Your paintings are beautiful!! Congrats on the new puppy. Romeo is a charmer.

It surprises me... the DM test is offered FREE to breeders. Heck, even the relatively insignificant Fluffy test is only $70. I'd have thought all the breeders would be waiting in line to test their breeding stock. thanks for insisting on this, you probably raised the awareness within the breeding community by doing so.
unfortunately, I missed the ALS seminar last Friday, one of the few times I've called in sick.

I dunno, but if you search this site, you'll likely find several DM threads. When the Coates paper first came out, it created quite a stir. Think I remember reading that -- can't remember, the veterinary school/lab that Dr. Coates' lab is with? St. Louis? was offering it free to breeders. Maybe not. I think I posted links to the original paper. I don't see why they'd be much interested in testing old dogs -- 2/3 of Pems are at-risk, and only a small percentage of those become affected, so the DM DNA test would have limited use as a diagnostic tool. I'd think its main value would be for screening prospective breeders.
But the technology is absolutely science fiction, you wouldn't believe what these machines can do. High magic. Somebody does have to pay for it, but I'd think there would be a high motivation for encouraging breeders to test their stock.

P.S. Keep an eye on this; I'll not be surprised if, within a few years, they identify other risk factors or triggers. Homozygosity for the DM allele is necessary, but not suffient, for the disease. This science is in its infancy.
And Romeo is just adorable. Get him a little children's basketball, about 8-10" diameter; that's what Gwynn & Al recommend.

Y'know, another thing that helps with indoor photography is the "new" (years old) IS technology ("Image Stabilization"). In the Canons, the software apparently senses hand motion by montoring the movement of the image, and there is actually a movable, motorized lens element that is moved in the opposite directions to compensate. It's good for at least a couple extra stops of light. My older Canon didn't have this and I really notice the difference.

Romeo reminds me of my Edward!!!!

Romeo reminds me of my EDward!!

Wow thank you it really does!! Yuki has taken to chewing the woodwork when we're not looking -_-; I heard that if you put a bunch of stuff into a Kong (chew toy) and freeze it than your dog will be entertained and his teething will be soothed. But other than that she's doing really well. Shes the star pupil in puppy preschool. Hehe... the class has 3 great dane puppies and one mini dachshund. Question where did you go to get the html coding for your page?! No matter what I do I cant figure it out!!! TT_TT please help *sob*

sorry to comment again but just after I watched your video and Yuki was on my bed, she comes right up to my laptop and is staring so intently at Romeo turning her head from left to right it was hiLARious!!!

Hi! Thank you for introducing me to this site! Everyone is so nice.

Thank you very much for the greeting. We are looking forward to being on this site and sharing our "Lil"isms. What a wonderful breed of dog to have, I can't immagine any other breed with more personality and character.

We've been doing alright Ive been teaching her tricks lately and shes getting better about going to the bathroom in the house. I didnt know Romeo is older than Yuki no wonder hes bigger. Will her head ever become completely copper?

I hear that shes got crazie energy! A strawberry toy? is it squeaky??? thats too cute ^_^ We got Yuki an ice cream bar squeak toy and she cant get enough of it. But Yuki has been VERY bad the past couple of days. First she ate my flash drive and then she ate my step dads CDs @_@ she drives me up a wall sometimes... but its hard to stay angry at her face ya know?

What lovely paintings :) I'm sorry to hear about Ricco, but I'm so happy for you and Romeo that you've found each other :D

Wow! Such great paintings!
love them(:

great paintings!

Lovely paintings! Oh! You picked Romeo up on the day of my Birthday!

It's been very frustrating. I'll keep you posted.

Hi Andrea! I have enjoyed your latest paintings. I still am going to send you a couple pics of Scout when I get some really good ones. I think your Romeo is about the most beautiful pup I have seen!

Well, we still haven't got a new pup--the litter we were expecting in June turned out rather tragically. The Mom's uterus was "torsioned" meaning twisted, and only one pup out of 5 survived. The breeder wants to keep that girl pup, or at least "co-own" her, and breed her. I didn't want to do the co-ownership thing. She is still trying to breed another of her females with the DM clear male she now has--so there is still hope. Did you say you got Romeo from a breeder in Tennessee? I really wanted to avoid having a pup shipped by air, but I guess it could work (did in your case). Could you send me the name of the breeder, just in case? Does the breeder have a website?

