The one and only Duke

Some of you may have seen a few pictures on FB of my little Welsh Corgi dog Duke. But I would like to officially introduce you and tell you a little bit about him.

 

He's such a ham!

 

It was several years ago we were at a goat show in Chilicothe, MO when we ran across a woman who had 2 corgi pups for sale. At the time we had another corgi Charlie and thought he needed a play mate and a friend. So after spending all day walking buy the pen with the pups and playing with them we finally got dad talked into letting us buy him. Best decision we've ever made! I don't remember quite what happened when we brought him home and introduced him to Charlie but I think they took a little while to get use to each other.

 

Duke not long after we brought him home. He never grew out of those big paws :)

 

It was so funny seeing their completely different personalities. Charlie the more quiet, old man, grumpy, lazy, fat personality to Dukes wild, wiry, young, free, and playful personality really made for some interesting encounters. But as the years went by they got along great together. They would wrestle in the living room together and chase each other around the yard. Sadly we lost Charlie last April he was an amazing dog who left a big foot print on our hearts.

 

Must of had a hard day :)

 

Duke is a very "smart" dog I guess you would say. He knows how to do a couple of tricks with the help of people food or a treat he can turn around and sit. He is a natural cattle dog. He has had no official training but is able to go out with us when we work cows or load them and he seems to know to get behind them and push them. Sometimes he tends to get in the gate we are trying to use or get in front of the cows but overall he does pretty good. Back when we had chickens he would heard them around. One day we had some Amish guys at the house loading up some cinder blocks from a barn we tore down. Duke really didn't trust them or something and he went and rounded up ALL of the chickens and put them into their house. I guess he thought they were safer that way. He is also very protective. One day when I was home by myself the heating guys came to work on our heater and I guess they were there too long because he never left my side and started to growl at them.

 

Playing in the snow we got a few weeks ago.

 

Now duke is one tough little guy. Not only has he gotten kicked by the cows last summer he broke his front leg at the shoulder. We were getting home from a pig show and unloading the pigs when duke got into the pen. We shut the gate and I was lifting him over and he jumped out of my arms and let out a yelp that I probably won't ever forget. That night he limped around and the next day it hadn't gotten any better so I took him to the vet. They thought they were going to do surgery to put pins and screws in but they ended up just setting it and putting a cast on it. I spent as much time with him as I could downstairs. I felt so bad because it was my fault. There was one day I got off of work and laid on the floor with him and fell asleep. To me it was just sad to see him lying around all sad. I caved one day and held him in my lap and gave him a ride on the golf cart. (one of his and Charlies favorite things to do) He is now back to normal after about 3 chewed off casts later he now runs and plays and jumps all over the place. The only thing is that now he won't get into a vehicle. After making several trips back to the vet since he doesn't trust you when you ask him to get in the truck.

 

Looking all cute and sad.

 

Most of the time you'll find Duke either laying around in his tie-dye colored bean bag, on the couch, the bench outside, or on the golf cart seat. He loves going outside and when you say the word chores he perks up and races to the back door. If your lucky he will jump up on your lap and take a snooze. But all in all he is just a fun loving happy dog who I'm glad I've had the chance to know. I look forward to many more years with him.

 

The infamous bean bag. This was Charlies bed but as soon as duke came along duke took it over. After Duke laid in it once Charlie wouldn't even go near it. We caught him a couple of times napping in it but that was rare.