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

[Clogs]

Debbie, this is a very helpful guide to the weight/height/shape discussion. Makes the best sense, over-all.

P.S. I see an egg! And a waist! And 2 slices of cheese!

[Jespah]

It makes total sense to me to take in the overall shape and build of the dog before applying weights that are not realistic. Rupert is a big guy and at 35.5 pounds a lot of people would think he is fat - but he's got a defined waist, well muscled legs - and a big broad chest. Just as in people, muscle has more density than fat so, both my dogs, who climb 15 flights of stairs a day and get two walks, plus play together, are quite muscular. You can see the muscles in their haunches as they walk or run. Jemma is at the one year old torpedo stage and weighs 23.5 pounds, but still has to fill out.

[Fluffypants]

Jackie weighs 29-30 pounds, so if I was going just by numbers I would be worried. But she has the cheese-ribs (yum) and egg shape . . . and those who have seen her in person recently will attest to her not being fat, and definitely having a waist!!!

[mtoy]

Our Millie is on the petite side - 23 lbs, passing all the tests above. We can tell if she gains weight, she has a hard time standing and using her hind legs. Poor girl has bad hips. Anything 25lbs and up will do it.

[tandemgal]

removed by T-Gal

[dcole]

Good, informative post, Deb. I have always thought that Trevor was well-proportioned (he is a slightly elongated egg with a defined waist) but I was never quite sure about the "slice of cheese" thing. The way I had always read into the explanation was that there was supposed to be a layer of flesh covering the ribs that was equal to ONE slice of cheese. Maybe he was a one-slice boy when we first got him, but that changed quickly. So even though I thought he was in good shape, I somehow worried that he had too much belly fat? Good to know that the normal flesh layer is supposed to be a COUPLE of slices in width. Right now I'd say we're at about 2-1/2 slices.

[Dillydoodle]

Poor Gus has no cheese...just skin...we are in the process of cheesing him up and he is eating quite a bit and getting lots of exercise to try and build up his muscles. He is an egg shape and has the defined waist but when you lay your hands on him you can clearly feel he is out of condition - he is better since we brought him home - it will be 3 weeks tomorrow- he is getting stronger each day. His current weight is 27 .7 lbs and we weigh him every three days to see what direction we are going...when he was being shown in top condition ( a year ago) he was 32 lbs and well muscled - we doubt he will be that much in weight but 30 lbs of good muscle should do him well.. We just feed, weigh, walk and play and try to build up his muslces and watch his progress...we will know when he "feels" right.. whatever that weight may be.

Dillon is a very healthy muscular and fit boy who is an elogated egg but has a defined waist and nice muscular "ham hocks!" he weighs in at 30.5 - 31 lbs... He is a big boy.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by dcole

Good, informative post, Deb. I have always thought that Trevor was well-proportioned (he is a slightly elongated egg with a defined waist) but I was never quite sure about the "slice of cheese" thing. The way I had always read into the explanation was that there was supposed to be a layer of flesh covering the ribs that was equal to ONE slice of cheese. Maybe he was a one-slice boy when we first got him, but that changed quickly. So even though I thought he was in good shape, I somehow worried that he had too much belly fat? Good to know that the normal flesh layer is supposed to be a COUPLE of slices in width. Right now I'd say we're at about 2-1/2 slices.

Well here lately it seems like the pre-sliced cheese singles are getting thinner, so I added a slice. But the general rule of thumb is a slice of cheese.

Debbie

[dcole]

Originally Posted by glencorgi

Well here lately it seems like the pre-sliced cheese singles are getting thinner, so I added a slice. But the general rule of thumb is a slice of cheese.

Debbie

Hehe, OK then maybe we'll work on losing that 1/2 slice...

[delerium]

Thanks Debbie for the information. It is very helpful.

We have a 12 week Pembroke named Max and as of today, he is 7.5 lbs. He was 6 lbs just a week ago. Previously we were unknowingly underfeeding him but within the last week, we have really bumped up his Science diet puppy food servings quite a bit to try to get him caught up to what he should be in weight. He's getting about 1.5+ cups plus assorted treats. Wish we knew about the "1 lb per week age" rule of thumb earlier. Our vet thinks underweight is much better and thinks Max's weight and size is fine and that he is healthy. He just thinks Max could just be a small corgi. I don't think he knows his Pembroke puppies too well. Max looks and acts healthy and both his ears just stood up today so we are sure he is pretty healthy, albeit very small and underweight.