On October 11, 2008 (my husband--the Lumberjack's--23rd birthday), we decided to go look at Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppies. At the time, there were three litters available: one litter of four 10-week-old tri-color boys, one litter of seven 5-day-old puppies, and one litter of eight 1-day-old puppies. At the time, we weren't sure we were ready for the commitement of a furkid. But, 4 weeks later, we returned to look again.
On our second visit, the two youngest litters were now 4-ish weeks old. They were cute and soft and starting to get their little personalities. The Lumberjack picked out two boys he liked from the first litter.
I, of course, liked the other two better. Since we couldn't decide, we went to look at the last litter after deciding the tri-boys, who were older, were not for us.I saw this cute little ball of fur with perfect markings and picked him up. When I handed him to the Lumberjack , he fell right asleep in his arms. That's when we knew, he was the one.
We went and visited him at 5-weeks-old, and he kept getting cuter and cuter! Waiting for him to come home was very hard. There was one period where we didn't see him for 3 weeks and I missed him so much. Once we decided on him, we couldn't wait to bring him home to us.
Dutch came home to us on December 18, 2008. He was 9 weeks, 6 days old. We had already paid to have him crate-trained at the breeder's home (Lisa and Patrick Bigelbach), and he fell asleep in the car on the way to his new home. At the vet that day, he weighed in at 7.2 pounds.
Over the past few weeks, the Lumberjack and I have dealt with typical puppy issues: biting, potty training, barking, being destructive, not listening, running away, etc. But, he is getting better and adjusting well to life at the center of our family.
At the end of January, the Lumberjack , Dutch and I went to Puppy Kindergarten for the first time. Being the smart boy that he is, Dutch already knew most of the commands (sit, come, stay, down, etc.). We've been working on "Place" and "Watch me," so it was good. After his mini-lesson, he got to play with all the other puppies (about 14) and socialize with the adults and kids that brought them. It was great to see him playing and having such a good time. It was even better that he was exhausted the rest of the day and the Lumberjack and I had some time to spend with friends.
Since then, Dutch attended 5 more puppy kindergarten classes and graduated last Monday. He was very proud and has grown into a sweet little boy in the 11+ weeks
we've had him. He now knows sit, stay, wait, come, down, watch me, leave it, drop it, go to your place, go outside, go potty, and off. He's grown a lot since we got him, and is now 22 pounds! He loves his "Daddy," the Lumberjack, all of his "Aunties" and "Uncles," his bully sticks, and his Kong Wubba. He has also proved to us how he is not a "typical" corgi as he loves snuggling and being a lap dog, and really doesn't bark much at all. What a sweet and smart boy he is! We have loved having him in our family and are looking forward to many years with him!
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