Looking for Advice

[goliath696]

Hello everyone, I am new to this board but I love reading it daily. But I have a question I hope I can get some help with. At the moment I am trying to make my final decision on which path to take. The choice being a Pembroke Corgi, or a small jack Russell not a parson, which are the big ones but the smaller ones.

Previously I had a German Shepard for 12 years before it finally came time to let him go do to health related reasons. I have gone about 2 years now without getting a new pet mainly because after having one so long it really hurts when you have to let go. But the Holidays are coming back around and being 33 and single I like having company with me throughout the year.

I also have two cats but those don’t count because they are so lazy and just like to sleep and watch TV! I have been in contact with a person over at Lake Corgis and she has some pup’s well 4-month-old corgi pups they were born on 5/27/06. My question is this being four months old already, is that to late for them to try to get along with my cats? I would assume the younger they are when they meet the other pets is better? But honesty I do not know. While on the other hand the Jack Russell was born in August and would be about 10 weeks old if I decide to go that route.

I just wanted to see if anyone can give me some pros and cons vs. the two or just give me some direction if getting a new pup at 4months old is asking for trouble.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Checkers]

I think 4 months is still a perfectly good time to get a pup. It may take a little bit more effort to make sure the pup adjusts to the cats and vica versa, but I see no reason why it couldn't happen that way. Slow, gradual introductions.. and at first I would keep the pup on leash so you could better control her actions and reactions around the cats. Once you establish what is and is not okay then I think it would be fine.

As for breed comparison, of course, we are all slanted towards corgis... but that doesn't mean they are the right dog for everyone. The only possibly negative trait a corgi would demonstrate that a JR wouldn't is excesive shedding. JR's shed year round as well but I find because their hair is so short and course it is not as difficult to clean. Otherwise I think you are looking at a similar energy level (both will need approximately the same amount of exercise). The main reason I would prefer a corgi over a JR is because to me the JR's has a lot of "nervous" energy that would make me more keyed up... but the corgi (while it has a lot of energy) it is more of a playful energy. I also love that corgi's really are like big dogs... being that you had a german shepard before, the corgi personality will be much more like that shepard, as opposed to the "small dog" yippy type personality you're likely to get with a JR. These are very broad statements though and based almost entirely on my own personal preferences. Best of luck on your choice and congratulations either way! Hope you choose the corgi and we get to see pictures though!

-Cheryl

[corgimom]

My Pem boy, Cody was just about 3 months old when I got him from the breeder and he had not been exposed to cats at her home. I have three cats, ages 12, 2 and 1. All three of my cats had lived with my previous Corgi who passed away in December at the age of 13 1/2.

You didn't mention how old your cats are...did they live with your previous dog? I am assuming they are older since you say they like to lounge around alot??

I think whichever dog you decide to get, the pup is going to find your cats fascinating.(However, that will also depend if the dogs have been exposed to cats at the breeders). And remember, just because your cats had lived with your German Shepherd, does not mean, they are going to enjoy the new puppy - believe me, I experienced this. Your cats may like to lay around and watch TV, but when the new pup arrives, they might find that they aren't able to do that so easily anymore.

I had honestly thought that my cats would just settle in from the start with the new pup , the only thing was my previous dog never chased the cats and when Cody came home, well, he found their tails to be quite inviting

For about a month after I brought Cody home, the cats decided to reside on the second floor of our home - I had to put a litter box up there and actually fed them upstairs at times...They would peer through the railings of the stairs and when they could see that he was in his crate, they would venture down It seemed like at first, no matter what Cody would be doing, as soon as he saw the cats come down, well, that was a signal for him to "chase them" which was not appreciated in the least bit by the cats. My one youngest cat was most tolerant of him, while the other two were not.

We worked with Cody on the "no chase" command along with "Shaking a soda can filled with pennies" any time he started to chase them - this helped a lot and within a week of doing that, the chasing practically came to a halt

He is 10 months old now and all of them reside just fine together; this has been going on for many months now - ever since the chasing stopped. They come nose to nose and often now, the cats taunt him and want him to chase them - which sometimes he will, but it is at their "invitation" - he is no longer interested in "chasing" them only to bug them and his curiosity of them has pretty much faded.

So it can all work out, with patience and time and also whether either of the pups you are considering have been around cats early on. Of course, I would suggest the Corgi for the same reason Checkers said.

And watch out for small cat toys laying around, like little mice and similar things; if you have any of that stuff; some pups seem to love them and they can be a choking hazard.

Good luck in your decision. I think a 4 month old pup would be fine; and maybe it will work out with the cats right from the beginning.

In fact, Jespah on this forum just adopted her new Pem, Jemma, a female at 6 months old and she has cats, and it sounds like all is working out well; maybe she will also add to this thread.

