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Permalink Reply by Chris Payerl on February 16, 2014 at 10:11am

We had seen a movie starring William Hurt and Minnie Driver (I think), in which Hurt's character owned a strangely cute, short legged dog. We had never seen such a creature and didn't know what breed it was but thought it was cute. We weren't ready for a dog then (renting and dogs not allowed) but later, when we bought a house and I was bugging hubby for a dog, we read books about dog breeds and saw pictures and realized what kind of dog that had been. We went to a dog show to talk to people about the different dog breeds and saw the corgis. That was it! We were hooked! Hubby had some bad childhood experiences with the "cast-off" dogs his aunt had taken in, so he wanted to get a dog from a breeder where we could meet the mother. The breeder we went to had both parents, one grandmother and an aunt, and all were such great dogs. When she released the litter of 6 pups, who came tumbling out the door, it was the cutest thing I had ever seen. One big fluffy male started biting his littermates and then came up and started tugging on hubby's shoelaces and biting his pants leg, so we knew that was not the one for us. We sat on the ground and were playing with the other puppies when one came up and crawled into my lap and fell asleep. That was the one! They were only six weeks old then, so the breeder kept her a few weeks more (which worked out great for us since we had to go to CO for a wedding in the interim) and started crate and potty training her for us (sweet!). When we lost her to cancer it was the saddest day of my life. I still cry now and then when I think of her and it's been 8 years. We decided to get another dog (no question--- a corgi) about a year later and were going to wait until summer so we wouldn't have to deal with snow and cold while potty training, but through a series of odd coincidences, wound up finding and adopting Sophie in March through a regional corgi rescue group. We love her so much, too, even though she is very different in temperament from Asta. Corgis truly are big dogs in small packages and they are so funny! I can't remember what we ever did before having our buddies.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on February 16, 2014 at 7:13pm

Was the movie The Accidental Tourist?  It had a Corgi as a costar and William Hurt (but not Minnie D).  I agree -- how did I live all those years without my furry bubbies?

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on February 16, 2014 at 7:08pm

When I was growing up, some 45-50 years ago, my family had a home on Fire Island -- for those of you who don't know it, it's a barrier beach island where cars are not allowed, just sand, water, bikes and boardwalks.  My grandparents had a house overlooking the Great South Bay, and some neighbors up the boardwalk had a Corgi.  He would wander up and down the boardwalk, wiggling that cute little Corgi butt, and I thought he was just the most adorable dog ever.

Funny thing is, I forgot all about him for almost 40 years, until I was thinking of getting myself a dog.  I was living in an apartment, so wanted a compact dog, but not a lap dog.  Bingo!  I remembered the scritchy-scratchy sound of his little nails, and I could see him, wandering up and down the boardwalk all over again, with that happy go lucky Corgi attitude. 

And now I had google on my side! I googled Corgi puppies and the pictures put me over the top. How anyone can see a Corgi puppy in person or video or picture and not want a dozen or two for him/herself -- well, I just don't know.

So I found a nice breeder with puppies, and went to visit them.  When I laid eyes on my Bertie Wooster, it was over for me.  That was 10 years ago, and I doubt I'll ever have a better companion than my little guy.

I echo the sentiments of whoever it was in the stands at Westminster, during the herding group, who kept shouting, "Corgis RULE!"  

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Permalink Reply by susan on February 17, 2014 at 11:09am

I was a big dog person, I thought. I had a lab, Peaches, the sweetest dog on the planet. She was my first rescue, and I don’t know how I got so lucky. We learned the agility sport together. Made a lot of mistakes, but had a lot of fun. I thought I might want to get more involved in the sport and figured I had to go with a herding breed to get that ‘competitive edge’. Observing the various breeds that other people were working with, I saw plenty of BCs and Aussies, but there was one corgi. That corgi had speed and drive and courage, and was a complete clown. He was so fun to watch run around the course! And off course, he was sweet as pie. That was my first exposure to a corgi – a pembroke. I had never seen or heard of them before. So I went in search of my own. I found my Skipper. Although we did agility we didn’t work very hard at it. Other things is life started bubbling up and agility took a back seat. But he was an amazing little guy. So cute, so smart, so funny, so loyal. What else could you ask for? Okay, maybe a little less barking. Now I have Jeli Beli. She is just as cute, smart, funny and loyal, and so much fun. And that cute little corgi butt!

