How to Train Your Corgi
A Few Tips on How to Start Training Your Corgi
As a Corgi owner, I know first-hand how stubborn this breed can be. There is no doubt that they are one of the smartest dogs in the world, but sometimes Corgis only like to do what they want, when they want it. Case in point, my Toby: it took me no more than 30 minutes one day to teach him to “give paw”. I showed him a couple of times what I wanted from him and he understood quickly (with treats, of course). He knows this command pretty well, since I ask for his paw every single day, at least two times, but some days he is a good boy and listens, and other days he acts like I’m not in the same room with him. When this happens, I insist and in the end, I get it my way, not the “stubborn corgi” way.
Since I am not a dog trainer I can only share a few basic training tips that should help if you need to train a dog with… personality. Of course you can always take your Corgi to training classes, but you’ll still need to practice at home every command taught in class.
When you give a command, you should always maintain eye contact with the dog. This will let him know that you are the boss. You should also use his name and a steady voice when giving him a command, such as “Charlie, sit!”. Do not yell, because you’ll scare him, nor give orders that are too long. Dogs only understand very little of our human language, and get confused when they hear long sentences. After you give the command, show your dog what you want him to do, while repeating the same words.
Give him a treat, such as a small dog biscuit, when he performs correct a command. You can also praise your Corgi, showing him that you’re satisfied with how he’s performing; this will make the dog happy and willing to continue with his training to please you.
Talking to much off-topic during training session will more than likely confuse the dog, so keep it simple. A session should not last less than 10 minutes, but no more than 15 minutes, if you want to get good results. Like children, dogs get bored and tired as well, if they are asked to do the same thing dozens of times. It is important that, once you start with the training, you set a schedule for each day, and, as the dog shows progress, reduce the amount of treats, until he gets used to listen without being rewarded. This doesn’t, of course, apply to praises; you are free to praise your Corgi every time he does something good, like acting on your commands.
Teach Your Corgi the Basic Commands in the Beginning
Now that you know how you’re supposed to train your dog, you can actually start teaching him a few commands. It is always best to start with the most basic commands, like “sit” and “come”, and you’ll also want to teach him how to walk on a leash.
“Sit” is usually the first command that owners teach their dogs. A little trick when trying to teach your dog to sit: keep a treat in your hand, bring it close to your Corgi’s nose and after you got his attention, start raising your hand (with the treat in it, of course) over his head, telling him to sit. Your doggie will follow the treat with his eyes, and his butt, without realizing, will sit down. After he has successfully completed the task, give him his treat and lots of praises.
“Come” (also known as the “recall” command) is an important command, but is also an easy one to teach. You will need to walk a few feet away from your dog; then, call his name, followed by the recall command, i.e. “come”. When the dog comes to you, praise him and reward him with a treat.
Teaching a dog to walk nicely on a lead can be a bit more complicated, especially for a curious and energetic dog that pulls on the leash in all directions. To teach him to walk, the leash needs to be very short, to keep the dog walking right by your side. Don’t allow him to walk ahead of you, or behind you. Repeat the walk command, and in time, with praises and treats, your dog will learn to walk properly when taken on a walk.
It is also important that you don’t try to teach your puppy more than one command in one training session. Take your time with each command, until your dog understands what you ask him to do, and never ever raise your voice, or your hand at him – frustration and anger will not bring anything good in your relationship. Patience, repetition, praises and affection, this is what your Corgi needs, and I can assure you that he will be your best friend for life.
Nice Tips!
As a dog trainer and Corgi lover I would like to add some extra tips on the dog training as a whole.
Corgis are very intelligent and docile dogs, with a little effort you can do lots of things! But is good to know that when you are rewarding your dog for doing the right thing you only have 1 second. Yes, that’s it! Dogs have a very little time period to relate what they are doing.
Be focused enough to reward your Corgi while his mind is still on the action he just performed.
Be progressive, first help your dog achive what you want him to do and reward him, then start complicating things one step at a time ensuring his sucess.
There will come a time when you need to tell your Corgi he is doing the wrong thing (as chewing a chair for instance), remember your Corgi has only one second to relate what he is doing to what you are saying to him. Reprehending him 5 minutes after he has done the thing will only confuse your dog since he will relate what he is thiking in that precise moment as a bad thing to do. And NEVER reprehend your Corgi using his name. If you do so, he will relate his name to being reprehended and will probably not come when you call him.
One extra tip for teaching your dog how to come to you:
Go somewhere safe where you can take your Corgi’s leash out for a few seconds. Ask a friend to come with you and grab your corgi while you step away and call him really hard! This will trigger his I-want-to-go-with-you-now emotions. So when he is exited tell you friend to let him go and reward your Corgi when he arrives to you (this I call emotional cognitive).
One last thing:
jealousy, pity, hate are all human emotions and do not apply for dogs. So if you think your Corgi is acting out of anger or jealousy well… That is just now happening, if your dog has behavioral problems please contact a dog trainer.
I would like to focus on the piety emotion, this is a very common mistake. You may be sorry for your Corgi many times, when he got scared for some reason, because he got hurt… you name it. But what you need to keep in mind is that when you tell your dog “you poor little thing!” and give him affection, you are only rewarding him for what he is thinking or doing in that precise moment so, for instance, if your Corgi is sacared because he heared a big truck while walking down the street the best thing you can do is ignore him and walk forward. That way he’ll learn to imitate what the leader does. If you reward him instead we will learn that getting scared is a good thing.
That’s all for now,
Greeting from Argentina!
Tom Hughes
great training tips, big question-is it possible to teach corgi males not to “mark” in the house? my cardigan male marks anything “new” including people! so embarrasing and im tired of cleaning it up! thanks for any advice
When my Corgi used to pee in the house I always tried to catch him in the act, and then I would tell him NO and I would take him immediately outside on the grass, where he would finish peeing. This is how my dog finally learned that he’s not supposed to do his business outside.
thanks for the advice, we have potty training down, this is marking, since hes intact and has bred. its just a small amount, doesnt smell like pee, but def has an odor. thanks!
The best way to handle this is to walk your dog a lot. Help your dog to feel like he is doing a great job marking up the neighborhood. Your dog is marking inside your home. Do you have another dog? Or maybe one that comes to visit a lot? To break this habit, I would take your dog outside every half hour to mark. That way, there will be no need to mark inside (and nothing that will come out if he does mark). Do this for a day or two. If it works, expand the time slowly until you are taking him out every couple of hours. This should work. Also, make sure to clean where he has marked exceedingly well so he doesn’t smell the marking anymore. Don’t use amonia products as they heighten the smell. Hope this helps.
Very helpful! Have you (or anyone) done lead/leash training with corgis? So far trainings been alright, but “down” is reallllly difficult, my corgi is more interested in trying to lick my hands clean of treat residue.
Thank you :3
Also look into clickertraining.com. No, I don’t work for them but I have been to one of their Clicker Expos and it was fantastic. I learned so much about clicker training and animal behavior. There are all kinds of free articles on the website. My 13 year old Lab/Pointer mix still gets excited when she sees me get my clicker out. She loves it…and it’s not just the treats she gets for doing something right. It has more to do with trying to figure out what I want her to do.
My problem is getting my girl to stay after i tell her down or sit, I’m planning to get her into a formal class because I don’t know what else to do other then repetition which she still doesn’t seem to grasp or she’s just being stubborn about not wanting to stay