[dcole]

We got our Pem Trevor when he was 5 months old. As far as I know, he was not exposed to cats prior to coming home with us, but he and our two Siamese cats get along OK. He does tend to chase them, but they also instigate it! In no way is he aggressive towards them.

As far as choosing between the two breeds, well, as stated before we ARE partial to corgis here! Good luck with your decision.

-Debi

[goliath696]

Thanks so much for the advice so far, you feel some welcome in this Corgi Forum board here. Any chance any of you could recommend a well known trusted breeder after several questions I asked with the current one I have to say I feel really unconfident with her so far. To much stuttering and long delayed answers started to make my warning tingle sensation go off.

[corgimom]

http://www.pembrokecorgi.org/memberlist.cfm

Click on the above link - and put in your state. It should give you some breeders in your area.

[Chip's Mom]

If I was to buy another corgi pup (which I would love but don't have room for) I would go back to the breeder where I got Chip. He has an overbite but his disposition is great and for a companion, Chip is the best. There are alot of corgis on petfinder.com that need good homes and some of them are quite young and been around cats. You may want to consider rescue. Just some thoughts.

[corgimom]

http://search.petfinder.com/search/s...ct=1&preview=1

You are right Bonnie, Petfinder has quite a few. Here is the link above.

[tandemgal]

deleted by T-Gal

[Housefullofdogs]

When my Female Pem was small she would chase our Siamese cat into the bedroom and then the cat would chase her back. It cracked us up. We have since added a male Corgi to the mix and the Siamese is not really excited about him. He would really like to play with her, but no deal. Corgi's like cats. I believe that your dog and cats will establish their own boundaries and rules and will be able to co-exist under the same roof.

[Michael Romanos]

Apart from Taylor, all my Corgis were cat chasers. But none were vicious towards cats or mean them any harm - and it was cats who were the danger with their claws a threat to a Corgi's eyesight. I once found a young pure cream cat and took it home and my two Corgi cat chasers mothered the cat and licked her from cream to white in unionism. Taylor likes cats but is wary of them and most are unfriendly towards him because they know he is not a threat. So I would say that all my Corgis could have co-existed with cats in my house. Taylor does not like any neighbouring cat in his property and will yell at them while they stare back and treat him with disdain. We had a pet rabbit and Taylor would chase the rabbit and get chased by the rabbit. He just loved that period of time. Often they would stop their play and both go down to our stream for a drink.

[corgimom]

Michael,

I guess I know what you are saying but it doesn't make sense with your saying that most cats are unfriendly to Taylor because they know he is not a threat. It would be the other way around where a cat would be friendly to the dog; if the cat knew that the dog is basically harmless and would not hurt them Most often if a dog is ignoring the cat, the cat will leave the dog alone, unless they may want to engage in some play and teasing. - Taylor is obviously giving off some signal and that is why the cat is treating him with disdain.

Of course, some cats do not like any sort of dog no matter what, and if they have not lived with one, they probably don't appreciate Taylor "yelling" at them across the yard and probably do not look to fondly upon him.

You must have some very moody cats in your neighborhood if they are sending out bad vibes to Taylor and not approving of him, but I think he is sending out the same to them.

[Cardiguy]

When I got my Corgi, we already had a big parrot. So when I brought her to the house for the 1st time we made a point of making sure the bird was out of the cage on his T stand so our corgi could see that the bird was part of the family she was just entering. Worked out great as there are no problems between bird and dog. Might be an approach already having a cat(s). Give it a try.

[corgimom]

The good thing with having Birds and cats with Corgis is that the birds and cats can easily get to higher places to escape our wonderful dogs.

When I brought Cody home, the cats were lounging by the fireplace(it was winter time). I had him on a leash and as soon as I made way into the family room, and they saw him, their faces looked like and their tails became fluffed. There was some awful noises coming out of two of them and then all 3 cats ran upstairs. They basically did not come down for the next month unless he was in his crate, but it all worked out, as I had posted earlier on this thread.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by goliath696

Hello everyone, I am new to this board but I love reading it daily. But I have a question I hope I can get some help with. At the moment I am trying to make my final decision on which path to take. The choice being a Pembroke Corgi, or a small jack Russell not a parson, which are the big ones but the smaller ones.

A Puddin' perhaps? I think they are so cute.

I just wanted to see if anyone can give me some pros and cons vs. the two or just give me some direction if getting a new pup at 4months old is asking for trouble.

Okay, 4 months - 16 week old puppies, there are some Breeders who hold on to their puppies that long before they are ready to let them go to their new homes. So no, nothing about the age indicates to me you might be asking for trouble. I've placed many an adult corgi rescue (ages 3 and upwards to seniors) with no known background of how they might get along with cats, in homes with cats and things have worked out fine. There is the usual adjustment to a new animal being in the home and it helps to have dog savvy cats, but definitely no problem about the age.

Debbie