The Good Breeder Spotlight Column: Eddie

Meet Good Breeder Eddie Quezada, and learn why he can't get enough of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi breed!

My wife Joni and I are the breeders behind Quirky Corgis. We began breeding Pembroke Welsh Corgis in 2015. I think we make a uniquely good team because Joni is very clinically knowledgeable about our dogs and puts a great deal of work into our program. This helps make sure we are prepared for the future with best practices to ensure the longevity of our Corgis. I handle the day to day care for them, as well as manage our website and social media. If you ever contact Quirky Corgis, it’s me you’re talking to.

My wife came up with the name Quirky Corgis. She wanted us to use a letter that matched our last name, and liked “Quirky” because it means “peculiar or unexpected traits.” Every vet and groomer we have taken our dogs to has told us that they are the best behaved Corgis that they have ever interacted with. This is quite uncommon since Corgis are notorious for being bossy and headstrong.

We chose to breed Corgis because they are high energy and very intelligent. They are also known for being great with kids whenever they are trained correctly. We are very interested in agility and showing, and since Corgis are used for herding, they can be involved in many different activities. They can also be great couch potatoes. To me, this wide variety of personalities is what makes Corgis so interesting.

Our experience of welcoming our first set of puppies into the world was very much a “hurry up and wait” event. We educated ourselves on topics like helping stuck puppies, cutting umbilical cords safely, resuscitating puppies who can’t breathe, and helping them maintain the correct body temperature after they’re born.

When the day finally arrived, we double checked that everything was ready for our newborns to come into the world. We waited and waited … and waited some more. Ellie started pushing and we were so excited – that meant it was time! After all the puppies were born, we breathed a sigh of relief. When they arrived, we knew we could take care of them, and show them they were born into a world filled with love and support.

Since that first litter, our focus has been to breed the best Corgi possible. We strive to produce Corgis with great temperaments and health. We want the Corgis to leave our home knowing they’ve been paired with a family to grow old with. It takes a lot of preparation and intentional breeding to ensure genetically sound Corgis. We invest heavily in health testing, and feed our dogs the best quality food we can find, along with nutritional supplements and probiotics.

Our life revolves around our Corgis. In preparation for new litters, my wife and I work on opposite schedules to make sure someone is home to care for them. We’re also lucky enough to have our family live within walking distance to help check up on the puppies, in addition to using digital monitoring, so we always feel assured that they’re safe.

When it comes to learning more about the world, we work hard to make sure the puppies’ experiences are good so they can approach real life situations with confidence. The Corgis are introduced to a variety of animals and people so they get used to the unique shapes, sizes, and sounds of other creatures and people. We’ve raised friendly and loving kittens alongside our dogs, so the puppies will learn that cats aren’t all that bad either.

My wife and I are always learning new things from other dog breeders and Good Dog’s Good Breeder Center. Before each litter, we reevaluate how we do everything. We research new equipment and techniques we can use for whelping, think about what we will feed the Corgis, consider how they’re socialized, evaluate how our contracts are worded to help set expectations, and think about how straightforward it is to get a puppy from us even with our screening process. We want to be very transparent with our future puppy owners since they’re going to have a shared family member with us.

We always have a little fear whenever we are going through applications from people who want a puppy from us. We're nervous and afraid that we could make the wrong choice when placing a puppy with a new family. We’re looking for people with a lifestyle that includes one of our puppies as a member of their family — not just someone looking for a dog

Here are some questions we might ask to reveal some key things we’re looking for:

Will they love their new family member? (Most people will fall into that category)
Are they financially stable enough to endure an emergency vet bill that can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars? (Not everyone can make it past this question)
Will they be able to weather the responsibility of raising a puppy to adulthood? (Are they at a point in their life to take care of a young life?)

We believe that our Corgis are a really good example of their breed and they’ve been such a joy to be around that we want to share that as we work to produce better and better Pembroke Welsh Corgis. All dogs — regardless of how they came into this world — deserve the happiness of companionship and the love of a good family. It means everything to us and makes us so proud knowing our Corgis are placed with their forever family.

The original article can be found on Good Dog's website www.gooddog.com

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