Cardigan Welsh Corgi

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi is one of the two herding breeds from Wales known as Welsh Corgis; the other is the Pembroke. It is among the oldest breeds of the British Isles. Cardigans are loyal and easy to train, and will herd anything from poultry and waterfowl to sheep and cattle.

History

Two theories are offered for where corgis came from. One holds that both types descend from northern spitz-type dogs. The other traces them to the teckel family, which also produced the dachshund.

The word corgi comes from the Welsh cor gi, meaning dwarf dog. The breed was once called the yard-long dog, ci-llathed in Welsh. Cardigan refers to its home area, Ceredigion, and has nothing to do with the coat.

The Kennel Club first listed the Pembroke and Cardigan as a single breed in 1925. By 1928 it treated them as distinct varieties, though still under the shared title of Welsh Corgis, and in 1934 they were finally separated and shown apart. A Corgi Club was founded in Carmarthen in December 1925; its members were said to favor the Pembroke, so Cardigan enthusiasts set up their own club in 1926. The first Cardigans reached the United States in June 1931. In 2006 the official name changed from Corgi (Welsh) to Cardigan Welsh Corgi.

Appearance

The Cardigan is a long, low dog with upright ears and a brush tail like a fox’s. An old American Kennel Club standard described it as an Alsatian on short legs. It is larger than the Pembroke, and its tail is always long. An average dog stands about 25 to 33 cm at the withers. Males weigh 14 to 17 kg and females 11 to 15 kg.

The coat is double. Colors include any shade of red, sable or brindle, black with or without tan or brindle points, and blue merle, which shows black or gray marbling and may come with pale blue eyes. Most dogs have white on the neck, chest, legs, muzzle, underside and tail tip, and a blaze on the head. Other colors such as red merle occur but are not accepted by the standard.

Temperament

Cardigans started as farm guardians and later took on work as cattle drovers and herders. They are intelligent, active and athletic, and affectionate and devoted at home. They tend to be relaxed and cautious with strangers, becoming playful once they are comfortable. The herding instinct can show itself around running children as nipping at heels, which needs to be trained out. Cardigans compete in herding trials, agility, obedience, rally, flyball and tracking, and can serve as guard dogs despite their size.

Care and health

A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 13.1 years, against 12.7 for purebred dogs overall. In a 2004 Kennel Club survey the most common causes of death were cancer (28.3 percent), old age (24.6 percent) and neurological disorders (15.2 percent).

Intervertebral disc disease occurs in the breed, probably because it is a dwarf (chondrodysplastic) breed. Cardigans can also inherit progressive retinal atrophy, an eye disorder.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.