Hello Everyone!

[kimt175]

Hi! I was so happy to find this forum on the web. My husband and I are getting a corgi pup in May and we are very excited. I am sure we will be needing lots of advice regarding our new member of the family.

[corgimom]

KimT175,

Are you getting a male or female and how old will your new baby be when you
get it? Are you getting a Pembroke or Cardigan? Anyway, exciting for you!

Linda

[kimt175]

We are getting a Pembroke corgi. He is tri-colored and will be 6 weeks when we get him. The breeder sent us a picture yesterday and he is so cute! He was born April 1st and we will be picking him up May 20th.

[corgimom]

Kim,

I must tell you that 6 weeks is very young for a breeder to let a Corgi go - I could not get a Corgi here in Wisconsin from a reputable breeder until they were at least 11 to 12 weeks of age. They learn so much from their mother and littermates between the weeks of 6 to 12 weeks. Do you know why she is letting them go so early? 8 weeks should really
be the earliest and preferably 10 weeks.

Linda

[kimt175]

I'm not sure why she allows them to leave so early. I am a litte hesitant about getting him that early. I am taking a week off of work to be with him and hopefully start training him, but a week doesn't seem long enough for such a young pup. Luckily, I work close to home and can come home at lunch to check on him. Everything I've read says that he is too young to stay in a crate for more than 30 minutes, so I don't know what to do with him while I am at work. I will be putting his crate in the breakfast room, but I can't section off this room because it adjoins the den. Any suggestions?

[corgimom]

Kim, this one is a bit tough for me because I got my Corgi at about 3 months
old and he was already crate trained by the breeder(stayed in all night) for
7 or 8 hours without an accident and I am home full time - so potty training
was so much easier. Make sure the crate is not too large or your puppy will
make it . It should be large enough for him to stand up in, turn around in and
stretch out in when he is full gown. I will have to leave the potty training
advice for a 6 or 7 week old to someone else who may have experienced that
themselves and was working full time - good luck. I am sure you are excited.

I guess one option that I have read about when working full time, is to
put the puppy in a room, such as a bathroom with a baby gate in front
of it and put newspaper down to cover the entire floor. After a couple
of weeks, remove 1/2 of the newspaper - therefore the puppy will seek
out the other 1/2 of the newspaper to go on - after another 2 weeks,
remove some more newspaper until you only have to leave a small amout
out for pottying on. I have read about that method, but I have never
tried it - but it makes sense though. I am sure others will have ideas for
you.

Linda

[kimt175]

Thanks for the advice. Our crate is medium size but it has a removeable partition in the middle so that you can remove it once the dog is full grown. I think I will try the bathroom idea, sounds like it might be the easiest method. Look forward to talking to you more. Oh, I posted a picture of our pup; he is a fat little guy!

[corgimom]

Kim,

I would think the paper method would work and eventually as you move to a
smaller size of paper,and he gets more roam of the house as he grows, you can move the paper (in small steps) to the patio door, if you have one. I am assuming that you want him to train to go outdoors also? I will have to check his picture out. Mine weighed 11 pounds when we got him at 11 weeks and now at 5 months, is just about 20 pounds. They grow so fast!

I don't know anything about those puppy training pads.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

Ho Kim
I'm sure you can talk the breeder into keeping your pup with his mother and in his birth home until he is at least eight weeks old. Eight weeks is fine - and most commonly considered as adequate but in your case, he's on his own for many hours each day, so the older he is at the onset the better.
People who get a young pup have to make special provisions for care and attention of the pup during the day even if it means getting home at lunch break from work, getting friends/family/neighbours/professional dog sitters-feeders in to assist. A pup up til six months should be on four feeds daily- and after each there is toileting and a bit of play. There might be room for some kind of small concession to that programme but ... the balls in your court.

[Chip's Mom]

I used puppy training pads with Chip. As I said before, we made him a 4' by 4' playpen out of closet shelving that you buy at Lowe's so he could see through it. We placed his crate in there with potty pads, water, food and toys and left it set up in the kitchen. Chip always used his potty pad, had room for exercise but still was in a controlled environment. I think the potty pads work great. They are plastic lined so it doesn't soak through especially when they are little.