Cardigan Welsh Corgi

You may wonder how in the world could my dog, Stubby, be such a great cattle dog? By nature, Stubby is actually an excellent herder. Well, what do herding dogs do? They nip at the cattle's heels to get them to go in the direction that they want to herd them. And what do the cattle do? They kick at the dogs in reflex to the bothersome nips. Stubby is so short that their hoofs fly right over his head and unaffected he just keeps on herding and nipping. I know he annoys the heck out of the herd.

But my Stubby is more than a work dog. He's my buddy. We've been together for more than a year and I must admit that I've shared my bed, my drink and my food with Stubby more than once. He'd do the same for me, I'm sure, but I'm just not into the taste of dog food, at least not yet.

When I first got Stubby he had trouble jumping up into my pickup so I had to install some running boards. And if he gets a good running start he can just make it onto the seat. He has some trouble seeing over the dash, so he'll sit up on his tail and lean on me to get a clear view of the road. He's got a lot of character and his intelligence is reflected by his ingenuity.

Stubby takes his responsibilities serious and will only act clownish by accident and doesn't understand me laughing at him. He'd much rather impress me with a job well done. And every time I give him a task to do, he impresses me with how easy it was for him to learn it and do it well. He only asks for a little recognition and praise now and then, which I am more than happy to give.