What does a 40-pound Corgi look like?
Perhaps not what you think.
Here's a not-so-chubby Jackpot:
When Jack was one, we had him for his checkup and we put him on the scales and he weighed in at a whopping 35 pounds. My husband and I kept looking at each other, saying "Is he fat? He doesn't look fat. But 35 pounds for a Corgi... that sounds fat!" Ah, but the vet assured us he was not fat. He's just big-boned! LOL
Anyway, we went back in April for a kennel cough booster, and we popped him on the scales and were horrified that he weighed 41. We looked at him carefully, and as he was still sporting a very luxurious winter coat, it was hard to tell but he looked a little pudgy. We cut his food back to a level cup, divided into two feedings. We bought Charlie Bear treats and reduced how many treats he got a day. We took him back in a month, confident he would be losing....
.....and he weighed over 43 pounds. Yikes! So we did some careful label-reading, found a food with lamb meal as the 1st ingredient that was about 60 calories less per cup than what he was getting, and cut him down to 2/3 of a cup per day plus some pumpkin or green beans.
Well, we had him to the vet last week, and he dropped two dress sizes! Er, if he wore women's clothes, which he doesn't. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He's a svelt 39.2 pounds, and the vet tech said he wouldn't bring him down any lower. As you can see from the pic, he's got a massive chest, and he's also a bit tall at about 14 inches at the shoulder. (He's also still blowing his coat, as you can see by the tuft sticking out of his ruff. I was scratching his back to get out some of the loose hairs which is why he looks a bit rumpled).
Other than that, we had a fun and busy week. Jack went camping with us.
He loves it, but having a hyper-vigilant dog is not necessarily an asset in a tent. LOL. He kept huffing, and a couple times started growling at the door. Finally I realized that if I talked to him whenever I heard a sound, he would decide that I was on guard, too and he did quiet down after that.
And then today we had our second therapy visit! He was great, but we do need to brush up on some things. With just one or two other dogs going room to room he was relaxed, but he was a bit hyper when we were in the common area with 8 or so other dogs; he wanted to visit dogs more than people. Some of the residents remembered us, and we had two funny moments: One was a woman who doesn't seem to remember much these days, and last visit Jack was her favorite dog. She did not remember him this time, but he was her favorite dog again! Of course, since she didn't remember us she asked me his name and breed again, but it's funny how someone can not remember from one week to the next, yet their preference in dogs means they will pick the same one out of a lineup every time. We were also visiting another resident, along with a boxer therapy dog named Emily. Emily's handler said to the resident "Would you like to meet the boxer?" and the resident promptly replied "No, I like this one (meaning Jack) the best." LOL. The boxer's handler is a veteran therapy dog handler and rescuer, and a bit of a mentor of ours, so she was not bothered by it, but it's funny how when you reach a certain age, you decide that there's not much time left to be polite anymore.
So, very busy week for Jack, and now he's a tired but happy (and no longer pudgy) guy!
Here's a not-so-chubby Jackpot:
When Jack was one, we had him for his checkup and we put him on the scales and he weighed in at a whopping 35 pounds. My husband and I kept looking at each other, saying "Is he fat? He doesn't look fat. But 35 pounds for a Corgi... that sounds fat!" Ah, but the vet assured us he was not fat. He's just big-boned! LOL
Anyway, we went back in April for a kennel cough booster, and we popped him on the scales and were horrified that he weighed 41. We looked at him carefully, and as he was still sporting a very luxurious winter coat, it was hard to tell but he looked a little pudgy. We cut his food back to a level cup, divided into two feedings. We bought Charlie Bear treats and reduced how many treats he got a day. We took him back in a month, confident he would be losing....
.....and he weighed over 43 pounds. Yikes! So we did some careful label-reading, found a food with lamb meal as the 1st ingredient that was about 60 calories less per cup than what he was getting, and cut him down to 2/3 of a cup per day plus some pumpkin or green beans.
Well, we had him to the vet last week, and he dropped two dress sizes! Er, if he wore women's clothes, which he doesn't. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He's a svelt 39.2 pounds, and the vet tech said he wouldn't bring him down any lower. As you can see from the pic, he's got a massive chest, and he's also a bit tall at about 14 inches at the shoulder. (He's also still blowing his coat, as you can see by the tuft sticking out of his ruff. I was scratching his back to get out some of the loose hairs which is why he looks a bit rumpled).
Other than that, we had a fun and busy week. Jack went camping with us.
He loves it, but having a hyper-vigilant dog is not necessarily an asset in a tent. LOL. He kept huffing, and a couple times started growling at the door. Finally I realized that if I talked to him whenever I heard a sound, he would decide that I was on guard, too and he did quiet down after that.
And then today we had our second therapy visit! He was great, but we do need to brush up on some things. With just one or two other dogs going room to room he was relaxed, but he was a bit hyper when we were in the common area with 8 or so other dogs; he wanted to visit dogs more than people. Some of the residents remembered us, and we had two funny moments: One was a woman who doesn't seem to remember much these days, and last visit Jack was her favorite dog. She did not remember him this time, but he was her favorite dog again! Of course, since she didn't remember us she asked me his name and breed again, but it's funny how someone can not remember from one week to the next, yet their preference in dogs means they will pick the same one out of a lineup every time. We were also visiting another resident, along with a boxer therapy dog named Emily. Emily's handler said to the resident "Would you like to meet the boxer?" and the resident promptly replied "No, I like this one (meaning Jack) the best." LOL. The boxer's handler is a veteran therapy dog handler and rescuer, and a bit of a mentor of ours, so she was not bothered by it, but it's funny how when you reach a certain age, you decide that there's not much time left to be polite anymore.
