Comment

Comment by Michelle Anderson on March 12, 2010 at 5:13pm

I think the running around the chair has to do with herding. My Riley use to do that like it was a game, outside around the bushes! He loved doing that and getting me to play "chase".

Comment by Gina Mac/Fergie & Minnie on March 10, 2010 at 12:22pm

The bunny butt swaying rapidly with the head swaying in the opposite direction is my favorite part about corgis. Minnie and Fergie both try to sound very menacing while playing tug or chasing each other, but its still just play. Corgis seem to be very vocal. You will learn to distinguish, their bossy barks"please pet me immediately" from their "warning - there's a big turtle in the yard" barks. On the rare occasion they need to pull out the big guns, they will do the lip curl and a very low growl. We live next to a crazy chihuahua who enjoys seeing this feature in our sweet little Minnie - you can only take so much Chihuahua!

Our puppy Fergie is even more vocal then I remember Minnie being. Some people are annoyed by the barking - but you grow to love it.

We call the obsessive circles, victory laps. Minnie runs her victory lap all around the house when my husband comes home.

I'm glad your puppy has a lab to play with - they seem to be our dogs favorite playmates. I'm sure it's because they think they can boss them around.
Enjoy!

Comment by Beth on March 10, 2010 at 8:18am

When a dog play-growls, his lips will be closed OR he will show all his teeth, even the back ones, in a big toothy grin with the back corners of his mouth drawn up and back.

When a dog snarls, he curls is front lips back up off his canine teeth, his snout wrinkles, and the back corners of his mouth draw forward, making the back of his mouth pooch out a tiny bit and keeping his back most teeth covered. So, all teeth or no teeth = play, front half of teeth and curled up snout = trouble.

If you look closely at the place where his absent tail would have joined his body, you can usually see the muscles there twitching rapidly in excited play.

From your description, I'm quite confident your pup is just happily playing with you! Enjoy it. :-)

Comment by Marion and Vern on March 10, 2010 at 7:53am

Sounds like playing to me as well. The running in circles is called frapping, as for the growling well Sami at times sounds like she is going to tear your arm off she sounds so mean like when we play tug a war etc. but she is just having the time of her life! Enjoy and take lots and lots of pictures because they grow up so fast.

Comment by Kristen Schaub on March 9, 2010 at 11:38pm

My corgis smile and wiggle their butts-tail nub when they are happily excited...I would channel that running instinct with some ball or chasing a toy...it pays off in the long run.. When your pup is older, a good game of frisbee or ball will tire him out! You have to teach him with to chase the toy, by showing him how to chase and catch. The running around the chair is just plain fun! One of my corgis growls alot; no matter what he is doing. He has always been a 'talker' we call it. He has never nipped or bit anyone or his brother. I have seen his quiet brother growl angrily at another dog- easy to tell the difference!! If your pup's growling escalates, i would watch to see if he is trying to establish dominance, or tell you something.. They are not very random. Have fun- best time of your life ahead;)

Comment by John Wolff on March 9, 2010 at 10:36pm

You know the "downward dog" yoga pose? Butt up in the air, forelegs out in front, chest down near floor, looking up at you. When dogs do that, it's a social invitation.
Al has a "Come play with me!" bark that is quite sharp and loud; never sounds menacing to me, but I could see how it might be misinterpreted by a child or stranger.
Often, he'll come to me, head sorta down, looking up or level, ears back; he's asking for something, trying to get my attention.
When Al was a puppy, the play sometimes looked frankly vicious. They would take turns killing each other, ripping their throats out, over and over, snarling, growling ferociously. I got tired of mopping the imaginary blood off the walls and ceiling. Go to Shepdog's page and see some of her great action shots of Caleb and Simon.
Somehow they learn to control their teeth. Make sure pup learns that it's OK for you to initiate tooth contact, opening his jaws, putting your fingers in his mouth, but it's never OK for him to initiate tooth contact.
Get one of those children's basketballs, 8-10" diameter, toothproof.
Keep a dog log. Have a training plan. Make sure you and your gf are on the same page. Plan your work and work your plan. If I had it to do over again, I'd be a lot more methodical.
There are threads here on Emergency Recall, "Really Reliable Recall". Recommended, it works.

Comment by Simon & Anne on March 9, 2010 at 5:29pm

I find that they are usually playing. If your dog gets a snarl on his face with upper lips pulled up and teeth showing, then you know that it's serious stuff!

Comment by Bev Levy on March 9, 2010 at 2:47pm

A puppy is pretty much always playing even if it is to be a" tuff" guy! I don't care much for chasing games because I think it encourages them to run away. Racing around the house is also called a FRAP (frenetic random act of play or something like that) which seems to be a corgi thing. When mine do it I may clap my hands if I am OK with their timing. Since corgis were bred to be an all around farm dog they frequently have a strong instinct to chase (or herd). I am Ok with it as long as there are no teeth involved. If they bite or get under foot I stop and say no. The game ends if they continue. I don't have any critters for them to herd but they do like to chase each other and various creatures in the back yard. Wish I had a movie camera the time they chased two mice under the bird feeder. Every time the mice stopped they stopped and when the mice took off again they chased! Obedience classes are a great way to learn to enjoy your puppy so if you can try to do it. Corgis are great fun to live with but can be a little bit too smart at times. Enjoy your puppy!

Comment by Laura Jones on March 9, 2010 at 2:10pm

It occurred to me after I walked away from my computer that I wasn't very clear on the ear thing, corgis don't always have their ears up when they are happy, sometimes mine are laying back against their head but their is usually a calm laying back versus a they are pinned to their head if that makes sense? Somebody else on here will comment and clear that up for you lol. You will just learn to recognize the facial expressions of your dog.

Comment by Laura Jones on March 9, 2010 at 1:51pm

Sounds to me like he is playing. If he is anything like my corgis, it takes a lot for them to get mad/angry and when they do you will know it. They will wag their nub, or their whole butt wiggles if they are really excited. My dogs ears are up when they are happy and they have that big old corgi smile on their face. Mine also usually shows she is playing by kind of bowing down with her butt in the air like she is waiting for me to do something. Generally not recommended to let them chase you since they are herding dogs and they will nip/bite. We have three kids so this is a little hard to enforce but our dogs have learned "no" when they do get excited and nip they are given a stern no and whoever is playing with them stops running. However KC and I play a game where I chase her around the house, generally since she has more energy than me it is usually around the island in the kitchen or we have kind of an open area that she runs around and I just move to block her so she turns and goes the other way. She loves this game, our other corgi doesn't get it and doesn't see the point in running around the house lol. Good luck. This is a wonderful site for getting help on all things corgi and dog related. People on here are fabulous and not judgmental. And I found that no question is too stupid to ask and if something similar to what you want to know has already been discussed they point you in the direction you need to go to find out the information. Have fun with your corgi they are the BEST.