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on February 20, 2014 at 2:28pm

Hi Susan.  Nice story about your Corgi's.  You use "was".  I take it that means that Peaches and Skipper are no longer with you.  Cute photo of Jell Bell.  We've got those, too, the heart shape Corgi rear.  Sounds like the canines in your life have added a lot of happiness.  When I realize how much my pets mean to me and how much they do add to make my life more pleasant, it's hard for me to understand why some people can go through life without them.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on February 17, 2014 at 2:58pm

My son saw a Corgi in an anime film.  The anime is Cowboy Bebop.  He had always wanted one and about two years ago he added a red/white, Kallie, to his life.  About a year after Kallie's adoption, he added a tri male, Thor, to his family.  They are wonderful and so much fun to have around. 

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Permalink Reply by Cynthia + Griffey + Charlie on February 20, 2014 at 2:16am

For me, it was the movie "The Accidental Tourist" in 1988. I got my Cardigan as a housewarming gift from my mother in 2004. We added our Pembroke as a pal for the Cardi 2 years later. Unfortunately, we had to put the Pembroke down today (complications from diabetes and pancreatitis) Sad day.
But, this movie is where I first saw a Corgi .

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on February 22, 2014 at 8:47pm

An acquaintance had a Cardigan that she doted on, and I thought it was a neat dog. She gave me the "big dog in a small dog's body" pitch, which got kind of filed away in the back of my mind.

When I finally had to put poor old Anna the GerShep down, a few months after her pal Walt the Greyhound died of cancer, I figured I would never have another dog again. After all, I'm as superannuated as Anna was: another dog that lives 12 or 15 years could easily outlive me. And then what?

But more to the point, in her dotage, Anna could no longer get into the car. She weighed 80 pounds, and I couldn't lift her. She hated the ramp I got, couldn't see well enough to negotiate it, and would fall off the thing if I failed to recruit a neighbor to help me get her into the vehicle. At the end I was having to schlep her to the vet two or three times a week, so as you can imagine, this was a problem. I've never been a "little dog" sort of human -- to my mind you shouldn't have to bend over to pet your dog. But I simply no longer had the strength to train and handle a large working dog. My dog days were over, it seemed.

But it's impossible to live without a dog, isn't it?

After digging out of a deep blue funk, I started to think about dogs again. Looked at the pound, found two choices: pit bulls and chihuahuas. Nothin' in between. Looked at the GerShep rescue: admired the many handsome walking vet bills, the victims of horrific abuse, the occasional lawsuit waiting to happen, thought...nope.

Then remembered the Cardigan and started looking into corgis. Decided I really liked the Pembroke: evidently they're a little smaller, and the tailless look is so, so SOOO adorable. They're smart, they're beautiful, and mirabilis! They're even shepherd dogs.

Nobody around here was breeding them.

One day after I'd been cruising dog rescue and dog breeder sites, out of curiosity I went to the Humane Society website. After scrolling through EVERY picture of EVERY pit bull and EVERY chihuahua, all the way through page after page after page of them, I came to the VERY LAST PHOTO, and lo! There was Cassie!

Clearly a pure-bred corgi. Only two years old. Looked healthy. Had been there three hours.

It was late at night. I raced up to the dog pound and was at the door the instant they opened. Eight other people were competing to get her, but I beat them all out.

And that was how the Queen of the Universe came to move her court to the Funny Farm. I can't imagine ever having any other breed: she's perfect in every way.

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