Life for me has been a bit busy lately! For starters, my goals to start my own business has me now occupied working two jobs because we all know how pricey starting your own business can be! Some days I don't come home until 10pm at night which is why I haven't kept up with my YouTube channel or this blog in awhile. I'm really tired most days but with the holidays now behind us (thank God...), I can finally have some time to share some wonderful news with you all; we have a new family member!

    For many, many years, I have wanted a Corgi. One could say that I was that one girl where if I spotted a Corgi on the street, I would freak out. It even got to a point where I started manifesting Corgi's every day it seemed while we were out and about! To me, Corgi's have a very special place in my heart and it all started when I first discovered a YouTuber and his own Corgi, Gatsby. When I first came across Ryen's vlogs of his life with his new Corgi puppy, I knew right away that I wanted a Corgi of my own. Well, that was over 10 years ago so some time has definitely gone by since then. BUT, just days before Christmas of 2023, Dimitar and I had a heart to heart conversation about us getting a Corgi, and we eventually came to the conclusion that we were ready for one.

    So I did what I do best and I began to browse the internet for Corgi breeders near me. All breeders I contacted had waiting lists that were already full and I was beginning to think that we were out of luck. Then I stumbled across an advertisement for Corgi puppies. Now, I was very suspicious at first about this website because it was completely new to me until I did more research and discovered that there was an option for Breeders to become Gold Standard Certified to ensure ethical breeding and care were in place. I found a few Gold Standard breeders whos puppies I liked and reached out to them directly to answer my many questions. Some breeders were more welcoming to my questions than others and the ones who semed aloof were the ones I weeded out. Of the 5 breeders I contacted, I found 1 that seemed like a great fit. So a meet up date was scheduled for 12/19/2023, which gave Dimitar and I time to buy the essentials. 

    Days went by so fast that before we knew it, it was time to set off to Pennsylvania to pick up our new puppy! It was about a 2.5 drive and there were so many thoughts running through my mind. To occupy ourselves, Dimitar and I watched puppy training videos the entire ride. As we arrived in Pennsylvania, our GPS took us to a rural area that was surrounded by farms and cozy towns. I had already known that our puppy was born on a farm but to see it in person gave me a reality check; I was getting a puppy!

First picture of Amigo

    And just like that, we had met our puppy Amigo (his original name was Richard). I choose the name Amigo because it meant friend in Spanish and naturally, dogs are a mans best friend. Amigo was 13 weeks old and despite the length of the trip back home, he slept most of the way. When we arrived home, we set up his designated area near our second bathroom and let him chill out; naturally, he whined when we left him, but it was time to start teaching him independence.

    That day, we let him get as much rest as possible to help him adjust. He stayed in his playpen area and we restricted him to this area until about day four or five. Since he only had 1 of his shots, he wasn't allowed to go outside but he didn't quite understand how to use the puppy pads either which was also a dilemma for us.

    Since Amigo grew up on a farm, he was used to using the bathroom outside so we had to take him outside at first for him to go (to an isolated patch of course) which worked out well. By the second day, he ended up using the puppy pads inside and it was just a matter of praising him and giving him tons of treats for him to continue using the pads for potty breaks.

Amigo in his playpen area

     Amigo was not only a fast learner, but he had such a fun personality once he warmed up to us. He quickly brought us joy no matter how many times we had to check up on him or the lack of sleep both Dimitar and I were both getting; we loved the thought of having a puppy, especially a Corgi at that. 

    By day two, we started to train him with a clicker to do basic commands and crate training him. With both of us working full-time jobs, it was tiring of course, but we both took turns teaching him and it was so crazy how fast he picked everything up! We knew he was at the prime age to learn so we wanted to take advantage of his age as much as possible. 

Amigo striking a pose

    By day 3, he was proving to be a bit more trust worthy, so we let him spend time in the Livingroom but kept him connected to his crate with a leash. That way, he was always in view and near a puppy pad in case he had to go potty. Most of the time he was well behaved, but we struggled teaching him to not nip at our hands and feet (clothes even) so when ever he acted out, we made sure to crate him or ignore him. He barked excessively when this happened but it was only when he was calm that he ever got our attention. 

    I also had two cats boarding with me by day 4 who were my regulars. One of the cats named Maya, was very open to meeting Amigo. Since Amigo had never seen a cat before (I don't think so at least) he naturally barked a lot at them. By playing both with the cats though and Amigo, he quickly caught on that the kitties weren't anything to be intimidated by and eventually ignored them altogether. By introducing him to new species, I knew it would help him become better socialized since he wasn't able to go outside or meet other dogs at such a pivotal age.

Kitties watching Amigo from a distance

Maya interrupting Amigo's training

Amigo loves playing with the cat toys!

