Why is my Corgi so well behaved?
A few weeks ago I adopted a 5 year old Corgi mix that appears to be predominantly Pembroke Welsh Corgi. At first glance, many people mistake her for one but after they really stare at her they start noticing her little differences.
Anyway she's very well behaved and I'm wondering if that's weird. I am happy with her good behavior, don't get me wrong, but I expected more of a challenge from a dog who is mostly Pem. Hehe :)
Bossiness: She doesn't seem bossy at all. I hardly ever have to correct her, because she hardly ever does anything wrong, but when I do all I have to do is quietly say "unt uh" in a disapproving tone and she looks at me like "Oh, sorry!" and leaves whatever it was alone.
Barking: She almost never barks. When she does, it's almost always because somebody is at the door. I don't correct her because I want her to bark at the door. I often don't hear the doorbell!
Energy: I'd say it's low though not Basset Hound kind of low. She sleeps most of the day but when she knows it's walk time or car ride time, she wants to go! She gets tired after a block but I'm working on building her stamina :)
Chewing: Hasn't chewed on a thing except a toy after I assured that it was indeed okay.
Potty Training: Basically perfect. Only pottied in the house once and that was when diarrhea hit her when I was asleep with ear plugs and behind a closed door. Other than that she's always either held it or let me know that she needs to go out NOW. (She'll come up and act restless.)
Handling: I can brush her teeth, trim her nails, deshed her, etc. without a problem.
Baths: Just calmly stands there while you wash her.
People: Loves every person she's met--even the vet! Never so much as growled at a person.
Car Rides: You could forget she's there! She's so calm and quiet. (And yes, she wears a doggie seat belt.)
New Places: She can be a little nervous but it doesn't seem to effect her too badly. And if I sit down somewhere with her for awhile, she'll lay down and go to sleep. And whenever a stranger gets close she starts wagging her butt and trying to go up to them. She gets very happy when they pet her!
Vet's Office: From what I could tell, she was a model patient!
Other Dogs: Not interested in them per se but perfectly fine with polite dogs. If they act obnoxious (by sniffing her constantly, jumping all over her, etc.) she'll lift a lip and ask them to please stop. As soon as they stop, she's cool with them again. (And I make sure they stop so they don't cause the situation to escalate. I don't think Madison really wants to bite them but I think she might if she's exhausted all other avenues and they're still bugging her.)
Edit: Interestingly, when a dog is snarling and lunging at her behind a fence or on a leash, she ignores it! She only gets bugged when a rude dog has made physical contact.
So, overall, she's a pretty well behaved and easy dog to own! How common are Corgis like her?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I have to say that other than barking most of mine are also well behaved. Teddy my puppy mill dog did mark but has gotten better and I'm sure that this is also due to him coming from a puppy mill.
Wynn my 1st Corgi is the best and I do trust his judgment of people. He definitely started my obsession with Corgis. Sage his daughter is a Therapy dog and is almost too obedient. Wynn also picked me...I wanted a female but he waddled up and put his head on my foot and fell asleep. That's all it took:)
I think if people have the "tools" and understand how to train Corgis...they will end up with an obedient dog. Classes also help.
Sometimes I also believe that the reason some dogs misbehave is due to not enough exercise and stimulus.
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Permalink Reply by Starry on
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Yeah, I agree with the effect obedience training has on a dog. This dog has definitely had obedience training. I think that training combined with a biddable personality created the dog that she is.
And like Sage, Madison can be too obedient, as well. She is obedient to the point she is self conscious about it. If she's not sure if something is okay, she'll just lay down and do nothing. I guess in her old home, that was a surefire way to avoid getting in trouble.
Anyway I'm trying to teach her to be less restrained. For instance, I like it when she plays with a toy and runs around with it but it's hard to get her to do it. And she can get nervous when I do certain things, like turn and look at her. She probably expects a reprimand to follow. I've been working on helping her form a positive association from me looking at her. When I look at her, and she isn't yawning or doing any other nervous behavior, just looking at me with a relaxed look, I click the clicker and toss her a treat. It seems to be helping!
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I think Sage feels guilty just because of her personality...neither her mom or dad would feel that way!!!!!!! Her way of having fun is being near someone she likes and getting attention. I use my mouth to "click" and that works too. Sage isn't a big toy player either...both parents are especially her mom who would steal any ball if she could. Maybe dogs are like us and some feel more guilty than others????
