We think Corgis are a good first dog because our first dog is a Corgi and we love having her in our family. The experience of raising her from a tiny little corgi puppy all the way up to her current 2 1/2 year old self has been one of the most rewarding experiences in our lives.
In this article we want to share our experience bringing up our puppy Teeny as first time Corgi owners so we can help you decide whether a Corgi is the right first dog for you.
As beginner dog owners we had to learn a lot along the way. We want to share these experiences with you and tell you what you need to know before you make the decision to adopt or buy a Corgi.
Are Corgis good for first time owners
Yes, Corgis are good for first time owners because they are loving, clever and independent. This is based on our experience owning a Corgi as first time dog owners. Lots of people say certain dogs are the best dogs for first time owners but we think any breed of dog can be good for a first time owner.
What is most important is being able to learn, love, pay attention to your dogs needs and train them carefully, learning from your mistakes. Corgis do have a strong personality and they like to be the boss and do what they want, but with some careful training they will listen and learn very fast to behave well.
What you might find more difficult is trying to break any bad habit they start. Once a Corgi is behaving badly and has learned to do something a certain way it can take a lot of time to undo or change this behaviour.
One example of this we experienced is that we didn’t train our Corgi Teeny quickly enough to not eat anything she finds on the floor outside. We still struggle to stop this happening and are finding the best approach to solving this problem at the moment.
What to know about corgis before getting one?
Here are a few things we think you should know about Corgis before you buy or adopt your new family member. Remember, even though there are lots of behaviours that are common in most dogs of the same breed, each dog is still an individual and has their own personality.
How your dog behaves is also affected by how much time you spend meeting their exercise, health, nutrition and training needs.
Corgi Health
While looking for information about Corgis before we brought Teeny home, we read some articles about Corgis being prone to a few health problems. Because Corgis are actually partly dwarfs and have something known as Achondroplasia, their legs don’t grow so long, which is why they have long bodies and small legs.
These cute and lovable characteristics are one of the reasons Corgi’s have been bred this way and we think Teeny looks so cute with her short legs.
Corgis barking
When we lived in an apartment in Wuxi, we lived on the 24th floor and apart from fireworks and the twenty four hour hum of city life, we didn’t hear other dogs barking. Teeny was a quiet dog at home and rarely barked. Once we moved to a 2nd floor apartment, even though the community we live in is much quieter, there are many dogs nearby.
Our neighbours downstairs have 2 teddy dogs and there are at least 20 or 30 other dogs in this community so many times each day a dog will bark and Teeny loves to run to look out of the window and will bark at them. She’s also a big fan of barking at trolley wheels rumbling along the floor.
We are working on training her to not bark and to stop barking when we say stop, but it isn’t always successful and sometimes if we give her a reward for stopping she think it’s the barking that gets her the treat and she will intentionally bark, looking at us waiting for a treat.
Shes a clever dog and she always makes us laugh when she sits beside the treat box waiting for a treat when she thinks she deserves one. You have to be careful to treat your corgi at the right moment or you might accidentally begin to train the wrong behaviour.
Corgi energy levels
Corgis love to be active and we like to walk Teeny for at least one hour every day. We usually take her on one long walk of around 60-90 minutes and then a few shorter walks and toilet breaks of between 5 and 20 minutes.
As well as a few walks each day Teeny loves to play indoors and will always bring her favourite toy to us and make a cute whimpering sound asking us to play with her.
Some days when the weather is very cold and wet we keep the walks shorter and spend more time indoors playing and keeping her active using her favourite dog toys.
Training your first Corgi
Training a corgi as a first time owner is a process of bonding, learning and understanding your Corgi. Our Corgi Teeny quickly learnt to sit, lie down and roll. With some treats and patience even a beginner can train a corgi well.
Simple commands like sit down were the easiest commands for us to train Teeny to respond to. After this we trained her to use a potty pad as we lived in an apartment on the 24nd floor it wasn’t easy to take her outside every time she needed the toilet.
In hindsight we probably should have trained her to go to the door when she needs the toilet and then we could have taken her down in the lift.
Only after moving into 2nd floor apartment did we train her to go to the door every time she needs the bathroom and within a few days she always goes to the door if she needs to wee. It was easy to train her by rewarding her with some food every time she went to the bathroom outside.
First time Corgi owner food advice
I wanted to let you know about a few foods that can be dangerous for Corgis to eat. One of our most challenging experiences with our dog Teeny was when she managed to eat some corn on the cob. She became sick and wouldn’t stop being sick.
