Hi everyone! We just recently adopted a black-headed tri Pem from a shelter. It's been a week to be exact, and Vivi, as we named him, has made tons of progress since he first set foot in our house. At first, he was very timid and withdrawn, but still followed us to be in the same room. It's understandable since he had just been neutered that day. He was very sore and stiff for a few days, and hardly wanted to move (except on walks, lol), but he wanted to sit with us and cuddle all day. His suture site and testicular area (not sure what to call it, but since he was intact until 1 year old, it had developed fully, so the sack is still there) was very bruised as well.

He wouldn't eat the food the shelter gave us (Pedigree) and wouldn't eat the mixed in Wellness kibble either so we were worried something was wrong. He would eat some kibble from my hand, but seemed to like the Wellness better, so I tried taking out all the Pedigree and he finally ate the whole bowl of Wellness! I guess he just hated that cheap stuff, hehe. So we ended up switching him to his new food right away, and he did fine with the transition.

He also had no interest in playing, even when we met him before his surgery, which worried me a little. I also noticed that he seemed to have a cold, with a little bit of clear mucus dripping from his nose, sneezing, and an occasional cough. It worried me enough to ask the vet for a prescription (of an antibiotic which he recommended) to be sent to our nearby pharmacy, but when I found out that it was $90 I decided to wait it out since it really wasn't that bad yet. Anyway, that has cleared up completely now on it's own, so I'm relieved.

A few days ago, my brother and a friend from college came over for the weekend, and they're pretty big guys with wide shoulders and deep, loud voices. Vivi was so scared of them, he eliminated when he was approached. I told them to leave him alone and to try to keep their voices down to see if he might warm up. Right now, he's still scared of them and is a little frightened when they move suddenly or hears them from another room, but at least he's not shaking or hiding anymore, and hasn't eliminated in the house since. He just won't get too close. So far, this is the only problem we're having with Vivi, and it's weird because he didn't act like this at all when he first met my husband. Does anyone have suggestions?

We're also a little concerned that he's too skinny. Could someone tell me if it looks like he needs to gain some weight from these pictures? If he does, I'm sure it won't be hard to get some weight on him though. :)

Standing:

Laying down:

Side view:

Anyway, while my brother and friend were still here, I tried playing with him with a stuffed loofa dog and he actually started playing with me! He played tug a little (I was sure not to let him win) and fetch and it made me so happy I was almost in tears! It was so great to see his little nub wagging for the first time. And while I was at work, and my husband was at home, he told me that he ran in circles in the back yard and played with his toy on his own. My little boy was frapping! Then last night I caught him on video playing with his toy by himself.


After what I saw today, I know he is definitely a normal corgi! I took him for a long walk with some running in the grassy park areas near our house and when we got home, I took him out back to furminate him. After I was done, he started frapping around again! It was too funny! He would charge full speed at the wall and turn just in time, and weave between our furniture out there, kicking up dust behind him the whole time. It lasted several minutes. I wish I could have gotten a video of it, but there will be more chances I'm sure. :)

Overall, Vivi is the best dog I've ever had. He's so sweet and loving. He loves to be with us and cuddle, which I hear isn't that normal for a corgi this young. He has no bad manners, is good on walks, house trained, crate trained, cuddly, adorable, funny, and has short legs. What else can I ask for? We love him.