Thanks, Andrea!

We are now the proud owners of the corgi previously known as Butters and has been renamed Rafa. "Butters" didn't answer to his name, so we tried out different names. His owner was a 17-yr old boy who clearly loved this puppy but had no idea how much time and work a puppy required and the boy's parents did not want him to keep the dog. So we essentially paid for a "rescue." It was frustrating contacting the owners and getting clear information. The puppy came w/o papers and although the breeders gave ownership papers naming themselves "Rockstar Corgis" it seems like a backyard breeding. The vet has checked out Rafa and we're waiting for his final shots before enrolling him in obedience classes. Just learned that he has giardia & I will begin the medication for him today, as I don't want Lucy to get giardia, too. Anyhow, Rafa is an amazing little guy. Very calm, sweet, loving and obviously was never abused, just very underfed. I'll keep you posted, and I'll get around to photos, soon. Basically the only issue that we're having is that Lucy is very unhappy to have a new brother. Hopefully, this will change with time.

We're delighted to be friends and would love to meet up with you one of these days. First we have to get Rafa his last set of shots before he can be in contact with other dogs. He also has Giardia and an eye infection, so hopefully these will be cleared up by the time he gets his shots and won't pass any of these things on to your babies.

PS
I tried to post a video of Lucy and Rafa but it didn't work : (
I'll try again later.

Thank you so much, Andrea. When I googled Rockstar Corgi, only one link came up and when I tried it, the link was broken. I called the tele. number listed & got a recording, w/o a word about rockstar or corgis, just a rock song about drinking.
I will definitely follow up on this and keep you posted!

PS romeo is a beauty. i'm looking at him & listening to DMB--crash into me.

Thanks for the info! xoxo lucy, rafa & wendy

I don't know if you read the "info" about Rockstar Corgis, but I loved the part that read, and I quote, "After spending many hours on researching the best bloodlines and learning more about showing corgis, we then decided to go ahead and purchase some show quality Corgis."

Rockstar Corgis sold Rafa w/o papers. Apparently Rafa's sire is Cody Front & Center and dam is Sweet Opal Pickles. There's no tele. # listed for them. I will email them and see what info. I can get and pass it on to you. I have to tell you that it was a great comfort to me knowing that you had an interest in "Butters." In the first few days with Lucy, I always had in the back of my mind that if it didn't work out for us, that I at least took this puppy from a bad situation and could give him to you if it didn't work out. Since my friends have met him, there's already a line forming to take him, haha.
But, Lucy and Rafa are starting to seem like forever friends. Fingers crossed!

Interestingly, I emailed denisechew who signed in to the guest book at Rockstar Corgis as a new owner of one of their puppies. I wrote to see if Rafa and her puppy were part of the same litter and get her impression of the breeders. Her email address was not valid. Something doesn't smell right with Rockstar Corgis.

Thanks! Rafa sure is a handful but a cutie!

I love your corgi animations!

It was helpful. It confirmed my suspicion that this is not a particularly stellar kennel. I left a message that was never returned. They don't seem professional and they have a very unusual, to say the least, bill of sale. Definitely not genuinely caring corgi people.

When you say small kibble or large kibble are you talking about breed or bite size? Diamond is fine..its not the best but its not the worst. Just because its hard to find doesn't make it the best by no means. Many of feed mills for farm animals carries it. But I would feed medium breed adult food in any size kibble.

Aww poor baby and poor you! What an ordeal. How old was Romeo when you got him neutered? I don't remember needing the cone when I had my Dylan neutered, but it was so long ago.

I have rafa scheduled to be neutered sept. 3. he'll be almost 6 mo. I figure the smaller he is, the smaller the incision and recovery. they also mentioned pulling teeth. What do you think?

I've heard good things about Costco's Kirkwood brand kibble, but have never tried it.