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Permalink Reply by susan on
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Why in the world did this wonderful dog need a new home! She sounds too good to be true!. Enjoy it. She might get comfortable with you and her crazy corginess will come out. ;)
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"Why in the world did this wonderful dog need a new home!"
I ask myself the same thing! xD The shelter has no idea where she came from because she was found wandering as a stray. I figure her owner must have died or something. Corgis are extremely rare to find in shelters around here. It doesn't seem like most people want to give them up!
"She might get comfortable with you and her crazy corginess will come out. ;)"
Hehe, I hope it does! The few times she has run around acting silly I loved it xD
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Permalink Reply by Alison Prasavath on
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She sounds like a perfect lady. Someone obviously took the time to train her, but I think her age also helps. I'm sure once she gets more comfortable with you her true corgi side will come out and that will be very entertaining. Noodles turns 10 in June and he still has his frapping moments that make me laugh. He loves to get me laughing because then he gets even more excited and continues doing what he's doing, but comes and gives me kisses as well. Enjoy your little girl!
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Do you know how long it takes an adopted dog to show their full personality? I've had her three weeks now. So far I've only seen slight changes and they are changes I have been purposely trying to bring about. Like the thing with her being overly careful about not getting in trouble. When she's being over self-conscious I let her know everything is okay by making the situation into one that is positive for her. She seems to have gotten over some of these fears.
Like used to she would not go through any doorway without permission. I only want her to wait for permission before going through an outside door. She can walk through the inside doors all she wants. I worked with her on this and now she only waits for permission at the appropriate doors.
Of course, all this teaching her to be more relaxed about the rules could be a double edged sword! I don't wanna teach her that there are NO rules, so I'm careful to enforce the rules that I do want to keep :) She seems to be catching on.
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Did the shelter check to see if she was micro-chipped? It would be so sad if she is being missed by someone. It sounds like someone put a lot of work into her. I know you wouldn't want to give her up but....
On the flip side, have you tested the parameters of what she knows? Like does she heal, or do tricks, or maybe agility or herding? The not walking through doors is a pretty good indication that she had some serious obedience training and there was strong consistency in the training as well. It may take her a while to get used to your 'planned inconsistencies'. Its probably a bit confusing to her at first. All just guess work though, right. Mystery pup!
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She wasn't chipped upon entering the shelter but she was upon leaving it because they put one in her and registered her to me ;) And speaking of which when I had her at the vet (because I was getting her a comprehensive exam to see if she had any problems) you could see her new microchip on one of the xrays. The vet was like, "I presume you knew that was there?" And I'm like "Yup! Saw 'em put it in!" :D
Speaking of the vet every test came back normal except for the xrays showing some minor orthopedic issues that are not, as of yet, causing her any problems. (Some spondylosis and hip has less than ideal socket coverage of the ball.) The vet said if she doesn't jump off furniture and I keep her fit and trim, they may never cause her pain. Crossing fingers! In case anything does happen (anything at all), I got pet insurance. Of course they might change their mind later on but they said that since those issues are not yet causing problems, they would not be considered pre-existing should they cause problems in the future. And even if they don't they cover lots of conditions (even hereditary ones) so it's still worth having :)
And she is indeed a mystery but a fun mystery! I love trying to unravel her secrets :D
I get the feeling she knows a lot of things, I just don't know the cues to ask for them! Somebody suggested having an obedience trainer seeing what they can get her to do.
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Permalink Reply by Holly on
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Not going through doors does bring up a point. That is something that shows some serious effort and care. Hope she isn't lost, but I would assume she would have been scanned for a microchip at the shelter, no?
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The shelter scans for microchips and, no, she didn't have one. She has one now, though. When you adopt a dog from this shelter they microchip the dog (and register it to you) before it leaves. They did it right in front of me, so I know they didn't forget :)
She only has that microchip. You can see it on this xray :)
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I've had Sully (adopted) for a year and a half and her personality, while it has been coming out all along, is just really coming out fully now. She is still the same in many ways, and I worked with a trainer to help build her confidence, but she is just now showing her preferences and "playing" a tiny bit. She likes to snuggle with stuffed animals and everyone gave her one for Christmas. She opened them herself, which she would not do last year. I have never seen her so excited. She even fetches a small stuffed ball a few times. Huge for her. I expect you will be amazed after a year or so when you look back, but you will probably she some changes from month to month. All good I'm sure.
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