Hey everyone, welcome back to another video,
this week, we're gonna be talking about puppies,
where to find them, the best way
to get a Corgi puppy specifically
and share some tips and tricks,
for those of you who are looking
to add a new pup to your family.
I actually wrote a blog post about this,
a couple of years ago and we're gonna
be talking specifically about finding a Corgi puppy.
However, a lot of these tips can be applied to other breeds.
One of the reasons why we wrote our initial blog posts
on where to find a Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy
is because of the recent increase in their popularity.
Due to social media, we actually made
a video a few weeks back on a few reasons
why you might not want to get a Corgi puppy,
but if you've thought about it,
you've done all the research.
You think that the temperament
and the breed personality is right for you.
Then the next step is finding the right place
to get your puppy before we get too into it.
I know there are a lot of people out there
who are advocates for adopting pets.
There are so many homeless pets out there
in the shelters that really could use a good home.
So please consider adopting,
it's not impossible to find a purebred Corgi
in a shelter here in Southern California.
There's Queen's Best Stumpy Dog Rescue.
That could be a good place to start.
If you are looking to adopt a Corgi.
However, finding a Corgi with little to no health problems
in a rescue is going to be very, very hard.
And that is one of the top reasons,
why people choose to go to breeders to get a pup instead.
Not to mention a lot of people might not have a lifestyle
or training experience to deal with a dog
that comes with baggage.
So adopt if you can, but the only other good option
if you do want to get a dog is to go to a reputable breeder.
The reason why we've been talking a lot
about reputable breeders specifically
with Corgi's is because there are so many
backyard breeders out there that are just
turning out litters they're in it to make a profit.
Unfortunately, they're not really thinking
about breeding for the best temperaments
for the best health, and because Corgis,
are so predisposed to so many health problems
including things like hip dysplasia, orthopedic issues
back problems due to their stature is even more important
for breed that might come with health problems
to go to a reputable breeder,
who is looking out for those things,
doing the health testing and frankly,
just being responsible about the dogs
that they're producing back, when we got Chibi,
unfortunately we didn't really know
too much about the breeder world, the purebred dog world.
We kind of just Googled, Corgi puppies in Michigan,
which is where I was living at the time,
found a breeder that was close by less than
five hours of a drive.
We knew somebody else who had gotten a dog
from that breeder, she had only great things
to say about her dog.
So that was, it checked all the boxes for me then.
And we ended up getting Chibi here.
I've talked about this a lot in my social media
and other videos but unfortunately when Chibi
was just one year old she was diagnosed
with severe hip dysplasia, long story short,
we've spent almost $20,000 on surgeries,
rehab, acupuncture, water therapy, countless hours
of working with her at home, not being able
to bring her on long hikes with our other dog.
It's just really unfortunate because I went
with a breeder that didn't do the health testing.
I remember asking about it and her saying,
oh, the parents are healthy.
So there's no need for me to test the dogs.
And now looking back on it,
I wish I would've done more research
and gone with a breeder that tests
for things like potential hip dysplasia.
So I wanted to make this video to talk
about our experiences and hopefully,
help those of you who are looking for a Corgi puppy
or just a purebred puppy in general
know where to look for and how to find a reputable breeder
so that your dog has a good temperament
and minimal risk of health issues.
There are so many backyard breeders for Corgis popping
up left and right, especially here in Southern California.
And we'll go over some of the ways
that you could spot a backyard breeder
later in this video, but first let's go over,
where to start when looking for a healthy Corgi puppy.
Typically for purebred dogs,
there tend to be breed clubs all over the U.S.
If you're looking for a Pembroke Welsh Corgi
you can start at the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America.
Breed clubs usually have a list
of reputable breeders that are members to their clubs,
and they must meet certain requirements
before they list those breeders,
as resources for people who are looking for puppies.
A lot of these times, these breed clubs
also have resources for rescue Corgis.
So if you decide you wanna adopt
that's also a good place to start.
What you can do is start reaching out
to the breeders that are listed there on that website,
give them your information.
They typically have a phone number or an email,
a lot of breeders now even have Facebook pages.
All you have to do is reach out,
give them a little bit of background
on your living situation, your experience with dogs,
and just connect with them.
Get to know them, get to know their dogs,
their breeding plans, and figure out
which breeder is right for you.
