Are Corgis Easy to Train? (Everything You Need to Know!)

So, you’re wondering how easy or hard it’ll be to train a corgi.

Perhaps you’re considering adopting or buying a corgi and you want to know how many headaches you’ll have to deal with to train it.

Yikes.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• How smart are corgis?
• Are corgis easy to potty train?
• The overall difficulty of corgi training
• And more

By the end of this article, you should have everything you need to know about corgi training basics.

Let’s get started.

Are corgis smart?

Yes, corgis are considered to be a smart dog breed.

Because of their intelligence, they’re relatively easy to train and teach new commands.

Corgis are known for their degree of intelligence, splooting, furry butt, and even their vocality.

Corgis are stubborn

However, corgis are also stubborn, meaning they like to think for themselves. This may make them difficult to train even if they’re smart.

Corgis are known to do what they feel like more than pleasing their owners, which means if your corgi doesn’t want to do tricks or listen to commands, it won’t.

This is probably the major drawback to having a smart dog breed because they know how to make their own calls. If they don’t want to do something, their stubbornness will stop them.

You shouldn’t expect your corgi to constantly try to please you. Some owners even noticed that their corgi puppy became stubborn with time.

They’re food-driven

Corgis are heavily driven by food as a motivator and reward. You can exploit this to get your corgi to listen to basic commands and follow your lead.

With regular training and positive reinforcement by food, you can have a well-trained corgi that’s eager to please (for food).

Some owners have even said that their corgi calculates if the punishment is worth the action- especially when the dog does something it shouldn’t be.

This is an example of corgis possibly being too smart and how the intelligence of the breed can backfire on the owner.

Stubborn, but smart

Sure, being smart means that the dog will pick up new commands quickly, but it also means that it doesn’t have to always listen and will make its own judgment calls.

Corgis should be taught obedience training and commands from an early age as a puppy so that it’ll listen to them as an adult.

So don’t get upset if your dog decides to think for itself- it’s normal even though it seems like your training is going backward!

These dogs will continue to learn even beyond the puppy part of its life and need the mental stimulation to stay healthy.

But then again, not all corgis are stubborn. If you happen to get one that’s eager to please its owner, that’s a nice combination.

A smart dog that’s easy to train and willing to please its owner!

How smart are corgis?

Corgis are extremely smart compared to other breeds.

These dogs simply have little competition other than a few other popular dog breeds, like Border Collies or Poodles.

Even though the degree of intelligence between Cardigans and Pembrokes are different, the breed overall ranks highly.

Are Pembrokes or Cardigans smarter?

Both Cardigan and Pembroke corgis are known as “bright dogs” based on the research of Stanely Coren– a canine researcher who studies dog IQ.

• Pembroke corgis are currently ranked as the 11th most intelligent dog.
• Cardigans are lagging behind at the 31st most intelligent breed.
• But, even at that spot, both breeds are considered to be very smart.

Their intelligence allows them to quickly learn new commands and take on obedience training easily.

Although corgis aren’t in the top 10 world’s smartest dogs, they’re still nipping at the heels of the Australian Cattle Dog, which ranks at 10th place.

Pembroke Welsh Corgis are considered to be bright dogs and are one of the smartest dog breeds in the world.

Are corgis easy to potty train?

Just like any other dog, it depends on the environment, your training regimen, and the dog’s personality. In general, corgis learn to become housebroken quickly because of their sheer smartness.

But at the same time, these dogs are known to think for themselves and be stubborn at times.

This means if your corgi doesn’t feel like going pee in the usual spot, it won’t.

Their stubbornness can affect progress

This can be extremely discouraging right when you think that your dog has learned how to go outside, but then takes two steps back and does the opposite.

Remember to continue and be persistent with your training regimen.

Potty training a corgi is easier because it’s smarter, but also more difficult because it’s stubborn.

Corgis are highly motivated by food rewards, so use that and exploit it to help facilitate training your dog.

How hard is it to train a corgi?

It’s not hard at all.

Corgis are an extremely smart dog breed and will learn new commands in just a few repetitions.

The brightest dogs that are in the top 10 learn commands in less than 5 repetitions. And these are new commands that they’ve never been exposed to.

The top 10 dogs obey the first command 95% of the time or more, which is amazing.

Corgis learn quickly

Just think about teaching your corgi a new trick and learning it in just 2-3 tries. That’s smart. Even though corgis aren’t in the top 10, they’re just barely out of the picture.

Depending on the specific dog, your corgi may very well be ranked within the top 10 dogs because the dog intelligence rankings are just averages.

Just keep your dog rewarded by food and motivate it to learn your commands!

Further reading

Here are some more resources you may find useful:

• Dog Intelligence Ranking – DogBreedsList
• Are Corgis Smart? – The Smart Canine
• The Intelligence of Dogs – Wikipedia

Corgis are easy to train

Now you should have a better idea of how easy it is to train a corgi!

With their smart nature, they’re very easy to train breed. The only thing that can hinder progress is their stubborn nature, though this depends on the dog and personality.