Couple of questions

[newhall9]

Hi,

I have a year and a half old Corgi named Molly. For Christmas, I want to make my girlfriend a calendar. Kind of corny, I know, but she will love it. I was hoping to have her dressed in different things for each month. Has anyone done this?Thinking rain coat for April, Santa costume for Christmas, etc... This creates a few issues. First, I don't know what to do for each month. Any ideas???? Next, how do I get costumes for cheap money. For the most part I will only use these products once so I don't want to waste a ton of money. She is about 30 pounds (by the way is this a normal weight or she too heavy???) so I think a medium size normally. Any help anyone can suggest would be greatly appreciated.
On a seperate note, I am having an issue with her barking. I know it is not her fault. For the most time she wants something like for me to just play with her. Everytime we play ball I will throw it and she will hide it under a table so I have to get down with her to get it. I don't mind it but sometimes I have to work on the computer and she just wants to play. Any suggestions? We were thinking of getting another dog for her to play with. Do you think this might help? If so what types of dogs play well with Corgis. She tends to play well with most dogs when we go to the Dog parks around here, but gets scared if mutliple large dogs come at her. What do you think? Like I said before, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Matt

[Vannette]

I'd try the second hand store for baby clothes?? Hi Matt and Molly. And a calendar would really be a sweet gift. Not corny at all. Got pics?

[Michael Romanos]

Matt - what a great idea. Try costume Hire companies or shops - one or more might hire out dog costumes. Try a department type store that sells cheap or inexpensive dog costumes and clothes. You can on-sell the clother/costumes afters as new. Your Corgi needs to be sunstantually clothed each month to give the calendar pics fullness. Look for seasonal outfits - summer outfit al la the beach, winter outfit a la the snow. Theme outfits eg cowgirl, spacewoman, criminal, doctor/nurse, marine, ball type function etc.

I'd love a copy of the calendar.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by newhall9

I have a year and a half old Corgi named Molly. For Christmas, I want to make my girlfriend a calendar. Kind of corny, I know, but she will love it. I was hoping to have her dressed in different things for each month. Has anyone done this?Thinking rain coat for April, Santa costume for Christmas, etc... This creates a few issues. First, I don't know what to do for each month. Any ideas???? Next, how do I get costumes for cheap money. For the most part I will only use these products once so I don't want to waste a ton of money. She is about 30 pounds (by the way is this a normal weight or she too heavy???) so I think a medium size normally. Any help anyone can suggest would be greatly appreciated.

You know even a bandana that represents the month or a back ground that represents the month would work. Such as shamrocks for March. You can make bandanas quite easily. Just need a triangle of cloth.

And for a female 30 lbs is a bit much. An adult mature female should weigh about 25 lbs. Normally a corgi of about a year and a half old is not mature. Usually that's the teen age stage and they're rather slim. So I suggest she go on a diet, try to get her to about 25 lbs.

On a seperate note, I am having an issue with her barking. I know it is not her fault. For the most time she wants something like for me to just play with her. Everytime we play ball I will throw it and she will hide it under a table so I have to get down with her to get it. I don't mind it but sometimes I have to work on the computer and she just wants to play. Any suggestions?

Get her something to chew on. A kong stuffed with treats (LOW cal treats such as carrot pieces, green beans, cherrios or puffed rice. You can put the cheerios or puffed rice in low fat yougurt and then put that in the kong and freeze it.) A pressed rawhide bone. A good raw knuckle bone. That type of thing.

We were thinking of getting another dog for her to play with. Do you think this might help?

Nope, two dogs are twice as much work, and twice as much noise. I don't recommend getting another dog as a companion to the first. Only get another dog if YOU want anther dog. And if you could live with the fact that they might not get along. Corgis can be funny that way, some are great with other dogs and some prefer to be only dogs.

If so what types of dogs play well with Corgis. She tends to play well with most dogs when we go to the Dog parks around here, but gets scared if mutliple large dogs come at her. What do you think?

That's not her territory. How is she with dogs on her territory? How is she about sharing *her* toys? *Her* treats?

