what we don't want to talk about...

We don't want to talk about the  H A I  R. 

As corgi owners we talk about a lot of good things with our dogs.  When people I meet out on the street ask about my dogs I tell them that Corgis are wonderful dogs.  And they ARE wonderful dogs.  In fact, I would venture to say that, at least by my standards, Corgis are pretty much the best dog a person can own.   There is that one sticky little problem though... their fur.  

So when people on the street ask me about Corgis I am quick to point out that they are great dogs... if they won't mind the hair.   And a lot of hair they do have.  I once heard that they shed enough hair to make at least two more of themselves in one year.  I believe this statistic. It doesn't even seem like an exaggeration.  

 I feel the need to tell people how much Corgis shed.  I suppose I do this in the hope that they will not go home and decide to get one.  I do not want this breed to become "popular."   Maybe it's because I've seen first hand what backyard breeders can do to a popular breed like the Golden Retriever.   We had two growing up... one with terrible skin problems and one with hip dysplasia.  Perhaps it is because I like that people have no idea what breed my dogs are and constantly stop to oooh and ahhh over them.

 This is Mr. Bailey after a 5 min session of brushing on his rear end... on ONE SIDE ONLY.  When I look at this picture I think of how much hair Leda must have at her house.  She must haul it out in giant trash bags.  She must own a Dyson Animal.  I WANT a Dyson Animal.

 This is a standard size dinner plate.  This was after another 5 min session on the other side.  Having two dogs has been wonderful but what I never thought about was the fact that two corgis means DOUBLE the hair.  My poor vacuum is on strike.   That first picture is an entire kitchen trash bag full of fur that the vacuum picked up in a 2200 sqft house after two weeks of only occasional vacuuming (not the whole house at once like this session was).  Yikes!

The truth about owning a corgi is that you will spend your life living like this... looking past the hair and embracing all the other wonderful traits that make these dogs the perfect dog.... at least as far as I'm concerned.