Three tris and a red

[Michael Romanos]

The Santa Claus guy who is a member of the Wellington Welsh Corgi Walking Club has four two day old Pem pups. Went to see them earlier today and three are tris with precious little red or none at all at this stage whilst the fourth is going to be a very light red and white. Pre-birth, one was marked for export to Indonesia but it was for a male only. So next litter, huh. Anyway the breeder is thinking of keeping one of them and that will make three females and a male ( all for his breeding programme) he will have housed in a small section of his yard with no view or pleasent outlook, no socialising (apart from each other), no walks - apart from the monthly walks of the WWCWC when he might turn up. His management skills are terrible. He has no bond with his Corgis. Why he is a breeder of them, I don't know. He is rough and no Father Christmas to his Corgis who exciteability at seeing me and getting up close. he attempted to prevent.
Funny that, but there are two other men in the club who happend to be without a partner and have lousy Corgi mamagement skills and no bonding with their Corgi. Is this kind of situation mainly a man thing?

[colbycorgi]

I dont know if its a man thing or not but it sure is a sad thing...i cant just imagine those poor little corgi babies clambering for attention and not getting it and my heart is breaking...although its not the same thing, i sometimes wonder why some of the parents of my students have children as they also do not love and care for them appropriately at times, some of them....hope this situation is fixed someday....as if....

[glencorgi]

I'm a bit taken back by the somewhat "disapproving tone" Michael has taken in relation to this breeder. It is very unlike him not to be cheering more corgis and the promotion of them.

I don't believe it is a "man thing" in whatever skills might be lacking in the situation. I know far too many men, including Michael himself, who are examples of quite the opposite of what he's described. <IMHO> there are other factors to look at here.

Debbie

[MyPemCharlie]

I agree with others that it isn't a male/female issue. My observation is that most people treat their dogs the way they "learned" from other people, usually family, sometimes friends. Most of my family has a "no animals in the house" rule, though I saw my parents, grandparents, cousins etc. dogs well taken care of with good food, lots of human interaction, vet care and run of the entire backyard. I am one of the few in my family who wants my pets with me, indoors and outdoors. I suppose I "learned" more from friends than family.

I bet if you ask "Santa Claus" about the treatment of his dogs, he would say something about the way his parents, grandparents, or some other friends or breeders "have always done it".

Perhaps you can help "re-teach" him about better socialization, regular exercise, and general care through suggestions as well as by example. If he's just in it for the money he probably won't sway, but you could try.

[Corgis4me]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

Funny that, but there are two other men in the club who happend to be without a partner and have lousy Corgi mamagement skills and no bonding with their Corgi. Is this kind of situation mainly a man thing?

I don't think this is a man thing, but why would the two men mentioned above even take the time to be members of your walking club if they had no bond with their corgis.

[Michael Romanos]

Chris - Without being too direct, I have tried to teach this Santa but it goes in one ear and out the other. He is an ex farmer and an ex shop owner. His wife (who I have yet to meet) is not interested in dogs and one of his grown up children is partially mentally handicapped (that may have no relevance).
In a recent email newsletter I sent out I wrote a piece about property-bound Corgis and what they really want in life. The added tragedy of it all is that he does have quality stock. The very last thing I told him the other day was that some breeders do not let strangers get close and handle their pups until they are 5 weeks old for fear of them contracting an infection etc. He said that he was not going to follow that line. So he is not looking at quality management of his pups. His housing of them leaves a little to be desired. On it goes. It is great that there is a breeder of Corgis in our region with quality Pems - we need several more - but not this Santa who by the way, is pushing up the price of Corgi pups.
I have more faith in women as good dog breeders and excellent handlers of Corgis than I do of men.

[Peggy]

Sounds like this guy sees his dogs as livestock and not pets.

Peggy

[Michael Romanos]

Peggy - exactly along those lines.

[Michael Romanos]

I just remembered today that I did tell this Santa Claus directly how he should be handlng the pup he kept. About four months ago, he wanted me to show his pup on conformation and I told him by email he must first of all take his pup for walks and have her inside his house and form a bond with her and het her use to being handled by people. He obviously never did any of the above. I also told him he would have to change the food he gives her.

[MyPemCharlie]

Some people are beyond help and will never listen to good advice. However I never totally give up people, even those who probably won't change. All you can do sometimes is to try to chip away a little bit at a time with good information that is in the best interest of the dogs, and hope maybe someday at least little bits and pieces may soak in. Maybe not, but what else can you do?