So I just watched the "Purebreed Dogs Exposed" video that Sam posted awhile back and it got me to thinking:  What have our wonderful little corgis looked like?  I seem to remember a member here posting something about corgi's having slightly longer legs only about 50 years ago...

Did anyone have links or pictures they might want to share?  That and anything that might open up  discussion about what kinds of problems are being accidentally bread into the breed are also welcome - but please, this is just out of my own curiosity, I don't want to see any fights.  :)

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@John WoIff- knew this photo had to be posted by you!!! HAHAHA. I have to stop taking myself so seriously...unseemly for a corgi owner, no? Must be a bad moon.
Interesting question. When Mike and I started looking for a corgi, the reason we chose the breeder we did is because her corgis didn't have as quite of a low slung look as some others do. We liked the short legs but were looking for a corgi that looked like it was built for work. When we saw Kim Beachler's "Gilby" http://www.posocreekpuppies.com/images/gilby16.jpg we immediately knew we wanted a puppy from his litter and I'm very happy with "ground clearance". I don't think it would surprise me if there were breeders who went more towards the lower slung look and if breeding went more in that direction than it did years ago.
maaan, I picked Pooka because of her face =) oooh that corgi smile. Her legs seem long and she's very fast and NEVER gets tired. It doesn't seem our breeder was breeding for "type" or whatever the lower slung trend is.
I think today's Corgis look just fine. I've always loved my Corgis low and long. I was told when I got my first Corgi many years ago that they are bred low to the ground so they don't get kicked by the animals they're herding. Personally, I'd be delighted with any one of the Corgis pictured below. But, then again I'd be delighted with any Corgi! I've never met one that didn't steal my heart.
They're supposed to be low yes, but when it impedes the ability to actually run it's kind of... well, the dog ceases to be useful or efficient. The corgis that are too low to the ground are more likely to have weight problems, back problems and hip problems. They're low to the ground so that they could roll of they're kicked... not so that are missed if they're kicked. With being expected to cover 20 miles or more per day, the only way they could pull that off is to have the traditional leg length. If you've ever seen a larger dog play around with a corgi and a corgi roll to get out of the way, that's what they're supposed to do. Corgis are also said to be linked and originated from Swedish Vallhunds... the corgis from 50 years ago resemble the legs of a Vallhund. AKC standards also states that they "Should not be so low and heavy-boned as to appear coarse or overdone..."

A Vallhund... you can see where they get it from... very corgi dont' you think :-)!

From the standard:

"Deep chest, well let down between the forelegs. Exaggerated lowness interferes with the desired freedom of movement and should be penalized."

Yet I agree that in some of the last few winners I see what to me looks like "exaggerated lowness." The problem with statements like that is they are very, very subjective. In the pictures on the cover of the standard, the chest barely clears the ground. You can't get much lower than that. Granted, some of that is most likely coat.
Most if not all of that is coat. If you watch the breed judging videos at Westminster you can see that there's plenty of space for the dogs to move and they move VERY well. I've spent quite a bit of time with show-bred Pems, including watching them herd, and they are like monkeys; an INability to move is definitely not the problem!
Yes, when I looked again I tried to visualize the natural line of the chest beneath the coat and I do think that in the two low-looking dogs on the cover, much of it is coat.

Mine are very agile and have plenty of stamina, and one is out of the ring. Both mine carry so much coat that you need to get in with your hands to find where hair ends and body begins.
I am not saying you're wrong but there will always be bad people in any group or organization. There are great breeders out there yes but just like puppy mills - there are those that are probably breeding to sell "cute puppies" without the breeding standard in mind.

I'm not trying to pick a fight just stating that not all breeders are saints.
I'm sorry I should also say that thankfully there are those out there that are trying to keep the breed the way it should be out of love and devotion :)
Having come from a background of being raised with sporting breeds where the champion show dogs can't hunt, and the champion field trial dogs can't win in the ring, I understand what can happen to breeds. For many of the gun dogs, it has been over half a century since there was a dual winner. The gun dog people would not in a million years take a show dog, and a show dog handler could not get a ribbon on a gun dog if his life depended on it.

As a lover of dogs I don't just automatically assume that show breeders will keep the original intent of a breed. I think Corgi breeders are doing a good job overall, but I do worry about trends.
I've wanted one for so long!!!!



... if I had my way I would own so many dogs.... that would be bad I know.. sigh....

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