AELWYD CARDIGAN WELSH CORGIS

ORIGIN  AND   BACKGROUND

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi is a member of the Herding Group classification of dogs in the American Kennel Club and the Canadian Kennel Club.  These are dogs that were developed in times past to help farmers and ranchers move livestock to pasture and to market.  Most breeds developed to work in this kind of partnership are intelligent and devoted companions, easily trained, with kind and loving temperaments.

One of the earliest and best histories of the breed is "The Cardiganshire Corgi" by Clifford L. B. Hubbard who spent his childhood in Cardiganshire, Wales.  Hubbard suggests that a dog similar to the old working Cardigan Corgi may have arrived in Britain with Neolithic Man sometime between 2,500 and 2,000 B.C.  It is generally agreed that, despite the similarities between the Cardigan and Pembroke Welsh Corgis, the Pembroke is a much younger breed, dating back a mere 1,000 years and very likely the result of cross breeding between the original Welsh cattle dog and spitz-type dogs brought to Wales by the Vikings.

In the early part of the twentieth century Cardigan and Pembroke Welsh Corgis were exhibited at dog shows in Britain as two varieties of the same breed, distinguished by the length of tail.  It was not unknown for one dog to be registered as a Pembroke and its littermate as a Cardigan.  In 1925 the Kennel Club recognized them as two distinct breeds, only to combine them again in 1930, then separate them permanently in 1935.  By then, everyone was thoroughly confused - a state that still persists as we hear even those who should know better refer to one breed as "The Welsh Corgi" and the other as "The Cardigan Corgi."

The first Cardigans were imported to the United States in 1931 by Mrs. Benjamin Bole.  In 1936 the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America held its first specialty show and the Best of Breed winner was Mrs. Bole's Ch. Megan, the first AKC champion in the breed.

The Cardigan is not a well-known breed and ranks about 90th in popularity among AKC recognized breeds.  New registrations number about 700 a year in the U.S. and less than 50 in Canada.  

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