Bringing a new pet into your family can be one of the most exciting days of your and your children’s lives. However, when looking for a good breed of dog, you want to make sure they are not aggressive. Corgis are beloved for many reasons, but are they aggressive?
Corgis are not known to be dangerous but may show signs of minor aggression if attempting to herd you, your family, or any other pets. This traces back to their herding instincts and typically can be resolved by consistent obedience training. Otherwise, corgis are independent, spunky, and friendly.
If you are looking to bring a new pet into your family, corgis can be a great dog breed to bring along. They are small, fun, and playful, and show signs of affection towards their humans. While they may nip at your toddler’s heals if they have not properly been trained, this behavior is not typical unless they feel frightened, and even then, it can be addressed and corrected. Let’s take a closer look.
What Temperament Do Corgis Have?
Corgis are absolutely precious and have become increasingly popular as pets all over the world. With their soft fur, short legs, and smaller size, Corgis are adorable to snuggle and can win you over in a heartbeat. But, before you know whether or not a Corgi will be the right fit for you and your family, you need to make sure that their temperament fits your expectations for a pet that you would like to bring home.
Corgis are playful, independent, and can be a bit sassy as they are herding dogs by nature but have become family-friendly house pets. Corgis are considered small dogs, but their bark can be louder than you would expect when they become easily excited or scared. They are just as fun as they are funny.
Truly, if you were to take a gander at the local dog park, Corgis are going to be one of the most easily beloved dogs because of their unique stature and personality. While they have been known to be aggressive, this comes from a few behaviors that are only evoked when the pet is overly excited or feels threatened.
For example, a Corgi might nip at your heels, but this behavior comes from the dog’s herding instincts, so he or she would only be acting this way to attempt to get you (or your friends, children, or other pets) to go in a certain direction (perhaps away from perceived danger). Still, this is not characteristic of a Corgi to act aggressively, so you should not have too much to worry about.
Along with this, a Corgi can be a bit stubborn, but this can be quite hilarious at times as your pet totes around his or her favorite chew toy, or takes hold of his or her precious blanket. Since Corgis are largely independent, this makes them an easier dog to leave at home during the day, but they will still be highly playful when you are around- the best of both worlds.
Are Corgis Dangerous?
Since I have mentioned that Corgis have been known to nip at the heels of animals and people in a herding instinct attempt, this might have struck you in a bad way. So, it is important to clarify how dangerous these pets really are (not).
Corgis are not known to be dangerous and are more often than not good family-friendly pets. If your Corgi is acting out, it is important to check with your veterinarian as to why this unusual behavior could be occurring. Consistent obedience training and early socialization can help, too.
Actually, consistent obedience training is one of the best ways to ensure good behavior exhibited by your pet. This goes back to your dog looking for a pack leader. In a brief sense, if your Corgi does not trust you as the leader, then he or she will step up to the plate and attempt to take the dominant leader role. This can cause unwanted assertive, stubborn, or aggressive behavior.
However, the root of this issue comes back more on you than it does the dog. If you take the confident leader role consistently, not allowing your pup to misbehave, then you are way more likely to see positive behavior from your pet on a consistent basis. This means that your Corgi will not act out if he or she feels like you can provide them with the safety and security that they need from a leader.
Along with this, early socialization (as often as possible) is a great way to help your Corgi if he or she is acting out. This is more of a preventative measure- to allow your dog to interact with other pets and humans on a regular basis- beginning at as young of an age as is safe and possible. For Corgis, this could mean within the first year and continuing throughout year 3 to ensure the best behavior by the time your pet reaches an adult age.
Since Corgis are not known to bite a lot (but can nip at your heels as they attempt to herd you), positive socialization experiences and consistent obedience training can show your pet that you are in charge and are capable of keeping him or her safe. This is a great way to reduce unwanted aggressive behavior.
Is a Corgi a Good Family Dog?
If you have children, younger or older, then it is incredibly important to find a type of dog that will fit well into your family based on his or her personality, temperament, routine, and level of neediness. Along with that, you will want to make sure that your family’s personality, routine, schedule, and financial resources match up to provide your pet a positive home environment.
Corgis are known to be great family dogs because they are independent enough to not need you around, but they are social enough to enjoy and embrace your presence through play and snuggles. Corgis are funny, are not dangerous, and are generally safe around children.
Knowing that a Corgi is not actually aggressive can be quite comforting in knowing that this breed of dog will do well in your family with children. Still, it is important to distinguish the difference between personality and temperament in a pet. Specifically, a dog’s temperament is something that is passed down through the family lineage- through a combination of the ingrained instincts, natural traits, and human uses of the dog.
For instance, a Corgi might express independence as it was left to be in charge of herding a larger group of animals. In this example, the dog’s temperament is relatively predictable given the temperament of his or her parents (just one reason to purchase from a responsible breeder who can provide the family history for your pet).
Alternatively, personality is much less predictable as this varies from dog to dog (rather than breed to breed like temperament). Your dog’s personality is something that he or she is more or less born with, unique to himself or herself. Still, nature plays a large role in this too as your family will help to shape his or her personality.
So, you can be confident that a Corgi will have the appropriate temperament for your family- independent yet playful, sassy, funny, and social- and yet the pet’s personality (all of the cute quirks, strange habits, etc.) can be picked up by individual pets. This means that your beloved Corgi will make family memories with you, through the demonstration of his or her personality in combination with the temperament that is unique to this specific pet.
How to Address Aggression in Your Corgi
If you are seeing signs of aggression in your Corgi, know that this is not as common with this breed, yet it still occurs. Because Corgis are not known to be dangerous pets, though, it is important to take a look at the root of any unwanted aggressive behaviors, as this is not traditional of this pet’s character.
When addressing unwanted aggression from your Corgi, be sure to consult your vet regarding your animal’s behaviors, root out the source of the behavior, and take part in consistent obedience training to prove yourself dominant to your pet.
Your pet’s vet will be able to address any specific behavioral issues with you and run through a variety of scenarios that could be causing his or her dismay. This could be a source like acting territorial, embracing his or her herding instincts, or looking for you to be a better leader of your family’s pack.
Additionally, this could come from your dog being unhappy and needing more mental or physical exercises for the stimulation that this can provide. For example, you may find that providing your dog with more mental games and physical exercise (such as a nice long walk) can help your pup’s behavior to become more mild-mannered and calm. While it might seem strange, this addresses the root of the issue- hence why it is so important to find this in the first place.
And, as we stated before, this can almost always be addressed by instilling dominance in a safe and responsible manner with your pet to show your Corgi that you are in charge, are trustworthy, and that their actions are not acceptable. Your dog actually wants you to be in charge, rather than them having to take this role, so doing this can help your Corgi to return to the fun-loving pet that he or she was before.
