Chitchat Fluffy loafs of bread

[sorrow made you]

So gaiz.


Come this December, Crit and the bf might get a corgi puppy! We're super excited!! ;;A;;


We're getting it from an AKC registered dog breeder, and we're hoping that there will be a blonde one so that we could name it Ein.


If you understand this reference and agree with our decisions, I will adore you forever.


This is my first dog in years, let alone a puppy (the last couple times my family ever got a dog, we got an adult dog from the shelter, and that was probably over 10 years ago now). So I've got a few questions that I'm hoping some of you dog owners out there would be able to help me with...


1. I live in a downstairs apartment. How do you think I should puppy-proof the place?


2. I also have a 7 year old cat. She's a bit grumpy, but she tolerates quite a bit. We've introduced her to other cats before (she had been around a dog before she came to live with me), but how do you think I should introduce her to a dog?


3. We're going to be training the puppy ourselves. What kind of training techniques do you think would work best?


4. Any recommendations on dog toys/treats?


5. What do you think I should be preparing myself for? (Gimme the good, the bad, and the ugly of dog owning!)

 

[sorrow made you]

boop

 

[Mordecai]

I love the Cowboy Bebop reference. Anyways, I had a Pembroke Welsh Corgi growing up named Mr. Mojo Risen (or Mojo for short) and we just put him down this last month. That said, I know a thing or two about corgis!


1. I live in a downstairs apartment. How do you think I should puppy-proof the place?:


Corgis were bred to be sheep-herders and are thus very energetic and need regular exercise. When Mojo was a puppy/young dog, we went on three walks a day and we threw his Frisbee for him to catch all throughout the day. With enough exercise, we never had any issues with him trying to bite or destroy things. Corgis tend to be very playful and do well with having chewies or toys around to keep their attention. They will get frustrated if they're not getting enough exercise and will grow destructive if not run enough every day. Aside from the obvious though (like removing small garbage cans, like bathroom garbage), they tend to be great dogs when it comes to destruction training. From my experience, corgis can be pretty vocal, so you might want to prepare your neighbors for barking.


2. I also have a 7 year old cat. She's a bit grumpy, but she tolerates quite a bit. We've introduced her to other cats before (she had been around a dog before she came to live with me), but how do you think I should introduce her to a dog?


We also had a cat, funny enough, who was 9 when we got Mojo. They were fine and we just threw them in together, but I'd suggest giving the cat a place to go where only the cat is allowed, so they can have their own space, even if it's just a single room. If you can't do that, I'd suggest getting a cat tree or somewhere high up where the cat can hang without being bothered by said dog. As for slowly introducing them, I've never done that before, so I have no idea.


3. We're going to be training the puppy ourselves. What kind of training techniques do you think would work best?


Man, training was so long ago I don't remember. I'm useless here.


4. Any recommendations on dog toys/treats?


This is kind of gross, but Mojo loved when we'd got to the butchers and just get the hunks of bone with marrow. We'd freeze them and then give them to him periodically and he'd love it. The firsbee was the best thing ever to Mojo. It was his best friend. We'd throw it so it'd roll across the ground and he'd chase it all day, every day if we let him.


5. What do you think I should be preparing myself for? (Gimme the good, the bad, and the ugly of dog owning!)


Honestly? If you're going to be getting a corgi, prepare for lots of exercising. Corgis do not do well being left alone for a long time, so if you work any longer or are out of the house any more than 8 hours at any given time, I'd highly suggest you pick another breed. As I mentioned above, Corgis were bred to be farm work dogs, so think the energy level of a Border Collie. They are not slow, lazy dogs like so many people think. I'm a horse person and corgis are very popular in the horse world, so I know a lot of people who've had/have corgis and all have said that Corgis will get aggressive, destructive, and unmanageable if not given an hour or two (minimum) of hard exercise a day. Corgis are also slightly more aggressive by nature than most other dog breeds, like collies and labs. They are much more likely to bite or growl overall, just so you're aware. That said, if you're an active person who enjoys being outside, going for long (looooong) walks, and don't mind forging all types of weather (snow/wind/rain) when they need to go out and play, then they're awesome dogs.


Just to give you a reference, I used to take Mojo on five mile runs every morning when I was in high school (except Sundays) and ~twoish mile walks at night and he'd still be barking to go outside and play and running around the house until he went outside during the day. We were lucky enough to have a huge fenced-in backyard so he could sate himself by being outside for all day, everyday if he wanted.


Without further ado, here was my man with his best friend in the world:

 

[sorrow made you]

That's actually incredibly helpful, and I'll take all of it into consideration. It's definitely a bit of a lifestyle change, but I feel with any dog it would be. I'm definitely going to have to figure something out when I'm in school or at work, but fortunately my time will free up when I'm ready to get one. I'll definitely be making preparations to have a more active routine to keep up with the dog.


Thanks Morde. This helps a lot.

 

[fluticasone]

hiii there! I don't own a corgi but an energetic pom who's too smart for his own good. :u he basically housetrained himself, but also learnt how to unlock his fence. It's both a blessing and a curse as a dog owner.