The next thing that you can do
is actually go to a breed club event.
The Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America,
along with a lot of other breed clubs,
they tend to have dog shows, specialties,
matches where you can go and talk to breeders,
face to face, see their dogs in person,
meet other people who are enthusiasts of the breed
and just learn more about Corgi world in general.
In addition to the national breed clubs,
you can use the local breed clubs as resources
and go to their specialties as well.
Finding a breeder is a lot like networking.
Getting to know them is really important.
A lot of them have lists of people,
who are interested in dogs from a future litter,
building, that relationship is really important.
In addition, if you do end up getting a puppy from them,
your breeder should provide lifelong support
for any questions that you have regarding
a puppy that they've produced.
Talk to the breeder and see
if they'll let you meet the mom or the dad.
A lot of the times, one breeder won't always
have the mom and the dad, a lot of breeders
across the country work together.
One might have the mom, the other might have the dad
but it's good to just talk to them.
If you have a chance to see the dog,
see if you like their personalities
and their temperaments, because it's very likely
that their puppy will have a very similar personality
with whichever breeder you're talking to,
make sure to ask them about the health tests
that they conduct specifically for eyes and hips.
Degenerative myelopathy is also a chronic disease
that can happen in Corgis, where they lose
the use of their back legs.
These health tests are really expensive
for breeders to conduct.
So a lot of the backyard breeders,
skip it completely when they're in it for the profit.
And that's when you end up with dogs,
like Chibi that have a ton of health issues
and that translate to you spending more money
when you've gotten a puppy that needs surgery,
that needs rehab and a lot of times,
these are the dogs that end up in shelters,
when people don't have the time or the money
to invest in the health issues that their puppy comes with.
Finding a reputable breeder is ultimately one
of the best ways to reduce the amount of dogs
that do end up in shelters.
So it's really as simple as that,
starting with the breed club,
getting to know the breeders that are listed there,
that are members of the club and who really have breeding
for the best temperaments and health of the breed in mind
not such good ways of finding puppies.
Googling puppies in certain location.
Puppy Find and AKC marketplace are also places
where people can just easily list
any puppies that they may have,
with no background checks on the breeder.
So now that we've gone over the best place
to start if you are looking for a Corgi puppy,
let's talk about some of the red flags
that might indicate somebody is not
a reputable breeder that you wanna
get a puppy from, number one is something
that my breeder did with every single litter.
She sold the puppy to anybody who gave her a deposit,
even before the litter was born.
Most reputable breeders will interview you,
require you to submit a questionnaire about your lifestyle
your experiences, the want to get to know you
and figure out what type of puppy
is best for you and your life.
What happened with Chibi's breeder,
was I actually reached out and told her,
I was interested in a red and white Corgi.
And so she switched her breeding plans.
She was originally gonna breed to other parents,
but they wouldn't have resulted in the red,
white coloring that I was interested in.
So she ended up switching her breeding plans
which most reputable breeders won't do just for a stranger.
Who's reaching out and saying they want a puppy
because I put down a deposit.
I mailed her a check six months before she planned breeding.
I was the first one to put down a deposit on the litter.
So I ended up getting first pick.
I was able to choose which puppy I wanted.
And once the litter was born
I think they were actually just three days old.
And I went off of this picture of them as a blob.
And she was the only red
and white Corgi in the litter of three.
So pretty much I automatically just picked her.
A lot of reputable breeders will wait
until the puppies are at least eight to 10 weeks old
evaluate what their personalities are like,
only at that age, will you really start seeing,
which of these dogs are hyperactive
which are really, really chill, which might be more dominant
or submissive and breeders will tend
to try and match you with the puppy,
based on the puppy's personality.
The second indicator that you might be talking
to a backyard breeder is if they're willing
to ship you a puppy without even having met you
or talked to you on the phone via plane,
if your breeder is out of state,
it's probably a better idea to fly there yourself,
meet them, pick up the puppy and fly back with it.
Plane rides and cargo can be really scary for a puppy.
I know a lot of reputable breeders,
who refuse to ship puppies completely,
definitely ask about that.
If the breeder you're talking to is out of state.
The third red flag is if they don't conduct,
any health tests on the parents.
For Corgi's, so OFA tests on hip health
is really, really important.
Dogs can't be tested until they're two years old.
