I was delighted to meet Chip and Bonnie and her DH at the TN picnic last Sunday. He is a doll, very sweet personality - just a love. He treated me to Chip kisses and nibbles on the ear.
Bonnie mentioned he wasn't crazy about the costume contest, but he was adorable.
She chose a leprechaun outfit complete with hat and green is definitely his color. There are some paintings of corgis in leprechaun garb and Chip looked like he stepped right out of one of them.
Cindy, we did miss you, Darci and at least I don't have to say little "what's his name" <VBG> now. I like Egan as a name and I have had a chance to skim over his pictures - cute baby! Look for you next year - okay.
I came home to find a rescue deluge, so have been on the run and only been able to post hit and miss this week. I'm going to try to hit some high points off the other miscellaneous type thread - Beach Vacation.
NC Corgi get together. One of the original organizers was with me at the TN picnic last weekend. The original vision for it was to move it around the state in order to allow more accessibility to those within the state as well as neighboring states. This year locations being looked at were in the Triad area (center of the state) as the first four had been held in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill - more eastern). I'm not an "organizer" on the NC picnic, just a supporter and am there usually as the rescue contact and Corgi Aid liasion. Much to our surprise when we got home from TN there was a message on the various list announcing the NC Corgi get together would be held on Sept 16th, at the Pet Behavioral Help Center in Chapel Hill, where it has been the past 3 years. (Directions and a map can be found at
www.petbehaviorhelp.com) The original organizer had been completely cut out of the decision and of planning this year, much in the same way things happened last year.
The atmosphere/tone/ambience of the NC picnic is different than what Bonnie experienced in TN. Much more structured, lots of demonstrations, no using of equipment, more rules. The facility is beautiful (Michael would love the agility aspect of it and they do hold trials there), it has a fenced in area large enough to accommodate an agility course where the corgis can be off-leash and run around under supervision. Parking is good, shady areas to set up, and a covered area for the food and silent auction. No indoor toilets. It is a good time and Corgi Aid benefits well from it, but it is different than some of the other picnics - kind of lacks the warmth and bonding that can be found at some the others. So that's the scoop on the NC Corgi get together this year.
Tails on Pems: Why are they docked? Several theories around on that - one has to do with taxation - a docked dog was a sign that it was a working dog and the Welsh farmer would not have to pay taxes on it - which doesn't explain why Cardigans kept their tails. More sound is that the original Pembrokes were natural bobs. When bred with other breeds to fine tune desirable traits, the tail gene was introduced and firmly implanted. To preserve type - what makes a breed a breed, docking was done. Another consideration as to why Pems were docked might have to do with the type of work they were called on to do. As dogs that worked on the docks of Pembrokeshire moving livestock from pen to pen, from pen to ship these were pretty close quarters and risk of tail injury either from contrary livestock or hitting it against the wooden frame of a pen. Tail injuries are not easy to deal with and to avoid risking that type of injury the tails were removed. Cardiganshire is very different terrain and while both corgi breeds work alike, Cardigans were not working in these tight quarters. (Before Michael thinks I've had too much to drink or worse
, look for some the historical articles on the PWCCA website and some of those by Stephanie Hedgepath.) The Council of Docked Breeds website has some photos of tail injuries in some of the hunting dogs and goes further into explaining why dock. <http://www.cdb.org>
My no nubby Pems are lacking nothing in their ability to communicate or express their joy not having a tail. So I don't buy the unable to read body language or being deprived of ways to communicate or express feelings as a reasoning for banning docking.
Methods of docking - Banding is definitely the preferred method <imho>, safer and less stress, trauma and risk to the puppies than surgical docking. (And these are NOT rubber bands in the same sense as the one that gets wrapped around your newspaper. These are more like the rubber bands that are used with braces.) All the concerns Bonnie expressed - pain, risk of infection, etc. same things can happen with surgical docking. Banding is done within the first 36 hours after birth, same time as dew claws. Nervous systems are not developed, so they don't feel pain. They do react to the stimuli of being held and having something done to them and will fuss, but no more than when being taking away from mom for a look over and weighing. Once the procedures are done and they are back with mom, all settles down. A careful eye is kept on the banding sight, it is cleaned regularly and within a few days time it is gone. Think like the remnant of the umbilical cord of a newborn human baby falling off. With surgical docking - a vet trip is necessary and exposes puppies with very little immune system to whatever illnesses the vet might have seen that day, a risk a lot of breeders don't want to take. Surgically tails are done a little later than the 36 hour window on banding, so there is the pain sensation. Trauma of the removal, a stitch maybe, plus the trip to and from the vet - are all stress added to a puppy's beginning days. Dams have been known to mess with the stitch and/or incision site and cause infections.
Bottom line is it is an individual breeder's decision, but banding isn't cruel at all and a perfectly reputable and responsible way to remove tails.
Debbie