Since I recently got my puppy (around May!) I may be able to fill some holes Mordecai left.


3. We're going to be training the puppy ourselves. What kind of training techniques do you think would work best?


Repetition and positive reinforcement. You also need to understand your own puppy's cues and signals, as this is a two way street. Trained my puppy myself and we've lowered his incidents inside the house to quite a bit.


Set specific times for his "outside". Keeping a strict schedule (which you should adhere yourself) helps a pup's body regulate itself, making it easier to predict when he goes outside. A pup can hold their pee roughly one hour for every month they've been alive (so a 4 month old puppy has about 4 hours). Try to coincide his outside times with this, slowly increasing the length to train him. Make sure to take him outside after every meal time, maybe 20-30 minutes after he's finished his bowl. After a while, they'll be the ones to tell you when they need to go out.


Dogs generally don't poop/pee in areas where they play/eat/sleep, so if you notice they repeatedly do it in that area, try temporarily moving their food bowl or giving their treats there.


Get him used to the sounds of the house, such as the hum of a washing machine, your dishwasher, whatever else. It helps a lot in the long run.


4. Any recommendations on dog toys/treats?


Socks loves his ball, since the one I bought has several indentations and different textures, and it moves. However, it'll only keep him amused for a couple of hours before he's hankering for attention. He's pretty smart, so he gets bored of his toys quickly. I've recently decided to invest my time in teaching him commands and tricks instead. c:


If your pup has a tendency to get bored of toys (like Socks does), try rotating his toys on a two week basis.


5. What do you think I should be preparing myself for? (Gimme the good, the bad, and the ugly of dog owning!)


Ahaha, so Socks is my first puppy I'm fully raising myself, and he wound up getting sick from his deworming. A week after that, he somehow managed to eat a staple wire even though our family doesn't even own a stapler :x Be prepared for such complications, and always have some money set aside for him during his early months, especially if he still doesn't have his vaccinations completed.


During the start of training, expect him to pee or poop everywhere and keep newspapers around for cleaning. If you ever invite him to your bed, don't be surprised if he decides to pee there. (90% sure Socks has peed on every single one of our beds... and in mine he's even puked @__@;


I don't know if corgis require regular maintenance/shed regularly but poms sure do. I also own a japanese spitz/dalmatian mix and german shepherd/american akita mix. When it's shedding season I'm pretty sure we can stuff a pillow with the amount of fur that goes around. :'D In any case, it's still good to buy a brush to regularly remove any dead hairs yourself and keeping their fur all nice and shiny.

 

[Wishfully]

Omg Corgis are so cute, I'm totally jealous!


All these tips from everyone else have been so good; I don't think I have all that much to add. My family currently has 5 dogs and we've raised 2 puppies so hopefully I can remember some useful stuff, but Mordey's Corgi-specific tips are probably on point


3. Training


- I definitely agree with monopoisoner's statement about positive reinforcement. And yep, potty training will be a pain. We used to give happy-voice praise and treats after they did their business outside, just to get the positive reinforcement started, but then made the treats less frequent so that the pup wasn't expecting it every time we took him out.


- I'm not sure what kind of floor you have in your apartment, but we bought baby gates to confine our pup to the hard floor when we couldn't watch him.


- Also, I'd recommend crate training early! Even if you end up letting your dog sleep with you, it's really helpful if your puppy is able to easily go in a crate if necessary. Trips to the vet, transportation in general—it's all much easier! We used to leave the crate open in the puppy's area so he was used to it, and it really helped when we had to put him somewhere if kids afraid of dogs were coming over, etc. All of our dogs still sleep in their crates overnight and see them as places to be calm and quiet.


-Socialize! Most puppies I've met/had are naturally social, but it's still a good thing to get dogs used to people while they're fairly young. We didn't take ours to the store or anything for awhile, not until they were mostly well potty trained, but we had friends with dogs come over so ours could get used to other dogs and learn manners. Also, you may be able to find a puppy class that can help teach some basic obedience while bringing in that social aspect. Early obedience training once you and your puppy feel comfortable with each other isn't a bad idea, since a lot of habits from youth stay with them growing up.


4. Toys/treats


There are these little treats called Charlie Bear that we used a lot for training. They're small, crunchy, not messy. I kinda think of them like Cheerios (and honestly I think we did use Cheerios as well at some point). Yeah, we definitely used plain Cheerios too. You can put Cheerios and peanut butter inside one of those Kong ball things, and it'll entertain them for hours!


5. Good/bad/ugly


Prepare yourself for an adventure! Puppies are adorable, fun, and entertaining...but it's also like raising a kid. Be prepared to clean up a lot of pee and poo, be prepared for bite marks on all your furniture, and be prepared for long noisy nights if you don't let them sleep with you or leave them alone for awhile. But also be prepared for popularity because all your friends will want to come over all the time and strangers will want to play with your adorable dog Overall it's hard work, but as time goes on it'll be less work and you'll make a friend for life