Both of the parents of the litter you're looking at
should have all of these tests
and you should be able to get the results
without a problem from your breeder.
Also, if your breeder is guaranteeing you something
like a one or two year health guarantee
this usually doesn't really mean anything.
A lot of these chronic or genetic diseases don't show
up until way after one to two years old.
And in Chibi's situation, when she was diagnosed at one
and a half years with hip dysplasia,
which is very early for a small breed dog
and very unusual, that's how severe it was.
My breeder basically said, oh, I've never had any
of my other dogs in any of my litters have this issue.
It must be something that you did.
You must have let your dog jump off of stairs
or the bed or taken her on too many long walks.
We've talked to so many vets, different specialists
in dog orthopedics and every single one of them
has told me that based on her x-rays
this is something that she was genetically predisposed to.
The next thing to look out for,
is how many litters your breeder is having per year.
If a breeder is turning out litters every few months
it's probably a sign that they're in it for the cash.
Most of the reputable breeders that we've talked
to for Corgi's and also for other breeds
have a maximum of one to two litters per year.
It takes a lot of time and money,
to do the health tests, take the puppies to the vet,
make sure that all these dogs are doing well.
So a lot of breeders just aren't able to handle more
than a couple of litters per year.
If you're a breeder is turning out three,
four, five, six liters per year.
That could definitely be a red flag.
Another thing to look out for is how young
they start breeding their dogs.
Chibi's mom was already four years old
when she had her and she was already
the fourth litter that she's had.
This means that our breeder either bred her mom
starting when she was one year old
which is really, really young
or bred her multiple times per year
which is also a big no-no for young dogs.
After Chibi's litter, our breeder gave her mom away
and retired her at four years old.
She then acquired two other female dogs that same year
and bred on one year later both at one-year-old,
reputable breeders will really wait
until their females are two to three years old
before they start breeding them.
The last few things to look out for are things like
fake images or fake champion bloodlines or fake titles.
It's really unfortunate, but we've actually noticed
a lot of backyard breeders have stolen images
of show dogs from other breeders
and put them on their website, sort of duping people
into thinking that they have show quality
or champion dogs that have won titles.
That's why getting to know the breeder
and really asking them about their dogs
and their experiences with them.
Their health is really really important
so that you essentially don't get scammed into
a dog that you weren't ready for.
Finally, if you've found the right breeder for you,
you're finally getting a puppy
and you're getting off the wait list, make sure
that you're taking the puppy home
at around 10 weeks of age.
The Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America's
Code of Ethics, states that breeders should not
be selling puppies under 10 weeks of age.
They really just need those extra few days
and weeks with their litter mates and parents
for health and temperament reasons
that pretty much wraps it up.
I know there's a lot of information.
We'll also link to my blog posts in the description
that talks about the same and has links
for resources for you, unfortunately,
it's not really a one-click process,
to find a healthy Corgi puppy.
And again, the reason why we made this video,
why we've been trying to educate people
when we get questions on social media,
like where did you get Chibi?
Who's her breeder?
I really want a dog that looks and acts like her.
Sadly, I can't recommend our breeder
because she just came with so many health issues.
After our litter she started breeding
what she calls American Corgis,
which is a cross between a Pembroke
and a cardigan Welsh Corgi, so that you can get dogs
with blue eyes and the AKC doesn't recognize a mix
between those two different types
of Corgis as a purebred dog.
It's totally fine if you're looking for a mixed breed dog.
But it's not fair to people if they're just being duped,
they're paying a ton of money for what they think
is a purebred dog that will be healthy and have no issues.
So I think it's really important
for people who are looking for pure bred pups
to know how to look for a reputable breeder
know how to look for a backyard breeder
and just be educated for the sake of the health
of your dog and for your wallet.
Like I said earlier, I shared these tips
more specifically towards Pembroke Welsh Corgis
because they are a breed that are prone
to more health issues.
Their rising popularity a lot of people
are getting Corgis and just not knowing
about the health issues that can come with them.
If you get them from a backyard breeder,
these are also tips that you can apply.
If you're looking for other types of purebred dogs
just start with the national breed club and go from there.
Don't forget to look into resources for adopting.
If you are also interested in a Corgi,
there are many Corgis out there that need homes.
Thank you guys so much for watching.
Let me know if you have any questions at all
in the comments below and we'll see you guys next time.