The American Kennel Club’s Pick of the Litter is a monthly podcast that covers canine pop culture, its people, and news you can use. Join us to hear from dog owners, handlers, trainers, lovers—and their dogs—at home and in the field, at shows, and anywhere that four legs are as good as two. From canine heroes to celebrated artists, listen in on the wide world of dogs.
On this special edition of Pick of the Litter, we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, by recognizing her favorite breed, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Host Lisa Peterson talks with Bill Shelton, a breeder of champion Pembroke Welsh Corgis (pictured here, with a friend) about this strong-willed herding breed. The Queen received her first Corgi, a bitch called Susan, as a gift from her father King George VI for her eighteenth birthday. Since then she has bred and owned more than thirty Corgis, and Shelton says the development of the breed can be charted through her lines.
Why do Corgis appeal to the world’s most powerful woman? “I think she found in them what we all do,” Shelton says, “and that’s that they’re a bold and kindly intelligent little dog.”