We had a great weekend advancing our search for a puppy this weekend out near Philly...we hooked with a friend we've made through two other Corgi forums (the Corgi-L list and the PhillyAreaCorgis yahoo group, if anyone frequents there) and hung out for part of the afternoon with his two Cardigans, age 7 and 2. They are GREAT dogs and have us even more sold that a Corgi is for us. Of course, this presents us with a dilemma, as it seems we're keeping so many options open we'll soon have to make a tough decision. We have found a Pembroke breeder near us that we really like. We have also found a Cardi breeder in Ohio whom we absolutely adore. We're on this list for both their litters, which are each planned right in our time frame. The pups aren't born yet, but we're already going crazy about which is the better decision. What do you all think? Here are our pros and cons:
Pembroke Breeder:
-Focus on temperament and matching the owner to the dog (since Pems are a little more high-energy, we want someone who's going to be a bit more laid-back)
-Closeby
-Runs really awesome obedience classes
-A little less warm and friendly than our Cardi breeder
-Pups are $900 (not bad for our area, we're learning)
-We can visit the pups/mom/breeder a lot more often when they're young because she's only a 30 minute drive away
Cardigan Breeder:
-Totally down-to-earth and friendly; she has become our #1 go-to for questions, concerns, advice, general desire to obsess over our future puppy
-Pups are $500-600 (basically awesome)
-Focuses on temperament and matching the owner to the breeder
-Socializes her pups really well so that they will be laid-back but friendly and happy with strangers
-Lives WAY out in Ohio, about a 7-hour drive from us
-Distance means that we will only be able to make two trips (max) out to see our puppy and his or her mom - probably once not too long after birth to pick out our dog and once more to actually take him or her home
-Traveling means added cost - we estimate that, between gas to drive out there and someplace to stay overnight each time, we will break even, if not wind up spending a bit more overall...depending on where we eat when we're on the road.
-Add to this that we're just outright split on which breed we like better, and we're torn! (Pems have that butt! But Cardis have the tail! Pems are more happy go lucky overall! But Cardis are more laid back! Cardis have bigger, even cuter ears! But we don't really like that blue merle color! Okay, really, either dog works for us...who knows?!) We are splitting the difference a bit and have e-mailed a few more local Cardi breeders to see what they're like, as our gal in Ohio found us and sold us on Cardis through a call she made to us about rescue...we had not considered the breed until she helped us realize a Cardi would be great for us.
Basically... give us some input to hlep us make a decision
