Doing research

[cbwgators]

Hi my name is Camille. I don't own a Corgi, but I am doing some research for a future dog. I currently own an 11 year old Lab/Boxer mix named Buckwheat. He does not like other dogs, so I will have to wait for awhile.... I have always liked Corgis and would like to have a smaller next dog. Do they shed much? How do they get along with cats? I have 3.

Thanks,
Camille

[Michael Romanos]

Hi Camille
Your questions are interesting and you could receive a lot of differing responses.
Firstly: Corgi shedding - Corgis do shed but the shedding varies considerably with the following examples. Coat density: Corgis living in year round warm to hot climates tend to shed more often . Corgis with parents/grand parents background re warm to hot climates, tend to be less heavily coated and therefore not as much coat to shed.

Some Corgis shed all the year round but the shedding quantities vary. Some Corgis have a couple of heavy shedding per year - and can occcur at any time including in the middle of winter but they generally stick to a pattern.

There are at least three ways of dampening down unwanted coat shedding.
DAILY GROOMING: My Taylor gets a five minute grooming basically every day This gets rid of a lot of loose hair and besides Taylor loves being groomed because it stimulates his skin- especially around his neck, chest, tummy and tailbone - and feels a little like a massage. BATHS: once every three week or monthly. Your Corgi should be bathed, dried and combed/brushed within a hour (especially if using a hair dryer). Baths are hugely beneficial in other aspects aside from getting riid of loose hair.
HYDRO BATHS: I believe that this is an excellent method of getting rid of any coat shedding excesses. But it costs money if using commercial groomers or buying your own equipment.

I vaccuum my house twice weekly rather than once weekly due to Taylor's presence. In summary, Corgi shedding need not be a big problem that some people make it out to be.

CATS: Corgis vary hugely. All my previous Corgis loved to chase cats but not harm them in any way. But we are not into cats. Taylor was raised with cats by his breeder and he leaves every cat alone and in fact is shy of cats attentions and don't a lot of cats know it. Once they realise that Taylor is the opposite of a pussy hater/ chaser, some of them go for Taylor quite viciously or ignore his barks when they are in his territory. But Corgis are versatile. They can easily adapt to cats if they are part of the family they inherit. Corgis can als be easily trained or engineered to sucessfully co-exist with cats. I have yet to hear of a pure bred Corgi who has killed a cat. Cats can be very dangerous to Corgis. One of mine had a eye poked by the claw of a cat and he very nealy lost the sight of his eye. At one time I found a lovely young cat and took him/her home and my cat chasing Corgis mothered this cat and licked her from cream to the pure-white she/he was. We eventullay discovered the owner of the cat.

In summary, Corgis and cats can be friends or at least tolerate each other. But cats can be the bigger problem.