    

    Seeing Amigo interact so well with the kitties really inspired me. I had no idea when getting a Corgi how intelligent they really were and Amigo was learning his new commands so fast; by day 5, he already roughly knew 6 commands! There were of course days where he just didn't want to do any training whatsoever, which was fine because he was a puppy after all with a very short attention span. 

    It's also worth mentioning that I didn't start leaving Amigo in the crate until day 3-4. I didn't want to overwhelm him when he first arrived and I wanted time to train him to associate the crate with something good, like a treat. Just like with anything, we gave him treats for the time he'd spend in his crate and whenever he went into the crate on his own. Afterwards, I'd leave him in the crate overnight for about 3 hours and wake up to let him out for potty breaks and treats. Eventually he learned to be in the crate for longer periods and to be okay with it. 

    Now that Amigo is about about 16 weeks old while writing this, he definitely has grown so much and he also has moments where he doesn't like to listen. Sometimes he's not in the mood to listen to commands because he'd rather play and when this happens, play time ends for him. While the nipping has died down, it's important to stay consistent with his training because he is a Corgi after all; a breed that is notorious for being stubborn.  

Amigo finally outside !

Amigo in his new rain jacket

    Reecey and Hershey were introduced to each other a month ago and it has been anything but easy for me! While Reecey got along with my previous guinea pig just fine, it was an emotional roller coaster with Hershey. There were so many times where I thought they would be just fine until they would have days where all they did was bicker. I consider myself an experienced guinea pig mama but bonding Reecey and Hershey really tested me!

    During the introduction phase, I did my best to follow the typical introduction rules; neutral meeting ground, clean cage, separate after fights with health check ups afterwards, and interfere as little as possible unless blood is drawn. It became clear during the introduction phase that Reecey wanted to be in charge and Hershey just wanted to be left alone. Also, Hershey lunged at Reecey a lot which was expected since Hershey wasn't socialized well prior to adopting him; he also had a rough start so he was overcoming a lot of trauma.

    After 1 hour of meeting each other, they both finally had settled down so it was time to move onto the next phase and move them to their cage.

1 hr after introduction

    The next day, I let them see each other again but the fighting continued to the point where both were rolling around in their cage. I decided that this was the point I'd give them a buddy bath and clean the cage completely...again. It was a pretty stressful process for me because it required me to learn new things about guinea pigs behavior that I didn't really have to do before with my previous pigs.

    If you don't know, Buddy baths can help neutralize guinea pigs scents while at the same time, helping them bond over a scary situation (aka, the water). Sometimes it works though and sometimes it doesn't, but it was worth trying anyways.

Buddy bath complete! Look at those faces!

8 hrs after the buddy bath!

    It definitely stirred them up a bit more but I made sure they had two of everything and gave them as much space away from each other as possible; just because they're cage mates doesn't mean they always want to see each other! While they were making so much progress, I already had plans at this point to expand their cage to help them both be more comfortable around each other. 

    The next day, I spent all morning expanding their cage and modifying it to a 2x5. I knew I wanted a loft so after 3 attempts, I finally built a 1x1 loft with a ramp. Once the cage was finished, the piggies immediately took a liking to their bigger cage! I also had to teach them how to use the ramp and once they realized it led to more food, it became one of their favorite spots. Expanding the cage really helped the fights die down which was a huge relief!

Their new upgraded cage - setup 1

Their final setup w/ improved loft

    Even though the fights died down drastically, they still had their moments where they bickered. Hershey was going through his last months in his teen years which left him irritable and constantly annoying Reecey. When this happened, I separated Hershey for an hour so he could calm down and it normally did the trick. However, by the end of the month, they got into a major fight over night that left Hershey constantly hiding under the hay bag and Reecey very territorial of one side of the cage; it threw me off completely so I once again was back at work. 

    It was clear after checking Hershey over that they had gotten into a fight; Hershey had a bite mark behind his ear and a big patch of fur missing but there was no sign of blood. Since I knew Reecey wouldn't attack unless he was heavily provoked, I was under the impression that Hershey had annoyed him so much to the point where it lead to a big fight. It also seemed as if the dominance between the two shifted because Hershey would squeal really loud whenever Reecey came near him and Reecey was back to controlling the cage.

    

    I let them hash it out for 2 days like this but when things didn't get better, I ended up cleaning their cage and giving them both a quick bath. While I had second thoughts on it at first, it honestly helped them both make up to one another! I later then changed a few things in their cage by adding a privacy wall under the loft - this way they didn't constantly face each other as they were using this area as a way to square off at one another. I also added another hidey hut and a big long tunnel that they could use to escape from each other if needed.

New privacy wall & both pigs lying near each other

    So far, these changes seem to be working and I can only hope that my piggies only get closer from here on out. It's been one heck of a roller coaster ride with these two but I'm beginning to have hope for them. 

Until next time! - Sarah