Hopefully the word is getting out there by now: Pembroke Welsh corgis are very active dogs! I love how Alyssa Ramos of the Corgi Confident podcast calls them “little border collies,” because I think that description should help people picture what kind of exercise and enrichment requirements we’re really talking about here. In this post I kind of went over the things I do in an average day to keep Delia satisfied and challenged both mentally and physically. I really do believe a lot of the behaviour problems commonly reported in corgis can be at least improved by satisfying their needs for physical exercise and, above all, mental stimulation.
Ideally, everyone would choose the dog that will perfectly fit their lifestyle, and wouldn’t end up with a corgi unless they want a high energy, high intelligence, highly wilful dog in their life. But that’s not always how it works. Sometimes weird life events happen and we end up with a dog we never planned to have. And honestly, a lot of people get a corgi because they’re cute. But if that’s the case and you’re now determined to meet your dog’s needs, regardless of the fact that you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into initially, you will be 100% commended and never ever shamed by this blog!
Even if you’re like me and you did want a dog who can and yearns to do it all with you, some days we just get swamped with life and run out of time to take that long walk. For me, I have health problems and there are days I just can’t do as much as I would like.
My point is, I think for pretty much every corgi owner there will come a time when you really need to help your corgi release some of that physical and mental energy, but you yourself don’t have much energy to spare. So what’s a corgi owner to do? I’ve got some tips!
1. Food Puzzles, Snuffle Mats, Etc.
I’m going to start with this because it’s really the most basic and obvious. And to be clear, by that I just mean that for most dog-owners who are familiar with enrichment activities, this is what instantly comes to mind. From your basic Kong to some of the more advanced puzzles that Nina Ottosson makes (I’m not sponsored by anyone), these are great to engage dogs who are intelligent and food-motivated, which describes a lot of corgis! Some of the puzzles will also exercise their motor skills, as they may have to use their paws or their snouts in pretty advanced ways to get to the food. There are loads of food-dispensing toys out there. As a puppy Delia really liked anything that she had to roll and chase.
A snuffle mat is my go-to for what I call “chill enrichment.” Where I want Delia to engage her senses and have an activity to focus on, but without getting wound up and excited. Sniffing is a very calming activity for dogs, and it’s something almost all dogs enjoy. This post is meant to be corgi-specific, but if I owned something like a scent hound, a snuffle mat would be my absolute go-to activity. This is the one I have (again, not sponsored) which is kind of bells-and-whistle-y, but if you just search “snuffle mat” on the shopping platform of your choice, you’re going to get tons of options. You can even make your own if you’re a DIY type.
There are also tons of ways you can use stuff you have lying around to create food-based enrichment for your dog. Hide food in boxes (from the never-ending stream of packages a lot of us have these days!), packing paper, junk mail, brown paper bags, kitchen paper rolls, muffin tins with tennis balls on top of the food—the sky is the limit! Anything so that your dog has to shred or open something to get their food.
If your dog has only ever gotten their food out of a bowl, make it very easy to start with and use something nice and smelly to make it enticing. You can then raise the level of challenge from there. When they get really good at it, you can add an extra layer by hiding whatever the food is in, so they first have to find the toy and then solve it.
2. Fetch
Pretty self-explanatory, but this is something I can do while I’m working, reading, watching something, or otherwise occupied. I recommend using soft toys in the house!
3. Flirt Pole
First: don’t use laser pointers on your dog! This is definitely something I’ve done in the past, but thankfully something made me research it before using one for my already neurotic foster dog. While they are apparently just fine for cats, they are very frustrating for dogs, which can lead to compulsive and even destructive behaviours that have been called laser pointer syndrome. If you search up that term, you’ll find a lot of articles from trainers and vet clinics.
At first I didn’t understand the issue, because the majority of the time predators do not catch their prey. But there’s a definite difference. The biggest release of dopamine comes, not when dogs actually catch the prey, but when they are so close to catching it. So even if the dog doesn’t catch the squirrel, that moment where they are so close is heavily rewarding. And that comes complete with the scent, the sight of it, almost being able to feel that fluffy tail in their mouth… All of this gets rewarded by the brain, reinforcing the behaviour even when the dog doesn’t catch the prey. Critically, the dog can also clearly see where the escaped prey went. Up a tree, down a hole, along a telephone wire. And the scent remains.
With the laser pointer, there is never that dopamine releasing moment, because there’s never anything to tell the dog that they are so close to getting it. They swat it with their paw, and suddenly it’s on their paw. They bite at it without biting onto anything. There is no scent at all, just that maddening light. And then it suddenly disappears. Blinks out of existence, leaving no smell behind or indication of where it went. Clearly, there’s a difference. Go read up on it.
A fantastic alternative is a flirt pole. This is essentially one of those cat toys for dogs.
The difference is it’s much more sturdy and is designed so the dog can actually catch and tug on the toy at the end. This can be a stuffed toy, a bit of animal pelt, or a braided rope tug like you see here.
