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Comment by Mary Sorce on August 5, 2009 at 9:08am

so funny that is exactly what Lulu does. She does not walk well on a leash at all. Hoping that comes in time and with training :)

Comment by Beauty and the Beast on August 3, 2009 at 10:05am

Mary, I used to carry Shiro too! A few times I picked too long of a walk and he got tired way before we got home. That wa back in the day when he was under 10 pounds, now I just couldn't handle it. He still does that thing when he lies down and lets me drag him in the grass. As soon as we get to paved road he gets up. I also noticed that he did this trick not when he was tired but just because he thought it was fun. When he's tired he usually walks next to me like a very good dog, but breathing heavy and the tongue out.

Comment by Alina on July 31, 2009 at 8:40pm

My husband and I teach as well and are usually gone for about eight hours so we close off the rooms that Ronan (who's almost 4 years) would find too interesting: bedroom, office, bathroom. He has everywhere else to wander and sleep about. He usualy does get mad for the first couple of days (will take stuff of tables and chew them or rip papers) so we make sure that things are pretty clear and put away. I have to say though that he's well-behaved for the amount of time he's alone. I also leave him a kong with a few snack in it so that he can occupy himself with that. He gets a walk in the morning and one in the evening (altogether about a 1 1/2 -2 miles a day. Our vet has had us feeding him 1 1/2 cups Purina One Healthy Weight formula which he really like with a little bit of plain chicken. Hope this helps!

Comment by Beth on July 31, 2009 at 5:35pm

There are a ton of opinions about food, but the breeder where we got Jack recommended a large-breed puppy food to minimize the protein content so he wouldn't grow too quickly. Just watch: a lot of the boutique expensive "premium" foods have very high protein, which is probably not good for a growing pup. I would use a pet-store brand that has chicken or lamb, or chicken or lamb meal (not by-product) as the first ingredient, and protein around 25% in the crude analysis.

Exercise: Corgis actually need a moderate amount of exercise in general (each individual is different). Be very careful with a young pup. Take frequent short walks and gradually build distance. Also watch as their pads are not toughened and they can get foot-sore. What Corgis do need is a good walk every day and a fair amount of mental stimulation.

Jack is home alone many days from 8 to around 5:15 and is just fine. Dogs sleep a lot more than humans, so once they get used to your schedule they will simply sleep most of the time you are gone, and overnight, and will be alert the rest of the time. Jack gets a short walk and a few minutes play in the morning, then a long walk in the evening and a fair amount of time playing games in the house. It's plenty. I also try to come up with new things to train him, as learning something new is one of his favorite things.

If your pup is crated overnight as well as in the day, you might want to look for an alternative. That's a lot of total time to be crated. Do you have room in a kitchen or something to set up an exercise pen? We attached one to Jack's crate and it worked out great. Your pup will need room to eliminate if you will be gone for 7 hours, as she won't be able to hold it that long til she is 7 or 8 months old. You don't want pup eliminating in her crate, as it's bad for pup and greatly slows housebreaking. The breeders we have dealt with all seem to use ex-pens for the puppies and adolescents that they are keeping for themselves. We have this one:
http://www.dogcratedepot.com/Gold-Series-ExPens-540.htm?gclid=CIm6lP_ygJwCFRBM5QodVBTGAA

We used it til Jack was just over a year old.

Comment by Mary Sorce on July 31, 2009 at 4:38pm

thanks so much for the input-- I do notice she tires easily. I try to walk her in the morning and in the later afternoon right now which will pretty much simulate my schedule when I go back to school ( the morning walk maybe eliminated due to crazy morning stuff : ) But hopefully I will be able to keep it to 2 walks afternoon and after dinner and walk according to what she can handle. She lets me know when she has had enough she "plops" down as if to say I had enough--then I usually carry her some and then put her down again : )
how old is your puppy?

Comment by Beauty and the Beast on July 31, 2009 at 3:27pm

Congratulations on your new puppy, you're up for a lot of fun!
I'm feeding home made and table scraps, watching out for bones and onions. He also eats Innova Large Breed Puppy food. It's good because ut has relatively low protein content (25% versus 40 lots of other brands). You really want your puppy to grow slowly to avoid back problems.
As for exercise - 1 long walk in the evening to tire him out, soemtie a short walk in the morning, soccer when he's in the mood, occasional puppy playdates and a puppy class.
When Shiro was not adjusted to our schedule and was behaving like a maniac at home I'd take him out for a walk with some run episodes until he's wiped.
For 13 weeks old I wouldn't walk too much, they get tired very soon, but as your puppy grows increase the duration. Natural trails or grassy places are the best!

Comment by Karen and Hardy on July 31, 2009 at 3:08pm

I use "A Taste of the Wild" it's grain free and comes in Buffalo, Fowl , or Salmon flavors. The Salmon smells really nasty, but it makes a really glossy coat. Where I am a 30 lb bag is about 45.00. My dogs love it with a little plain non-fat yogurt in it to slow them down. It's not sold everywhere, so you have to look at the website to look where it's sold by you. You can google it.

I'm a teacher too..and often he is alone from 8ish to 5ish. We close off our Kitchen during the day with everything put away and give him some toys to occupy him. I walk him as soon as I get home, and in nice weather I usually take him for a 2-3 mile walk before bed. In nasty weather (snow) we play outside in the snow until he tires. (Which he does pretty fast rolling and burrowing)

Comment by Sam Tsang on July 31, 2009 at 1:07pm

Welcome Mary, Nutro have not been doing too good lately, I would stay away until they make some promising changes. Walking is by far the best exercise, it establish a strong bond between you and the pup, teaches pack order, build trust, an excellent cardiovascular and weight baring exercise. A tired corgi is a well behave corgi :)

Comment by John Wolff on July 31, 2009 at 12:23pm

A Seattle company called Darwin's delivers bricks of frozen ground meat to our door every 2 weeks or so. They get about 1/2 c. of that 2x daily plus a VERY little Wellness kibble. We started the raw meat thing when our first corgi had skin problems.
Soccer ball.