The amazing history of corgis
The Corgi is not just a small, cute dog with short legs and a wagging tail. It carries a history that stretches back thousands of years – full of mystery, sagas and old tales.
No one knows exactly how long Corgis have existed. But one thing is certain: as early as around 1200 BC, when the Celts migrated into Wales from Central Europe, they brought small dogs with them. Dogs with long backs and short legs - perfect for darting beneath cattle and driving them forward.
You can almost picture them racing across the rolling hills of the Welsh countryside.
Several centuries later, in the early 9th century, the Nordic Vikings arrived on the coasts of Wales.
Aboard their ships they brought small, pointy-eared dogs. According to the sagas, these dogs were loyal companions on long sea voyages. Many believe that these Viking-dogs were ancestors
of the breed we now know as the Västgötaspets.
A couple of hundred years later, the Flemish people came to Wales,
bringing their own small dogs with them - most likely the dogs we today know as the Schipperke.
With all these dogs, people, and encounters, something new began to take shape.
In southern Wales, near Pembrokeshire, the local dogs met the spitz-type dogs of the Flemish and the Vikings.
From this emerged a small, lively, and lightly built dog - most often reddish in color, with white markings.
Some had bobtails, others full tails. This dog later became known as the Welsh Corgi Pembroke.
Further north, in Cardiganshire, the small dogs met other breeds: the Welsh Collie, the Scottish Collie, and the Brindle Herder. Here, a slightly heavier type developed, always with a tail and in many different colors.
This became the Welsh Corgi Cardigan.
For many years, the two types were considered one and the same breed. They competed side by side at dog shows - first in 1925. But in 1934, it became official: the Pembroke and the Cardigan
were recognized as two separate breeds. And if you look far enough back in pedigrees from the 1920s, you can still find traces of Pembrokes in some Cardigan lines.
So the next time you meet a Corgi, remember that you are not just seeing a cute dog - you are seeing a
living piece of history. A dog that traveled with Celts and Vikings, and that has
been a beloved companion for generations.