Hi Andrea, I haven't read the whole discussion, just chimed in my two cents. This is the site I've checked out food: http://www.petfoodratings.net/dogtable.html
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul tested very highly and more affordable than the other highly rated foods. I goofed with Kirkland. I should never trust my memory. I thought it was on this list with a 5 star rating. It isn't.
PS We're thinking of neutering Rafa at 6 months. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for the info. We told the vet yesterday to remove the teeth if they're still there at the time of the neutering (ouch!). When our cat had surgery to remove a skin cancer they sent her home with the collar. She did great w. the surgery but HATED the collar. We took it off and kept a close eye on her. She didn't need it. We don't plan on using the collar on Rafa unless he needs it.

Romeo is a little beauty. Who was his breeder? Just curious because the breeder of 2 of my corgis, who originally lived in N. CA now is in TN.

Thanks, Andrea! I haven't been on the computer lately, and didn't even know about it! We have had a busy summer, with many visitors. That photo was taken on a hike with my Californian brother up to a high mountain lake. Scout is very photogenic; certainly more so than me or my husband! LOL!

Our dogs look sooo similar! I hope quixote grows up to look as cute as your pooch!

Red Ribbon

Your Welcome!! Thanks so much for the compliment :) Love sables, and love the name Romeo!! Romeo is adorable <3 I just may have to nickname Lance Romeo, hehe...when we brought Lance home, my Aunts came over to see him and called him Lance Romance, lol.

Loved this little Corgi in your post!!
Romeo is super cute too....they are lovely...
Lily now is in her crate, enjoying a carrot! nap time =)

Thanks for accepting my friendship .

Andrea, thanks for thinking of me! Scout's breeder FINALLY had good luck and one of her bitches had a healthy litter 10/28. They are all carriers of DM, but none at risk because the father is DM Clear. We will be bringing one home after Christmas. They are all tris, 3 boys, 3 girls, and most will be black-headed, I think. We went to visit last week (Scout was afraid of the puppies)! I will try to add a picture (sometimes this doesn't work for me).

Andrea, we don't know yet if we will get male or female.  The breeder wants to keep a female, so if we do want a female, we will have to wait longer for her to see which one she wants to keep.

Romeo's Christmas picture is beautiful!

Hi Andrea - Thank you for the info about Romeo (who is gorgeous!) - I scrolled through the discussion thread yesterday and have already been emailing with Cesmir, who seems super nice. She has answered a lot of questions already and seems to be very informed about DM. I realize that there are other risks (hips, eyes etc.) with corgis, not just DM, so in a funny way I don't want to make a huge deal out of that just because ironically we all know there could just as easily be something else...BUT...as I know you know, going through DM with Maggie was really just something I was totally unprepared for (didn't know it existed until she was diagnosed) and heartbreaking. So if it can be avoided (to the best of anyone's knowledge at least) then that would at least be peace of mind.

When you got Romeo was he pretty much crate/house trained? How many weeks was he?

I think they are going to have another litter this spring so I am hoping to be able to get one of the puppies (fingers crossed!).

Many thanks -

Emma

hEY THERE! I was wondering if you do custom paintings of corgis? I loveee your paintings theyre very beautiful and would love to have one done of my little quixote! Let me know : )

Hi Andrea!

Thanks for the welcome ~ Romeo is awesome! How long have you been painting? They are fantastic!

Hi Andrea!

What can I say about my Hanna ~ she is the best! She's been with us for almost a year now, and my love for her grows everyday. She can be quite the scamp at times, but she is sooo darn smart that she learns at the first attempt and doesn't forget. She is the perfect fit for our family (I live with my Mom) and she has found a place forever in our hearts. Corgi's are my Mom's favorite breed ~ we've been lucky to have three Corgi's throughout the years. Eddie just passed in 2009; he slipped during the winter and hurt his back and the vet gave him steroid injections the caused ascites and he never recovered. I couldn't fix his problem, so I told him that this was the only way I could help take away his pain and we put him down. Tore my heart out; still haven't gotten past that, I cry for him almost every night. But then we found Hanna in March 2010 and it has been go go go ever since! She has brightened our lives and continues to endear herself to my heart daily.

That's about it really....tell me more about your artwork Andrea ~ it is amazing!