Weight, Height & Numbers

[glencorgi]

While it is kinda fun to figure out how tall and how long one's corgi is, those aren't really the best ciphers to figure out how much one's corgi should weigh. For example, a Pembroke that stands 13 inches at the withers does not sound "petite" to me. It is either very leggy, or a pretty big overall corgi. Even one of my biggest bruisers of a boy, is not 13 inches and he's a big boy.

Your ballpark numbers for weight are:
Cardigan females: 25 to 34 pounds
Cardigan males: 30 to 38 pounds

For Pembrokes; weight is in proportion to size.

Pembroke females: not to exceed 28 pounds
Pembroke males: not to exceed 30 pounds

In both breeds overall size, balance and proportion are the most important criteria. So if one is leaving out the overall balance and proportion and just going on numbers; a big portion of the equation is being missed.

We have a girl recently come in under our rescue umbrella that weighed 31 pounds or so. IF we go strictly by numbers, then dropping her to 28 pounds doesn't sound that bad. HOWEVER, for her overall size and balance she should be about 20 pounds maybe. That makes 10 pounds at least she needs to drop. And before the 3 hour power walk lecture starts, she only has 3 1/2 footsies, one of her back feet has been partially amputated. Within her is an active little soul, but she can't maneuver as well with the physical handicap. She can do short walks in leaves and grass, but not on sidewalks and sits down often huffing and puffing. Due to her weight, there is a lot of stress and strain on her joints and heart and anything but limited exercise could cause more damage than it would good; a factor which impacts obese corgis with four good feet as well. (As an aside - her thyroid has been checked and returned normal and she's not particularly interested in food as one would think considering her weight. It is just going to take time and patience, lots of dieting and exercise as appropriate.)

There are a lot of optical illusions that corgis create regarding size and weight. So for now, throw out the numbers. When standing over your corgi and looking down you should should see an egg shape, broader at the head and narrower at the rear. You want to see a defined waist. The best place to gauge weight is feeling the ribs. You want to be able to feel them, NOT count them. There should be a layer of flesh covering them approximately the thickness of a couple of Kraft single slices. (That's the pre-sliced sandwich cheese in the grocery stores for our non US members.) IF you have that and good muscle tone, then that is the weight for your corgi. Weigh them then and keep that as your base weight.

Puppies, the rule of thumb with them is a pound for ever week they are old. So a 12 week old puppy should weigh around 12 pounds. Again, they can weigh a little more or less depending on the build of the puppy. Around six months things begin slowing down and leveling out as they are reaching adult size in height.

Structural things such amount of substance, bone, length of rib cage, length of loin, shoulder and rear angles come into play in regards to overall balance and structure. These also impact weight and how much is healthy for a corgi to carry. So don't focus so much on the specific numbers of how tall or how long your corgi is and try to figure out what they should weigh based on those. Pay more attention to the overall proportions and how the "meat" over the ribs feels and you'll be doing much better.

Debbie

[Jane Austen]

Not everyone has a swimming pool at their disposal but that would seem to be a good exercise for this hanicapped overweight corgi. Just a thought.
I would like to hear more about her history, name, is she with you?

[glencorgi]

Okay, I'm not sure how this thread ended up in duplicate, I tried to edit and delete one of them, but it was a no go???

Anyway, this little girl has been christened Twinkie. I'm not fostering her, but Bonnie, Deb and Cindy will likely get to meet her at the TN picnic. Susie does have some options for doing water therapy and she mentioned she was planning on trying some with her.

History is kind of blank before arriving at the Knoxville, TN shelter. This is a great shelter and works well with rescues. Realistically, Twinkie's chances of adoption directly from the shelter were pretty slim. The weight and her handicap would put a lot of adopters off. She totally charmed the shelter staff with her personality and arrangements were made to get her sprung.

She's already lost a few pounds and her food portions are being scaled back gradually. Gradual is best in cases like these as cutting back too quickly can crash them.

Twinkie has quite the big personality and willingly shares her thoughts, voices opinions and breaks into song.

Debbie

[Jane Austen]

Twinkie sound like a lovable creature. How old do you think she is?
I would like to take her in myself but I know it would not be the best home for her. I have stairs and don't have a pool. I think Duchess might come around to accepting another dog but it would take time. So for now we will be a one dog household.