room.

My dog now, however, simply adores kids. I've had him since he was 8 weeks old, and made a real effort to socialize him around small children. Buckley is wonderfully gentle with my friends' babies (under 2)-- he is tolerant as they 'pet' him and handle him, and he will lie on the floor with them so that he is down on their level. With toddlers, he doesn't mind the odd tug on the fur and the loud squeals. He loves visiting my six year old nephew and tearing around the house with him. Buckley has never once demonstrated any unease or snippiness with kids. I trust him so much that on the last day of school last year, my fiance brought Buckley to my school to meet my class of grade 2 students. If a dog can handle a group of 20 excited kids who all want to meet him at once, he can handle anything! Buckley just lay down in the grass and soaked up all of the attention. I firmly believe that this is because I worked really hard on socializing him, and exposing him to all ages of kids from puppyhood on.

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Permalink Reply by CorgiFan21 on January 27, 2008 at 10:08pm

Thank you so much, everyone, for your thoughts on this matter. We will definitely take your experience and advice into consideration as we make our decision. I really appreciate it! :o)

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Permalink Reply by Sam on January 28, 2008 at 9:43pm

Check out "Four Paws Corgi Rescue" site. There you will find a grand article about corgis and children. You have been provided good information. To add a few more things do make sure to include your dog when caring for you new "human" when they arrive, be most mindful of the exploring toddler who often needs to poke, grab and pull and above all encourage a mutual respect. Most corgis are great around respectful children.

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