50 Fun Facts About Pembroke Welsh Corgi

What does the word 'corgi' mean in Welsh?

It compounds cor (dwarf) and ci (dog), which mutates to gi.

The Pembroke Welsh Corgi was originally bred to herd which animals?

As 'heelers' they nipped at the heels of the beasts and ducked the kicks thanks to their low build.

Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire, home of the two corgi breeds, lie in which part of the country?

They are adjoining historical agricultural counties.

The Pembroke Welsh Corgi descends from which family of dogs?

Flemish settlers are thought to have brought continental Spitz types such as Pomeranians and Schipperkes to Pembrokeshire.

How many royal corgis did Queen Elizabeth II own during her reign?

She had at least one from 1933 to 2018 and stopped breeding them so none would outlive her.

Where does the Pembroke Welsh Corgi rank in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs?

Coren calls it an excellent working dog; its stubborn streak still makes training a challenge.

How does the Pembroke differ physically from the Cardigan Welsh Corgi?

The Cardigan is also heavier and carries a much longer tail.

The breed standard says a Pembroke's head should resemble that of which animal?

The erect ears sit in proportion to the equilateral triangle of the head.

How much does a Pembroke Welsh Corgi usually weigh?

They stand only 8 to 12 inches and live around 13 years.

The Pembroke's double coat is naturally water- and dirt-repellent, except in which long-coated variant?

The long, thin coat comes from a recessive gene and counts as a breed fault.

Why, historically, were Pembroke Welsh Corgi tails docked?

The Cardigan, an equally hard-working herder, was never docked, which gives the game away.

The AKC standard says a Pembroke's tail should be docked to no longer than what?

The Kennel Club, UKC and FCI all allow intact tails in the show ring, and docking is illegal in the UK.

At what age are most Pembroke puppies' tails docked, where it is still legal?

Some outlying Pembrokes are born with naturally short tails.

Young Pembrokes are known to nip at their owners' ankles. Why?

They also love to dig holes and chase anything that moves.

A 2024 UK study found what life expectancy for the Pembroke Welsh Corgi?

That beats the purebred average of 12.7 years.

The Pembroke Welsh Corgi is described as achondroplastic, meaning it is what?

The dwarf build brings its own health issues, alongside inherited ones like degenerative myelopathy.

The lineage of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi has been traced back to which year?

That dates it to the Flemish plantations settled in Pembrokeshire after the Norman invasion of Wales.

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi is thought to date from the arrival of which culture around 1200 BCE?

The Welsh Corgi article also links the Cardigan to Norse settlers and the Swedish Vallhund.

The Corgi Club was founded in December 1925 in which Welsh town?

Local members favoured the Pembroke, so Cardigan fanciers set up their own club a year or so later.

In which year did the Kennel Club recognise the Pembroke and Cardigan as separate breeds?

They had been recognised together as 'Welsh Corgis' in 1928; owners sometimes chose which breed their dog belonged to.

At the 1934 split, how many dogs of each breed were listed in the pedigree books?

Cardigans stayed rarer, with only 11 registered in 1940.

The first Corgi championship, at Cardiff in 1928, went to a red and white Pembroke bitch named what?

The Welsh Corgi had first appeared at Crufts the year before.

Where, and for how much, did Lewis Roesler buy Little Madam, the first Pembroke in the US?

The AKC registered Welsh Corgis as a single breed in 1934, with Little Madam the first.

In 1953 the Pembroke ranked fourth in Kennel Club popularity behind the Cocker Spaniel, German Shepherd and which breed?

Postwar Britain loved the corgi; the decline came later, blamed partly on temperament.

How many Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppies were registered in 2013, putting the breed on the Kennel Club's Vulnerable list?

The Telegraph blamed the 2006 ban on cosmetic tail docking; Instagram was credited with the 34 per cent bounce in 2015.

The Kennel Club credited the Pembroke's UK revival partly to which Netflix series?

The breed came off the at-risk list in 2018 with 456 puppies registered in December 2017.

Where did the Pembroke Welsh Corgi rank in AKC registrations in 2024?

It was 24th in 2012 and 11th in 2020; corgi meetups in US cities draw hundreds of dogs.

In Welsh folklore, corgis are said to have been gifted to human children by whom?

The dogs are said to have served as war horses for the fairies before herding for humans.

What is the 'fairy saddle' on a corgi?

Legend has it the marks were left by fairy riders.

How fast can a fit Pembroke Welsh Corgi run?

They use more upper-body strength than most dogs, which also helps in agility and herding.

What was the name of the first royal corgi, brought home by King George VI in 1933?

Ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth and her sister fed him by hand from a dish held by a footman.

The corgi Susan was given to Princess Elizabeth as a gift for which birthday?

Every royal corgi and dorgi that followed descended from Susan.

How did the corgi Susan travel with Princess Elizabeth on her honeymoon in 1947?

She then toured Lord Mountbatten's Broadlands estate in a Jeep driven by Prince Philip.

What was the corgi Susan's registered kennel name?

She was called Sue, which became Susan.

The corgi Susan bit a policeman patrolling Buckingham Palace in 1959. Who else had she previously bitten?

It was the fourth bite; the Queen herself later needed three stitches after breaking up a corgi fight in 1991.

What is a 'dorgi'?

The first royal one came from a corgi and a dachshund named Pipkin.

The first royal dorgi resulted from a corgi mating with a dachshund named Pipkin. Whose dog was Pipkin?

The two siblings' dogs went on to breed more dorgis.

The royal corgis slept in what kind of beds in Buckingham Palace?

The Queen Mother's regime raised each basket off the floor to avoid draughts.

In 1999 a royal footman was demoted for what 'party trick' involving the corgis?

He reportedly enjoyed watching them 'staggering about'.

Which three royal corgis appeared with Daniel Craig in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony Bond sketch?

Monty was named after the horse whisperer Monty Roberts and died later that year.

What was the name of the Queen's last full-bred corgi, who died in April 2018?

Only the dorgi Candy remained until new pups Muick and Fergus arrived in 2021.

Which member of the royal family found the two corgi puppies given to the Queen in 2021?

After the Queen's death, Andrew and Sarah adopted the surviving corgis at Royal Lodge.

The Sandringham royal dog graveyard was first used by Queen Victoria for which pet in 1887?

The Queen personally designed Susan's headstone there in 1959.

In 2003 the royal corgi Pharos was put down after being mauled by an English bull terrier belonging to whom?

Pharos was a tenth-generation descendant of Susan.

Which cartoonist put the corgis into every cartoon he drew of the Queen after 1962?

The Golden Jubilee crown coin also shows the Queen with a corgi.

In Cowboy Bebop, what is the name of the hyper-intelligent Corgi aboard the ship?

He answers phones, steers cars, plays shogi and hacks a supercomputer via a gaming device.

In Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the loyal corgi Cheddar belongs to which characters?

The Kennel Club has credited TV appearances like this with reviving the breed's fortunes.

Corgi Toys, the die-cast brand named for the Welsh dog, was made in which Welsh city from 1956?

Their James Bond Aston Martin DB5 remains the best-selling toy car ever produced.

The animated film The Queen's Corgi, released in 2019, was made by a studio from which country?

NWave Pictures released it in the UK in July 2019.

Which settlers are said to have brought the Pembroke's ancestors to Pembrokeshire after the Norman invasion?

Their plantations likely introduced continental dogs such as Pomeranians and schipperkes, giving a lineage traced to AD 1107.