IMO, if you are having a problem with the dog you have you need to solve that before you get a second dog. Get her barking under control or you'll just have two dogs barking. They feed off each other.

Peggy

[Michael Romanos]

Just as Peggy says, get Molly down to (at least) 25 pounds and as soon as poss. She wont look so great on a calendar being so overweight.

Corgi should be allowed to talk quite often - just not as long as it is within reasonable boundaries. Her playing is cute and should not be discourage Teach her ping pong/soccer passes/bowling. Getting another dog to replace your time or efforts are not good reasons.

[Louwants]

Some ideas for your calender:

January-sash with Happy New Year on it or with 2008-(use a white trash bag and a magic marker. Just fold the trash bag to look like a sash, tape the ends and write on it. That way, you can still use the bag

February-cupid-use an old round oatmeal container, paint it red. Put a felt strap big enough to hang it around the dog. Make wings and arrows out of construction paper. Put a candy box heart at his feet

March-Make a little green hat from construction paper. Get a black salad bowl (from some fast food place) and find some plastic gold coins at a toy or party store. Some white paper and paint a rainbow for the background.

April-the raincoat is a good idea. Maybe use an umbrella in the background.

May Spring flowers like tulips and daffodils

June You could go with a graduation cap out of construction paper if a boy dog, or a bride's veil if a girl

July Red, White and blue of course...or a picnic theme or both. Flag in background with picnic items.

August beach wear. Buy a kids hawaiian print shirt, sunglasses and a straw hat.

September Back to school with an apple, slate board with abc and with 1+1=2

October Halloween of course. Make a witch's hat out of construction paper and have a black bowl, with a little dry ice in it to make a fog and a child's broom.

November Pilgrim hat out of construction paper, and pumpkins around the dog.

December Santa outfit. Elf outfit. Reindeer look,

How's those ideas? A lot of stuff you might come up with at a dollar store. Just look around and think what some glue and tape can do with it.

[MyPemCharlie]

Originally Posted by newhall9

Hi,

I have a year and a half old Corgi named Molly. For Christmas, I want to make my girlfriend a calendar. Kind of corny, I know, but she will love it. I was hoping to have her dressed in different things for each month. Has anyone done this?Thinking rain coat for April, Santa costume for Christmas, etc... This creates a few issues. First, I don't know what to do for each month. Any ideas???? Next, how do I get costumes for cheap money. For the most part I will only use these products once so I don't want to waste a ton of money. She is about 30 pounds (by the way is this a normal weight or she too heavy???) so I think a medium size normally. Any help anyone can suggest would be greatly appreciated.
On a seperate note, I am having an issue with her barking. I know it is not her fault. For the most time she wants something like for me to just play with her. Everytime we play ball I will throw it and she will hide it under a table so I have to get down with her to get it. I don't mind it but sometimes I have to work on the computer and she just wants to play. Any suggestions? We were thinking of getting another dog for her to play with. Do you think this might help? If so what types of dogs play well with Corgis. She tends to play well with most dogs when we go to the Dog parks around here, but gets scared if mutliple large dogs come at her. What do you think? Like I said before, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Matt

Calendar: I think it's a great idea and not corny at all. It is very industrious though with only 12 days left. You might just take 12 "beauty" shots for the 2008 edition. Then during 2008, you should be able to find seasonal items throughout the year and do the 2009 edition with the costumes. I can't imagine trying to find hearts for valentines, and bunny ears for easter, etc in such a short time frame...but I'm probably just lazy. LOL

Barking: Charlie barks for attention occassionally while my nose is in the computer and he's sitting on the recliner behind my desk chair. First, I taught him "Speak!" when he barks. He'd bark, and I turn around and say "Speak! Speak!" to encourage a couple more barks. He gets praise and a treat. Then I turn around and keep working. If he keeps barking, I turn around and say either "Sshhhh!" or "Quiet!" and shake my head "No" and give him the hand signal to lie down. It quiets him down for quite a while. The older he gets, the less he is barking, now that he understands when I want him to speak, and when it's discouraged. Now I can pretty much skip the encouragement and go straight to "Shhhh!" or "Quiet!" and he "gets it".

