Upsurge of interest in Corgis during this year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
My husband had a phone call out of the blue yesterday from our local BBC Radio station. They'd found us from the Kennel Club register and I guess this means that we are possibly the only owners of a registered Corgi in the whole of the county of Gloucestershire! Looking at all aspects of the Queen and her life in this Jubilee year, they wanted to know all about the breed and what it was like to live with a Corgi. My husband ended up doing a phone interview with the presenter, talked all about Fox and the pros and cons of the breed.
Interestingly the presenter told him that during her research she had discovered that there has been a huge upsurge of interest in Corgis this year and a demand for puppies. Although great to hear, since Pems and Cardies are both endangered over here in the UK, I wonder whether this will lead to an equally big upsurge in unscrupulous breeders. Let's face it......times are hard and people will do anything for money.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Kaitlyn & Chase on
-
As mentioned earlier, docking is legal here in the states. It is also very uncommon to find a breeder that doesn't dock the tails on Pembrokes. Many people do prefer Pems to have nubs instead of tails. I personally wouldn't dock the tails if I had the choice but it is difficult to find a breeder that doesn't dock the tails.
Others have said that Corgis have become very popular over here, which is true. People look at them and see how cute they are, but they can't see that Corgis shed their weight in hair, they don't see that Corgis are high energy dogs. People can't look at them and see that Corgis only bark when necessary (but they find it necessary to bark all the time). They only see those cute little dwarf dogs with the big ears and bunny butts. That's why so many end up in shelters, which may be true for many breeds of dogs. I think that many people get Corgis thinking that they are small, low maintence dogs and they don't realize that Corgis are big dogs on stubby legs. I hope that people start to educate themselves on the breeds that they are interested in. This will solve the homeless dog problem in the states.
-
Permalink Reply by Gilly & 'Fox' on
-
So the barking IS a trait then? Fab decibels if you want a guard dog though. If a burglar could see the stubby pooch barking at him from behind our door, he'd laugh!
-
Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on
-
Sidney has a fabulous loud bark! Luckily he only barks if there is something amiss in our neighborhood. I figure the loudness of the bark comes from their being bred as herding dogs? The bark has to carry across the meadows?
Here in California, corgis in shelters are VERY rare. We searched three years in all shelters in San Diego county, only found a handful and they were all adopted before we cold get to them. We tried, though!
And whenever we meet a person who didn't know corgis are docked (most assume they are born that way, as I had), they wonder why docking happens and nearly 100% say "I like the tail better".
-
Permalink Reply by Snickmom on
-
I know nothing about breeding and showing, but I do like to google things! I found these bits of info:
The American Kennel Club recognizes that ear cropping, tail docking, and dewclaw removal, as described in certain breed standards, are acceptable practices integral to defining and preserving breed character and/or enhancing good health. Appropriate veterinary care should be provided.
The AKC Breed Standard:
Tail--Docked as short as possible without being indented. Occasionally a puppy is born with a natural dock, which if sufficiently short, is acceptable. A tail up to two inches in length is allowed, but if carried high tends to spoil the contour of the topline.
I looked up the UK version of the AKC which is called The Kennel Club: It's breed standard is:
Tail
Short, preferably natural.
Docked: Short.
Undocked: Set in line with topline. Natural carriage above topline when moving or alert.
Interesting stuff. I have read that Pemmies are sometimes born with no tail or a bob tail.
-
Permalink Reply by Edward and Gemima on
-
I am fascinated with all the information you can find on MYCorgi I had no Idea that there were so few Corgis in the UK. I will say that I really had to search for them when we were looking for Ed and GEM. We live in Minnesota and you don't see a ton of them here. Both of ours are docked. I wouldn't care if they had tails though.. I have seen some Pembrokes with tails and they are gorgeous looking. I did a lot of research on the breed before getting them and they fit the descriptions well. Some of your above stories are just a daily ocurrence when you have Corgis!
-
-
Yes, Corgis docked BEFORE the 2006 UK Animal Welfare regulation came in are permitted to be shown over here at Kennel Club show events. AFTER then, they must have tails or will not be permitted entry. So in the not too distant future there will be no docked Corgis to be seen at any KC show, unless of course they can be proved to have been born with a bob tail.
Vets here can be fined up to £ 20,000 for illegally docking or even get a prison sentence!
-
Permalink Reply by Chris, Kadi & Brodie on
-
I have one without a tail and one with and I love my Brodie's tail! I wish that standard would change here in the US, but I don't see it happening any time soon. Too many people think it's 'cool' to dock tails and crop ears here. I worked for quite a few vets in the past and only one would crop ears. People might think the others refused because of humane reasons, but that's not so. The real reason is that cropping ears is VERY HARD and if you don't do it right, the ears are ruined for life. They avoid doing it because they don't want a lawsuit later. The one who did crop was excellent at it and that's why he did it. To me, after assisting in both processes, ear cropping is much more cruel than tail docking. Tails are docked within the first few days of life (which is why breeders often do it themselves) just like dew claws are removed. Ears are cropped later, after the pup is sold and the taping/heeling process is not pleasant for the dog at all.
I'm always sad to hear when any breed gets popular because it results in the ruination of the breed.
-
Permalink Reply by Beth on
-
I agree with your assessment of ears vs tails. I'm not really sure tail docking is cruel, if done correctly. I see no point in cropping ears, though. If you want an upright ear, breed for one! The thing with the ears is they cut them, and then it's months and months of bandages and props to get them up. Tails are done so young. And having had a hunting dog who was docked (springer) and one who was not (lab; the big rudder helps them swim) and seeing how often the lab bloodied his tail and sprayed blood all over the house.... I understand how docking started, frankly.
-
-
Yikes....I'd never even HEARD of ear cropping/taping Beth and have just looked it up.....cringe! Totally unecessary and purely cosmetic in a Corgi in my humble opinion. How cute & characterful to have a dog with say one ear up and one down. If one is showing dogs and finds oneself with a dog with uneven ears that won't stand a chance of winning.......tough!
I don't think that it's the potential for cruelty that actually comes in to it re. the tails. I'm sure that most breeders/vets in the US do it safely and properly. It may sound simplistic, but surely the docking of tails in a PET dog (ie. not proven working/hunting/herding dog) should simply be illegal everywhere. It serves no purpose to the pet. If the owner wants it because it just LOOKS good.......hmmmmm...well.....I won't finish that sentence!!!! We just seem to be a society obsessed with appearance and if that's spilling over in to our pets....gosh..what's the world coming to!
-
-
Just for the record, my reference to ear cropping was not about corgis. I was referring to breeds here with a standard that calls from cropped ears, i.e. Dobermans, Great Danes, Boxers, etc.
And yes, after growing up with beagles that hunted, I can understand why some dogs tails would have been docked in earlier times. They came home with their 'flags' bloodied and full of thorns every time!
-
Permalink Reply by Lawren and Teddy on
-
And ear cropping is falling out of favor with a lot of breeders. Most of the Danes, dobes and boxers I see at the dog park have uncropped ears. It's actually on the unusual side to see one with cropped ears.
Now, if this is something that is happening on the national scale, I don't know.
-
Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on
-
We travel to the UK 3 or 4 times a year, our son lives in Bristol. In all our travels we have only seen 1 corgi. I do hope Corgi's make a comeback...........with responsibly breeders. I would love to see Corgi's out for walks. Then I could get my Corgi fix when my boys are back home in the US.
Our Chepstow is a natural. Born with a small little nub that is under 2 inches.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
Rescue Store
Stay Connected
FDA Recall
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall
Groups
We support...
Badge
© 2024 Created by Sam Tsang.
Powered by
