Unfortunately I have an unhappy ending to my story about the German Shepard that attacked me and my corgi. Luckily my dog was not involved, but during the Memorial Day holiday week while I was out of town with my dog, the shepard got out again and killed a small mixed chihuaha. The children of the owner of the small dog were playing in the yard with their dog when he attacked. Animal Control came to pick up the dog after the incident and destroyed the animal, and I think cited the owners for negligence... which is exactly what I warned them about when he attacked my dog though no damage was done at that time. I hate to think what those kids had to witness and what it did to them as they are very young, and I shudder to think what could have happened if they would have gotten in the way. I am sorry such a tragedy had to occur, but I am relieved he is gone from the neighborhood. Unfortunately an incident like this further alienates non-dog-owners in the area and makes them even more unfriendly to responsible dog owners and I have seen a change in the neighborhood since the incident.
GZ

Thank you so much for your lengthy response. We are really excited to go meet Teddy and desperately want to be his forever home. I suppose I better go invest in some good toys :D

It was indeed Denise! She swears up and down that the dog that we might adopt (pending a meeting with our current dog) is Jake's brother. She said that she even ended up calling Teddy, Jake on accident a few times. I guess I really only have a few questions. First of all, are you happy with how the whole adoption process went? I hate to even ask this because I don't view a dog as "returnable" but if the dogs don't get along what is the return policy? Will they take Teddy back to the organization? Is there a refund of the donation? Again I hate to even ask that because all I want is to offer a dog in need the best home that I can! How is your Jakey? Are you absolutely in love? It seems like he likes to destroy toys... have you found any that stand up to his destructiveness (Teddy sounds like he might be destructive)? Has Jake chewed on anything other than toys? Thanks for your help!!

My husband and I are talking about adopting a dog. I spoke with a lady today and she was talking about a dog named Jake that ended up in the northeast. Low and behold I'm reading a blog on mycorgi and there is a story about a dog named Jake from Wichita, Kansas. It's a small world! I was wondering if you would mind answering a few questions about your experience.

I wonder if she would let you bring Jake to her place. It would give you and idea of an inital reaction not on his turf. Nice that she gave you the option to return the kitty, but I know how you feel about returning one. My expereince through the years has been good with bringing cats and dogs together. Let me know how it goes.

Sounds about the same as here! I need to figure out how to teach them to wipe their feet at the door.

I am hoping some of the mud and slush will refreeze and I can eliminate one layer of muddy doggie tracks. Such a mess out here at the farm. I will enjoy some consistantly warm weather for a change.

I do ramble on. Sounds like Jake is a typical Corgi. Every now and then I will call and call for Lizzie...she will look over her shoulder at me and then she will completely ignore me...They are such an independant breed. Makes me so mad. Then when she does come, she appears almost apologetic! Overall they do want to please.

I looked through the AKC website and did an online search. On one trip to visit my oldest daughter in Kentucky we stopped by and visited with Cartwright Corgis in Willard Missouri. It was a great visit and they spent about 2 hours with us. Introduced us to their dogs and talked about their philosophy about raising Corgis. They are just terrific people. That was about a year and a half ago. We decided to wait for a male puppy from them. When they had three litters just before Christmas we were given first pick. One of the litters was a surprise--they didn't thing the female took and bred another of their little girls. Originally we were going to get a red.white male, but I changed my mind because I was worried I would be disappointed if he weren't just like Basil. Out of sixteen puppies there was only one tri and he was a male with striking markings. We visited at about two weeks and put a deposit on him. We fell in love! We visited once more before we picked him up. They were as interested in our qualifications as dog owners as we were in their puppies. In fact we are only the second family they have sold a puppy with full registration. Our litttle Fergie came from Western Nebraska out of working cattle dogs. I knew the breeder, but she was not as thorough as Cartwrights in interviewing new dog owners--it could be that she felt she knew me well enough. She is a terrific lady, but a little disorganized. Beautiful Corgis though with nice confirmation and a head for herding. Depending on how my two finish out we are considering breeding them. The Cartwrights are willing to hold my hand through the process--another good mark for them. PWC of America is a good resource for breeders. I think word of mouth and meeting the breeder before hand is the best way.

Craig works closer to home than I do so he enjoys the opportunity to come home . My office is about 45 miles from the farm so the earliest I get home on average is 6:00. Winning the lottery is the only way I could stay home and I keep forgetting to buy a ticket! I think it could be difficult for your mom. It would be hard to monitor the puppy and at the same time, if someone were home during the day it would be hard to keep them in the kennel. Lots of crying if they know someone is in the house. I think it is great that you adopted Jake. I don't think I could walk into a shelter if there were a Corgi there and not walk out with them. I don't know what it is about this breed, but I am totally enamoured. How did you manage to come by Jake in Wichita when you live in CT? How are the socialization issues coming along? How is the potty training?

I worried about the timing on this puppy. both my husband and I work full time. Each of our other puppies came to us during a time when our daughter was home for summer vacation. My husband goes home at lunch each day to play with all the dogs. Thankfully Brodie does very well with his potty training. I think having the other dogs around during the day does help. Seems there is always one sleeping right next to the kennel when he is in there. I wish I could be there full time. We each took turns taking days off and then partial days off while the little guy was settling in. When the legislature is out of session, Brodie will be able to come to work with me on occassion. Perhaps now that you have Jake--it will be easier in the future for a puppy. I enjoy reading your daily blog--almost feel like part of the family!

Seems to me that you got a real peach when you adopted Jake. Sounds like he has been a good match with your family. Is he still protecting you from the evil snowman?

Welcome Siduri. . . .I'm so glad nothing horrible happened to Jake. . .you're right, people seem to be so careless about letting their dogs run the neighborhood. . .I'm very lucky that I have an enormous yard (fenced in) and NO animals can get in without me letting them in. . .I'm very lucky that my Corgis have the room to run without confrontations. . . .

You're welcome!! In a couple of years you'll be able to help too!! Always nice to help out others in "doggie" matters

sylvia

For the harness take measurements around the thickest part of his chest and around the base of the neck, where it meets the shoulders. Have fun, there's so many neat ones out there.

Jake is still learning the rules, too. But, we are also able to look at things and say, "oh look, Jakey! Isn't that interesting?" And he cocks his head and LOOKS. Jake looks at things very carefully, always seems to be sizing things up.

I'd love to talk about "life" on our walks. Right now our walking conversation sounds like "Good Job! Good Job! Good Job!....No Pulling. No Pulling. No Pulling....Good Job! Good Job!" Charlie's still learning "the rules of the road". LOL