As others have said, if you can't train Molly not to bark, then you'll likely have 2 barking dogs by adding a second to the pack. Oh and make sure she is getting plenty of exercise. "A good dog is a tired dog." She may be barking because of too much pent up energy.

[newhall9]

Thanks for the ideas and the help. I have posted a picture of her. To me she does not look any bigger than other Corgi's but we have switched her to a light food. She does chew on hooves, is this ok?
Awesome ideas for the calendar. I now wish I had been working on it all year so I could have her at the beach and stuff but now it is too cold (I'm from just north of Boston).
We were thinking of getting another dog anyway but now I don't know because I wonder if she would be one that would want to be the only one. When we are at the dog park she will play with other dogs one on one but if there are a lot of dogs she will stay by us (usually between my legs). When we visit with my brother's dogs (or when they come to us) she sometimes becomes jealous and aggressive. Is there something I can do for this? I think this might be the territory issue.
I like the way she plays and I feel bad not always being able to play with her. I know she does not like it when I am not there but sometimes I need to get work done.
We do walk her a lot. Usually 3-4 times day and in good whether we probably walk her 1-2 miles a day plus her normal daily play at the park. Unfortunately, with winter I will admit we do not go on as long of walks. Should I buy her a treadmill? Just kidding. What do you all recommend?
Once again thank you for the help.

Matt

[MyPemCharlie]

She's pretty...maybe a little heavy, but you know the camera always adds five pounds.

I've actually been looking on craigslist for a treadmill for Charlie. We have fabulous weather here except for maybe a total of 20-30 days between November and February. The last couple of days were rainy/spitty and chilly so Charlie and I did not go for our walks. That made me think that a treadmill is a great idea.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by newhall9

Thanks for the ideas and the help. I have posted a picture of her. To me she does not look any bigger than other Corgi's but we have switched her to a light food. She does chew on hooves, is this ok?

I looked at her pictures and yes, she does look overweight. Maybe the other corgis you're seeing need to loose weight too. It's become an all too common problem lately. All four foster dogs I've got right now came into rescue overweight.

I think hooves are ok, but some other things to chew might be good to occupy her time too.

We were thinking of getting another dog anyway but now I don't know because I wonder if she would be one that would want to be the only one. When we are at the dog park she will play with other dogs one on one but if there are a lot of dogs she will stay by us (usually between my legs). When we visit with my brother's dogs (or when they come to us) she sometimes becomes jealous and aggressive. Is there something I can do for this? I think this might be the territory issue.

Some corgis are posession posessive. Meaning they don't like other dogs in their territory. And the females can be worse. From what you've just described, I'd think that she's one of those that would be happier as an only dog. She's very happy with her humans as her pack. She doesn't miss other dogs.

I like the way she plays and I feel bad not always being able to play with her. I know she does not like it when I am not there but sometimes I need to get work done.

Well, that's life. Even another dog probably won't play every time she wants either. That's the way a pack works. And you as pack leader get to make the rules. She'll understand that, so don't feel bad about it. What confuses her is when you give in and aren't consistant.

We do walk her a lot. Usually 3-4 times day and in good whether we probably walk her 1-2 miles a day plus her normal daily play at the park. Unfortunately, with winter I will admit we do not go on as long of walks. Should I buy her a treadmill? Just kidding. What do you all recommend?

Try playing fetch in the hallway with her at least once a day.
Or in the back yard if not too cold, for you, she probably won't mind the cold.

Peggy

[Michael Romanos]

Walks are one thing but quality walking is another. Power walking is quality when based on the need to lose weight. If at least half the walk is a power-walk, then the 1-2 miles could become 3-4 miles. I like to think of exercising walks/romps on-leash, off-leash as being of 1 hour-1.5 hours daily for a normal adult Corgi.
Treadmills are far from any kind of ideal exercising for dogs who obviously love the feel and smells and interest in the passing parade of the outdoors and find treadmills as a complete turnoff - much like torture they would be silently forced to endure. But I might admit there is a place for treadmills in extreme situations.