The Welsh Corgi

The Corgi is truly unique – every dog is an individual and personalities vary from one Corgi to the next.

Along with other dogs bred to herd livestock, both the Pembroke (pictured) and the Cardigan are in the Pastoral Group in the UK and the Herding Group in the USA. Corgis are dwarf dogs, having been bred down from larger breeds to create a hardy, medium-sized dog to work on the farms in western Wales.

However, nobody has told the Corgi he’s not big! These dogs are lively and tenacious with active minds and big personalities.

West Wales is wet and windy and some of the hilly terrain is rocky, so the early farmers and crofters needed a tough, honest dog that they could easily train and rely on to help them – but not too big to feed. The Corgi fitted the bill perfectly.

The Corgi’s short stature and agility made him ideal for working with cattle because he could nip at the livestock’s heels without being kicked.

Although they are both Welsh, surprisingly the origins of the Pembroke and Cardigan are quite different. You’ll see this if you look at them side by side; as well as the Pembroke’s lack of tail in the US, there are other physical differences.

The Cardigan is a larger dog with big, rounded ears and a face more akin to a hound, while the Pembroke is descended from the Spitz breeds (Spitz, Pomeranian, Samoyed, Husky, etc.) and has a thicker coat, and more pointed ears and face, like a fox.

The Corgi is thought to be one of the oldest British native breeds. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a dog resembling the Cardigan Welsh Corgi was brought to Cardiganshire (western Wales in the UK) by the Celts when they migrated around 1200 BC. The original type, known as the Bronant, was related to the Teckel, forefathers of the Dachshund.

The ancestors of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi are believed to be dogs brought to Pembrokeshire (the south west corner of Wales, just below Cardiganshire) by Flemish weavers in the 10^th or 11^th century AD.

Read the full history and how to take best care of these quirky, plucky dogs in The Welsh Corgi Handbook.