So, very busy week for Jack, and now he's a tired but happy (and no longer pudgy) guy!
Comment
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Comment by Beth on July 19, 2009 at 6:18pm
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I keep thinking of the 30-pound "teacup Yorkie" and chuckling to myself....
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Comment by Bev Levy on July 19, 2009 at 1:26pm
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That is too funny! My husband loves to feed the dogs too. I finally started cutting out articles from my dog magazines regarding how being over weight shortens their life span to get him to cut back. He is diabetic so seemed to think giving excess breads to the dogs instead of eating it himself was a good idea. He has cut back a lot and we saw a corresponding drop in Sparty and Izzy's weight. Of course the fact that the corgis are always starving doesn't help!
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Jack is about 20 inches withers-to-nub, which puts him at around the breed standard of 40% longer than tall. He's just super-sized. LOL
Yeah, and I know what you mean about the husband tossing bits of food to the dog. Grrr. I have tried giving the husband a sharp "Ah-ah" and then turning my back and ignoring him if the unwanted behavior persists, but so far only limited success. Just when you think the behavior is eliminated, it pops back up again! LOL
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Comment by Lou Ann Lemaster on July 19, 2009 at 10:01am
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I'm glad to hear that there is another big boned corgi out there. Duncan is huge like Jack. He is twelve inches at the shoulder and almost 22 inches long from withers to nubbin. He has a massive chest, and I was shocked like you when we went to the vet a couple of years ago and he weighed 43 pounds. I knew he was getting a little heavy, but nothing to weigh that much. Of course, my husband got the really, really stink eye from me. He is terrible about giving the dogs a bite of whatever he is eating. We are working on that, and the one is really feeling the pain is my husband, he loves spoiling the dogs.
So like you , I've cut back to one cup a day for him and his sister, Chloe. Chloe is a picky eater, and she is more of a nibbler. I have to make her eat her food at one sitting. If she doesn't eat it, I take it up and she gets nothing until her evening food. That was another reason Duncan was putting on weight. I have to watch him like a hawk. He'll run over and eat her food and then eat his if you don't watch him. It seems to have helped, I notice a little waistline appearing on Duncan; I'll know more when I take him to the vet in a couple of weeks.
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That sounds cool. I think my Izzy would be good for that. I may have to look into it. I know what you mean about the magnet thing. When we are camping kids and adults alike all stop to say HI. The corgis love it and are never frightened of wheel chairs or crutches etc. I guess between their natural smiles, smaller size, and being somewhat rare they cause a good commotion where ever they go.
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How did we get into therapy? I've wanted to find some way to volunteer and give back to the community in a way that was enjoyable for me. I work in customer service, so dealing with phones and stuff like that was right out. Then we got Jack and I noticed how much he draws people out. Corgis are not-so-common around here, and people just seem to smile when they see him. LIttle kids would come running over to pet him, even tweens and very young teens, boys who look like they normally would not give an adult the time of day. We've had some people who look like maybe they have some mental health issues stop and ask about the dog, and he really just has a magnetic personality and draws people out. So I thought therapy work would be great (oddly, the dog loves meeting people but isn't much of a cuddler, so after one quick pet he's ready to move on). I looked into it online and found you need to pass tests and stuff, and then as luck would have it a woman I meet regularly in the park with her pack works with a trainer who trains for CGC an TDI. They also have a group that organizes all the visits. So I finished Jack's basic obedience myself, then when he was about 20 months old I enrolled in a class for TDI to get him used to wheel chairs and stuff, and get him a little better behaved around groups of dogs (he likes to play). We passed our test, and now we're on an e-mail list where we get notified each month of where the visits are, and we can show up or not as we wish. It's actually worked out very well.
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They have that pitiful look down pat! But only when they feel like it! By the way I enjoyed hearing about the Therapy visit. How did you get into it?
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Ha! He does look hurt we're discussing his waist size, doesn't he? But actually he's annoyed that I was making him do a stand-stay, his least favorite command. He does not understand why on earth if he's staying he shouldn't lie down or at least sit, to conserve energy. The camera caught him giving me "the look" and I didn't realize til I uploaded the pic.
Penni doesn't look fat either! It's funny, but on the rare occasion when we run into another Corgi, Jack looks like the Incredible Hulk standing next to it, especially if it's one of those terrier-sized puppy mill Corgis.
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You know... in the first photo Jack looks a little hurt that you are discussing his weight! He might be a little touchy about this discussion. It reminds me of some friend's Yorkie that is about 30 lbs. and not at all over weight. His mom was a 5lber and they thought they were getting a "teacup" Yorkie. They call him the Shaquele O'Neil of Yorkies. Ha! It just goes to show that the special ones appear regardless of what the breeders have in mind. Glad to see some more camping corgis. We camp with ours too. It does take a little work to get them not to alert you to everything but they are so social they love new people and situations. Great conversation starters!
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Comment by Bobbi & Penni on July 19, 2009 at 8:16am
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My Penni is also a bit bigger at 35 pounds! She isn't fat, either and she is on weight maintenance food and gets plenty of exercise (we live in rural Nebraska on 40 acres, so she runs and plays alot with her big little brother Zeb) I haven't measured how tall she is, I should do that!!
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