Cardigan Welsh Corgi

AKC Group: Herding

Club: Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America, Inc.

Corresponding Secretary : Susan Buxton
Address: 3508 Newport Dr, Lexington, KY , 40517--274
Website: www.cardigancorgis.com
Club Type: Specialty

General Apperance:

Low set with moderately heavy bone and deep chest. Overall silhouette long in proportion to height, culminating in a low tail set and fox-like brush. General Impression --A handsome, powerful, small dog, capable of both speed and endurance, intelligent, sturdily built but not coarse.

Size:

Overall balance is more important than absolute size. Dogs and bitches should be from 10.5 to 12.5 inches at the withers when standing naturally. The ideal length/height ratio is 1.8:1 when measuring from the point of the breast bone (prosternum) to the rear of the hip (ischial tuberosity) and measuring from the ground to the point of the withers. Ideally, dogs should be from 30 to 38 pounds; bitches from 25 to 34 pounds.

Coat:

Medium length but dense as it is double. Outer hairs slightly harsh in texture; never wiry, curly or silky. Lies relatively smooth and is weather resistant. The insulating undercoat is short, soft and thick. A correct coat has short hair on ears, head, the legs; medium hair on body; and slightly longer, thicker hair in ruff, on the backs of the thighs to form "pants," and on the underside of the tail. The coat should not be so exaggerated as to appear fluffy. This breed has a shedding coat, and seasonal lack of undercoat should not be too severely penalized, providing the hair is healthy.

Temperament:

Even-tempered, loyal, affectionate, and adaptable. Never shy nor vicious.

History:

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi, the Corgi with the tail, is the older of the two Corgi breeds, and one of the earliest breeds in the British Isles.

In the beginning, the Corgi came to the high country now known as Cardiganshire with the tall, tawny-headed Celts from Central Europe. The migration of this warrior tribe to Wales is placed, roughly, at about 1200 B.C., which means that the Corgi has been known in the land whence its name comes for more than 3,000 years. The dog was a member of the same family that has produced the Dachshund.

The occupation which made the Corgi worth his weight in gold to those Welsh hillmen came at a much later period, but still hundreds of years ago. This was when the Crown owned practically all land, and the tenant farmers, or crofters, were permitted to fence off only a few acres surrounding their dooryards. The rest was open country, known as common land, on which the crofter was permitted to graze his cattle, one of the chief sources of his meager income. It can be imagined that there was great competition among the crofters to secure as much as possible of this pasture land for their own uses, and the task would have been difficult had it not been for the Corgi. The little dog which had been with this Celtic people so long, and which had come to be of almost human intelligence, was trained to perform a service the opposite of that done by the herding dog. Instead of herding the cattle, the Corgi would nip at their heels and drive them as far afield as desired.

The division of the Crown lands, their subsequent sale to the crofters, and the appearance of fences, removed the usefulness of the Corgi He was still retained as guard and companion by some of the hillmen, but to most he was a luxury they could not afford. In many instances he was succeeded by the red herder and by the brindle herder. The original type of Corgi known in Bronant since time immemorial became very scarce, and it is due only to the greatest care on the part of modern breeders that the old strains have been preserved.

The principal strains of the Cardigan Welsh Corgi of today go back to the old Bronant Corgi with a slight infusion of brindle herder blood. This dog approximates as nearly as possible the dog that enjoyed his greatest popularity in Cardiganshire a century and more ago.

The two Corgi breeds were regarded officially in England as one breed divided into two types until 1934, when they were recognized as separate breeds. Up until that time they had been interbred to some extent, and sorting out the two breeds became a difficult task. In 1934, 250 Pembrokes were registered to only 59 Cardigans. The Cardigan was considered to be less uniform in type at that time and the breed nearly disappeared in its native Wales.

The first pair of Cardigans imported to the United States (by Mrs. Robert Bole of Boston) arrived in June 1931. The breed was admitted for AKC registration in 1935.