The flirt pole is not without dangers, especially for a young dog. You should always play with it on a surface that has good traction—never a slippery floor. Take care that you’re not causing the dog to twist around in ways that could hurt them, or to do crazy jumps that could cause them to land badly. And anyhow, the best way to play with it is to make the toy “run” along the ground in a way that simulates chasing an animal. You’ll get better and better with time at learning how to move the pole to get the most out of that toy at the end.
From time to time, let your corgi catch it and tug on it before releasing and beginning again. Most dogs are going to love this game, and the best part is that you can definitely play it while you’re sitting or standing in one spot.
4. Herding Ball
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, that makes me really happy because I get to share something that will be a game-changer for you!
A herding ball is a ball, ideally too large for the dog to pick up and carry, that they can exercise their herding instincts on. For Delia (and I would assume any other corgi and all the other breeds which are heelers) that involves a lot of barking and getting down underneath the ball and nipping at it, as she would nip at the heels of an animal.
We’re also slowly learning the sport of Treibball (slowly because we don’t have access to an instructor, so I’m teaching myself and her, and I have no idea what I’m doing! But we’re getting there.) For Treibball, those exercise balls or the large bouncy balls you can find in toy stores are used. But those are not very durable, so for playing in the yard, this is the one we have.
I had gotten her a very cheap exercise ball off Amazon initially. She enjoyed the most elated 15 minutes or so of her life before accidentally popping it with her teeth. She was absolutely devastated to see it deflate, poor love! So I definitely recommend investing in a more durable hard-plastic ball.
As I said, herding for corgis involves a lot of barking, so you have to be mindful of your neighbours. And it’s also a thing where she wants me to be outside with her so that she can herd it towards me and make it stop in front of me. So it’s not an entirely independent activity. But it’s not something that requires you to actually run around. I can more or less stand in one spot.
Any time you can find an activity that at least simulates what the dog was bred to do, I would say that’s the best gift you can give your dog. There’s nothing that makes Delia more satisfied than getting to herd that ball around the yard. I can really see it in her smiling face, and her contentment when she comes inside after herding the ball into its little spot and hearing, “That’ll do.”
5. Off-Leash Exercise
This one is for those days where you do have time for a walk, but maybe not a long or strenuous one. Taking your dog for a short, leashed walk on the pavement around your neighbourhood might leave the dog stimulated and frustrated and ready to do more, not satisfied and tired like you would hope. While an off-leash ramble through nature can leave you both feeling relaxed.
A lot of people have a visceral reaction to the words “off-leash.” At some point, maybe you and your dog were accosted by an impolite or even frightening loose dog, while the owner either frantically called for the dog in vain, or assured you that, “he’s friendly!!” (Or maybe even “he’s not friendly,” as my mom experienced a dog owner lethargically tell her while she was being charged by their vicious dog. Great, thanks for the head’s up…) Or maybe you fear that your dog will run away and never come back ever.
Rest assured that this blog advocates for responsible dog-ownership. Since other people might be wary or even relive a traumatic experience when they see an off-leash dog, I try to always put other owners at ease by calling my dog at the first sight of them. For Eleanor being so afraid of people, I knew for sure that she would come and velcro against my leg, looking at me until the people passed. For Delia, I know she has some conflict between the rewards for coming back to me and the fact that she does really love to meet new people. So as a little fail-safe, I almost always have her dragging a leash from her harness. I have an old beat-up skinny nylon leash for that purpose. It’s just an average length and drags unobtrusively behind her. But it gives me a chance to run and step on the end of it if I need to. It usually gets pretty filthy, so I always carry her regular leash so that I don’t have to hold the dragging one. I will clip that second leash on and wait at the side of the trail until the people have passed.
I think it’s so important to train a reliable recall so that you can let your dog off-leash. There are a ton of resources that talk about how to do this. Soon I’ll do a post explaining how I did it with Delia. It really opens up a much more enriching, satisfying, and relaxing world for you and your dog.
I learned this when I had Eleanor. There was no way I was going to be able to run with her, let alone run until she was tired. But if she was off-leash, I could casually stroll along as slow as I liked. She would run ahead of me to a certain point and either stop and wait for me or run back to me. She would run circles around me or stop and investigate a smell while I continued on, then race to catch up with me. We also played hide-and-seek along the trail, where whenever her back was turned I would duck behind a tree and wait for her to find me. So she might cover like 3 times the distance I did, because she was going back and forth and round and round. And all at a much faster pace than me.
This is why it was one of my top priorities to teach Delia these skills. If you can train your dog a reliable recall and to stay within eye-shot of you, that is hugely beneficial to your dog’s quality of life. Of course, you have to obey leash laws and, again, be considerate of others. Especially for pembs, I would recommend keeping your dog on-leash wherever there are a lot of people, even if other dogs are off-leash (unless it’s a place where dogs are expected to be off-leash like a dog park.) That’s something I recently learned the importance of. If you start looking around, I’m sure you will find off-leash trails, fields, beaches, etc. in your area that are relatively empty, at least during certain times of day.
And that’s all I have for you today! I hope this information was helpful and got you thinking of creative ways to help your corgi release some of that energy when you yourself are tired. If you enjoyed this post, that makes me so happy! Please consider subscribing (bottom of the page) so you’ll be notified when I post again. And have a lovely day.
