First Corgi

[Susan]

I added a pic to my profile, so will post this and see if it shows up (like all yours do)

[Susan]

Well, that didn't work, so I posted one to the gallery thing. You'll notice our little guy's ears are down rather than up. Since he's a pet, that's not a really big deal, and I see some others the same way, but when do they normally become erect?

[Michael Romanos]

You will almost certainly be disappointed if your Corgi doesn't have erect ears - because that is a big part of a Corgi being a Corgi - the movement of the ears and being erect when excited, interested or alert to something.
At eight weeks, ears down. Ok. At 12 weeks, should be about up by now. At 16 weeks, oops, it must be time to tape. I often put soft or undeveloped ear controlling muscles down to a lack of sufficient calcuim. So that aspect needs to be explored. There is a min requirement for dogs of calcuim right from birth - and there is a max as well.

[glencorgi]

Ears have cartiledge not bone, so calcium is not a factor with them. I know there have been some ear threads on the forum, so you might want to check back in the archives for some of those. Vitamin C is recommended my many Breeders, anywhere from 500 to 1,000 mg a day, especially during teething. (Vitamin C helps the body deal with stress and at that age there is a lot of stress going on with a growing puppy - teething, growth spurts, etc.) A good multi-vitamin from the pet supply place doesn't hurt either. Also be sure puppy is parasite free and de-wormed; worms can weaken a puppy's overall health and impact the ears being able to come up.

Here's some advice a respected and good friend of mine (Checker's mom met her at the recent UT Corgi Christmas gathering ) gave recently on the subject of ears. Peggy writes:

"It's not his personality. It's a physical problem. His ears need help
standing. Either the ear
leather (that's what you call the ear itself) is thick and heavy or it's because
he's teething.

A corgi is susposed to have erect ears. And sometimes to get that they need
help. We provide
that by taping.

Erect ears have fewer problems as they have better ear circulation. Helping
him now will be
better for him in the long run."

More from Peggy:

"Giving extra calcium can cause problems with his bone growth. I do not
recommend extra calcium.
Better to add some vitamin c so he can use the calcium better.

Also, ears are made of cartledge not calcium. It is common for ears to be up
one day and down
the next while teething.

However, for a puppy of mine, if the ears aren't up by 10 weeks I tape them. If
they've both been
up and flop, I'll give that ear 24 hours to come back up. If it doesn't I tape
it. My advice is
to tape them. The longer you wait the more chance there is of not having any
success with
keeping the ears up.

I wrap tape around the base of the ear. I do not put anything in the ear.
It'll just come out
anyway, just roll the ear and put tape around the base. (I use the white
adhesive tape. I think
it stays on longer.) Leave it on till it comes off on it's own.

Here's the site on ear taping. It's not the method I use but I understand it
works.
http://www.phi-vestavia.com/EARTAPING.htm "

The Phi-Vestavia site is a method we commonly use with Cardigans, but have also used on Pembrokes.

Debbie

[Susan]

We have a name!

Our little guy's call name is Higgins! We went through a bunch of names, but this one fits. We're all settling in now. Yesterday Higgins got new toys and we fixed a play pen for him. Since we both work, he needed a crate for a home, but some space so he wasn't soiling it. A wall and the fireplace fence/gate from when the grandkids were babies worked perfectly. I put newspapers down everywhere inside the fence. He went to bed there last night and when my husband was up during the night, Higgins was sleeping in the crate. He had used the newspapers to potty, so his crate was still clean.

I can't begin to say how delighted I am with my first Corgi!!

[Jeni D]

What a great name!

[ChloeLouise]

I love the name! (...I think of Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady!) Precious pup!

[darci]

I like the name...

Have you taped the ears yet ?

[Susan]

Originally Posted by darci

I like the name...

Have you taped the ears yet ?

We haven't taped yet. I looked at the site with instructions and I'm REALLY hoping they just go up on their own. haha I asked the vet and he said to wait until about 12 weeks or so - and not to pet his ears as it breaks down the cartilage!!

[ChloeLouise]

Oh! That would be soooo difficult - not to pet the soft little Corgi ears!! Good Luck with that ear-perking project!! Perhaps you will get up tomorrow morning and they will have perked up on their own!

[Louwants]

I knew when I got my corgi, if it was a male, I was going to call him Duncan. The Donut part comes from my husband. He wasn't even sure he wanted a dog, but gave in to me cause I've been wanting one for so, so long. When we finally got a house, I save my pennies (literally!!) to get my corgi. Anyway, everytime I would call Duncan to get him use to his name, my husband would say Donut right after it. Corny, I know, but I wanted my husband to be part of the naming. If I left it up to him, his name would have been "Pooping" (but with the cuss words instead) Sherman. The first part is self explanatory, the second because he would just bulldoze through everything like a little tank; and still does. Now, for someone who was't sure if he wanted a dog, they are the best buddies.

[tandemgal]

It is fun how we come up with our corgis names. Emma was already named by her breeder and it fit her so well we kept it. Chloe because I too am a big 24 fan and her name seems to go well with Emma's. Both are soft feminine and somewhat English sounding to me...