Westminster Dog Show

[Chip's Mom]

Peggy:

I would love to see a sable up close. I am hoping there will be one at the TN picnic this year.

[picnic]

Originally Posted by taflar

Cardis are fun too, but not the same as Pems. Peggy

Peggy--I know I'm being pesky as the dickens but I also know that one lives with a dog for a long time (not long enough really, but whoever comes here lives their life out with us). I really only want one Corgi--at least at this point. Two dogs are a nice number for us--so I'd like to choose the right one.

Can you say a bit more about why you seem to think the Pems are 'more fun'. Are they more active, sillier, mischief makers? I did read that the Cardigans are more 'laid back'--less active--or just more 'dignified'.

The other question that I'd love to throw out is--how did all of you choose either Pem or Cardy? Did you have friends that had one or the other--was it because one was more prevalent in your area--just fell in love with one when you met it? I'm curious because I know of only 2 acquaintances--really work acquaintances of my husband--that have Corgis and know no others--and I've never seen these dogs but believe they are both probably Pems.

Consequently I have had no time spent with them--so, you're asking why in the world would I be interested? I suppose its because I've read about a lot of breeds--researched a lot--esp. these last 2 years since we lost Ben and knew that in the next couple of years we would add another dog before we lose Kate. So--this time we had other considerations for choosing and I looked outside the breed I am in love with--trying to find the characteristics I like about the SPs in another smaller breed that requires no major clipping (its not the looks folks, though they are lovely-its the disposition, the intelligence, the desire to please--and because they are fun LOL). I was drawn over and over to the Corgis--a big dog in a small body, smart as a whip with a desire to please, social--and I do really like their appearance.

Thanks all for answering these questions. Again--I'm really looking forward to the Greenville show where I can at least see a number of these dogs together--and that may give me a lot more feeling about the generally--what characteristsics I see over and over in a lot of them. Hope enough of the breeders stick around for awhile so I can at least get close to some of the dogs for an upclose and personal look.

Diane

[Clogs]

Hi picnic.

We chose a Pem because we had a very good experience with our previous Pem, Mouse. Also, we were after a smaller, more compact dog and the Cardies are a tad bigger. And the long tail thing. There used to be a Cardi living in the valley, a working dog, and his tail was always, but always, filthy. May have been more because of his living conditions, but I dunno. He always carried it low and dragged it in the mud and cow-pooh. But it put us right off.

Hope I'm not treading on any Cardi-lovers tails here, but I wanted to give an honest answer.

[Dillydoodle]

Diane, Here is how i chose. I took every breed in the AKC...I then sat down with my husband and we went dog by dog, reading a clip of info about them and the ones that were instant no fits to our family life were eliminated. We were left with about 20 breeds. At that point , we started reading more in depth, I wanted an intelligent, easily trained dog, we wanted a dog NOT riddled with health issues that was not short lived, we didn't want a really big dog nor a small toy breed ( hubby is a big dog guy) we got down to about 5 breeds...at that point we went to a dog show, saw them up close and personal, we began asking questions of some of the breeders/owners and handlers.. and immediately cut our list down...the clear choice for us was the pembroke and we both loved the look and the dog. The other breed was not as good a fit but we were a bit taken by the personality of the ones we met at shows...time to do more research...I bought books on both breeds...I started asking more quesitons, i asked people who owned dogs that were NOT shown, and not in that show envioronment, and the other breed began to show itself as a dog that would end up not being happy in our home ( way way way way too active for our lifestyle and a tendency towards being a bit neurotic) and that is how we came to get the pembroke. Now that i have had him for 21 months i can say we made the perfect choice for our family...If we want to sit around and do nothing, he is happy to do that with us, if we want to go on a 8 mile hike, he is up and ready to go.

Emilie

[MrsGrace]

Originally Posted by Dillydoodle

Diane, Here is how i chose. I took every breed in the AKC...I then sat down with my husband and we went dog by dog, reading a clip of info about them and the ones that were instant no fits to our family life were eliminated. We were left with about 20 breeds. At that point , we started reading more in depth, I wanted an intelligent, easily trained dog, we wanted a dog NOT riddled with health issues that was not short lived, we didn't want a really big dog nor a small toy breed ( hubby is a big dog guy) we got down to about 5 breeds...at that point we went to a dog show, saw them up close and personal, we began asking questions of some of the breeders/owners and handlers.. and immediately cut our list down...the clear choice for us was the pembroke and we both loved the look and the dog. The other breed was not as good a fit but we were a bit taken by the personality of the ones we met at shows...time to do more research...I bought books on both breeds...I started asking more quesitons, i asked people who owned dogs that were NOT shown, and not in that show envioronment, and the other breed began to show itself as a dog that would end up not being happy in our home ( way way way way too active for our lifestyle and a tendency towards being a bit neurotic) and that is how we came to get the pembroke. Now that i have had him for 21 months i can say we made the perfect choice for our family...If we want to sit around and do nothing, he is happy to do that with us, if we want to go on a 8 mile hike, he is up and ready to go.

Emilie

This is by far the BEST description I have read for someone choosing a Corgi. Sent it to my hubby. Thats exactly what we want. Trainable, devoted (to a point, we don't want an unfriendly w/ strangers dog), great watchdog (and the "leaves are falling now" dog), can go hiking and camping, or can veg with us. And of course, clown around with us too!