We were on holiday at the time and had to drive for hours to get her back to a good vet. They performed a barium x-ray and found that she had some corn on the cob lodged in her stomach. The vet was concerned because corn can potentially become lodged in a dogs intestines and cause serious problems.
After administering some anaesthesia and attempting to remove the corn using an endoscope, even this experienced vet couldn’t grip the surface of the corn, which is notoriously slimy and doesn’t digest well. Teeny ended up having to have abdominal surgery to remove the corn, a scary experience with a food man dog owners don’t realise can be very dangerous for your dog to eat.
You should also avoid feeding your new Corgi: Chocolate, grapes, raisins, wheat, soy, any food that use the sweetener xylitol (sugar free chewing gum), coffee, caffeine, salty foods and nuts.
There are a number of other foods you should also avoid, we are going to write about them in another article. Always search online and ask your vet to check whether a food is suitable for your Corgi if you are unsure.
What is it like to have a corgi
I want to tell you a little bit about our daily routine with our first Corgi Teeny. In the morning we wake up and she is usually lying in her banana shaped dog bed. Her chin is resting on the comfy side and her big ears raised up looking and waiting to see if I’m getting up to come and see her, feed her or take her to wee outside.
Some mornings she will come to the bed, place her front paws on the bed and wait to be lifted up. If she runs fast she can climb onto the bed herself but she much prefers a little push up and a lift down.
Once on the bed she will always lie down in the place where I sleep, taking up as much of the bed as possible.
If i try to move her she isn’t happy as she’s now decided it’s her bed. I’ve learnt to lift her up and carry her to the far side of the bed so I can get back in myself and not cling on to the edge of the bed. If she needs to wee badly, she will go to the bedroom door and whimper, waiting for us to take her outside.
Next, is feeding time. Teeny eats a raw meat diet, which can be challenging for a first time dog owner to get used to, but isn’t too difficult once you work out what your dog needs.
I take Teeny’s bowl to the kitchen as she licks her lips and sits waiting at the door. Sometimes she gets over eager and takes a few steps further into the kitchen.
She knows she isn’t allowed so when questioned she’ll head back to the doorway. After placing the food in her bowl and putting it back in place, I ask her to sit down, shake my hand and then give her permission to eat.
This is a good chance to reinforce any skills you have taught your dog and so they know they have to do something to work for their meal.
Super fast eating, a search around the room to see if there is any more food is followed by lying down beside the bowl licking every inch of the bowl for the next 5 or 10 minutes. She always makes sure she hasn’t missed any hint of remaining leftovers or flavour.
After eating Teeny has her daily long walk of between 60 and 90 minutes. When she arrives home she usually has a rest, often sleeping upside down with her feet up in the air or doing the famous Corgi sploot position.
During the rest of the afternoon teeny will play a few games with us, running after toys and pulling toys are her favourite games. She also has some puzzle toys where she has to find hidden food, this is great for helping her use her intelligence and keeping her brain active.
What characteristics make a dog a good first dog
A lot of dog owners suggest that your first dog should be a golden retriever, poodle, Labrador or other breeds of dogs that are gentle and easy to train. When choosing a dog breed to bring home you might want to consider whether that breed is good with children, how much exercises they need and whether or not they are easy to train.
In our opinion, Instead of thinking about which dog is best for you, why not think about which owner is best for the dog. If you have plenty of time to spend with your dog, exercise them and are willing to play with them and train them, meeting all their daily needs, you’ll be fine with any dog.
Reasons people think Corgis aren’t a good first dog
Some people think Corgis aren’t a good first dog. Corgis are known to be strong minded and in our experience Teeny is strong minded and outgoing / bossy with other dogs and people.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, if you don’t train your Corgi maybe you’ll have a much more difficult time controlling them as they are used to herding large animals
People we have spoken to were worried that if they brought home a Corgi they would struggle to control them. If you are persistent with your training and socialise your corgi well while they are a puppy, you’ll find they are very obedient in most situations.
Are Corgis good for beginners?
Yes we think Corgis are good for beginners, if you are willing to be patient and persistent with your training.
Corgis are very loving and very loyal. Not only will they love your company and give you the most excitable welcome home every day, they’ll be eager to use their brains to learn new skills quickly and play games.
If you love the outdoors, Corgis love to exercise and will be happy exploring outdoors, playing with other dogs and sniffing new scents. Corgis are a big dog at heart and are strong minded so as long as you have plenty of time for them and are willing to learn how to look after your Corgi properly, you’ll be fine.
We didn’t have any experience owning our own dog when we brought our Corgi Teeny home as first time dog owners and we’ve had lots of great experience and adventures with her, even if she can be mischievous at times, shes very loving.