This past weekend, we got word through some of our friends that a very different dog had
been dropped off at one of the rescues that we help support with dog transports.
He comes from a very prestigious corgi breeder that has been defining what the ideal Pembroke
Welsh Corgis looks like in the United States for decades.
Unfortunately for him, he was left with the rescue out of fear of “aggression” from
his owners.
His name is Finn, and he is different from any other corgi that we have helped before
because we personally know three other dogs from this same breeder that some of our corgi
friends have.
It was not just strange but almost impossible for us to imagine that one of these dogs that
we know were bred for the best possible temperament could have aggression issues.
Finn comes from one of the most well respected corgi breeders in the country, and we know
from the owners of his siblings that his entire litter was very calm and friendly.
We were actually told that Finn was the dog with the best temperament of his entire litter
when he was still a puppy, so we had to see for ourselves what could have happened to
him to make him reportedly dangerous to his previous family.
Immediately we could tell that he was very timid and a little scared.
You can see that he would retreat away from us when we first met him.
This is entirely normal in a not well socialized dog.
He was very comfortable with other dogs, but not sure about new people.
It also seemed like he would retreat from sudden movements which indicated to us that
he might have had some issues with his previous owners.
However, we saw no signs of aggression or other issues with him besides being a little
scared.
We decided to bring him to see one of his siblings that lives nearby, knowing that he
has seen them before and might be more comfortable.
First, it is important to know what common behavior is for corgis.
If you don’t already know, corgis are herding dogs.
That means they were bred to herd sheep and other livestock and are prone to nipping or
gently using their mouths to control other animals and even people as part of this herding
behavior.
All of this behavior can be trained and controlled if you take the time to work with your corgi,
but if not, many corgis will try to take the role of “Boss” in the family.
The nipping behavior can also escalate if it is not trained and controlled properly.
On top of that, corgis are double coated dogs, which means they shed a lot.
If you are not prepared for any of these aspects of corgi ownership, then you should not get
a corgi.
Amazingly, once he saw his brother and his brother’s parents that he knew, his entire
demeanor changed!
He was clearly much more relaxed, and even bonded with them.
This further cemented the idea that he had never gotten the more structured upbringing
that corgis need to help them better adjust to change and dealing with new things.
Since his owners had not helped build an adequate level of trust with their own household, Finn
did not know how to interact with new people.
We suspect that he had never really received consistent obedience training which would
have helped him better navigate the world around him.
After arriving home, we wanted to see how he would react with some of our dogs.
We suspected that he would be much more comfortable with other dogs, and after a few minutes that
became very clear.
He met Mocha and Peppermint in a completely relaxed way, showing now signs of aggression.
We also offered Finn a blanket and a dog bed, but he seemed like he did not trust being
allowed on the bed, and avoided it.
He did like the blanket we gave him.
We know he was not allowed on any furniture in his previous home.
We suspect that many of his supposed issues might stem from overly strict enforcement
of some rules with a lack of exposure and desensitization to things like grooming tools
and touching all over his body to make vet visits and other interactions less stressful
for him.
After some further decompression, Finn even tried to play with Peppermint but was eventually
overloaded.
As you can probably guess yourself by now, it seems like Finn was not allowed to be a
normal dog, so he does not know how to interact when faced with more normal dog behaviors.
We also noticed that Finn spends a lot of time engaging in suckling behavior with a
blanket.
This is similar behavior to when puppies feed from their mothers.
Normally this behavior stops after puppyhood as the dog matures and gets more confident
and comfortable.
Since Finn does this much more frequently than we have seen any dog do this, we suspect
that he uses this behavior as a coping mechanism to sooth his own anxiety.
This is not necessarily bad, but it would be ideal if he did not seem to feel like he
needed to do it for long periods of time.
Despite all this and within the first two days of having him in our home, he met all
of our dogs and even tried to start playing with them.
He started seeking our attention more and more as well.
We really feel that the only thing he needs is encouragement and structured guidance from
people so that he can learn to deal with changes that happen around him in a safe way.
We will be digging further into his background in the coming weeks as we evaluate him during
this foster period.
We hope you enjoyed seeing this walking bread loaf.
We are currently fostering him, but he is not available for general adoption because
of his very special circumstance.
Subscribe for more updates about this furry potato as we evaluate his temperament and
try to determine why he was abandoned by his previous owners.
Thank you for watching!
Please spay and neuter your pets and be kind to animals!