Seven years ago, my wife and I adopted a six-week-old Welsh Corgi.  Although I have raised and trained German Shepard companion animals for years, I had never encountered anything like this Corgi.  She has a mind like a steel trap; when it snaps shut, nothing can get in!  

She quickly learned the word no, was easily housebroken, and seemed eager to learn and please.  At this point in my education, I thought that this small dog was going to be the answer to my prayers.  Little did I know that she would soon outgrow her eagerness to please and become even more stubborn than I am.

She willingly learned most of the more common basic commands before closing her mind to anything new.  This is when the job of training became the most frustrating endeavor of my life, and after a few months, I gave up.  I resigned myself to the belief that she would never learn enough to become a good companion animal, but that she would excel as a pet.

Several months latter, I noticed that she was playing with the door on an old wooden wardrobe that my wife had bought at a sale.  She taught herself how to open and close this door, and then I helped her learn to maneuver the doors in the rest of the house.  This activity was fun for both of us and she quickly learned how to handle every door that wasn’t locked or latched.  However, this proved to be a mistake, and it soon became impossible to get through our house without shutting the doors that she had opened.  Although she knew how to close them, she obviously thought that it was fun to train me to do it.  So goes my education, Corgi style. 

As my health deteriorated, I have slowly become more and more dependant on this small dog.  She seems to know that she has a job here with me, and lives up to my expectations.  However, due to my ongoing education, I have learned not to expect more than she is willing to do.  However, I must say that the more I need, the more she is willing.  Somehow, she knows.