Owner of world winner corgi tells secret to becoming a champion breeder

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 7) — The fur parent of the four-year-old male Pembroke Welsh Corgi recently named world winner at the World Dog Show 2023 has advice to other dog lovers who would want to raise the next world champion.

“Kailangan may passion sila and time sa kanilang dogs and be a responsible pet owner…and lagi lang po tayong mag-trust sa ating dog because at the end of the day yung mga dogs natin lagi silang may trust, so yung trust sa atin ay kailangang ibalik natin sa kanila,” Wency Villanueva, owner of champion dog Dalbong, told CNN Philippines’ New Day on Thursday.

[Translation: They need to have passion and time for their dogs and be a responsible pet owner. And we should always trust our dogs because at the end of the day our dogs always trust us so we need to return that.]

Dalbong, the first world winner dog from the Philippines, bested 131 other corgis as well as other dog breeds in the competition held in Geneva, Switzerland last month. Aside from the world winner title, he also won the Best of Breed award.

According to Villanueva, preparations for the World Dog Show took a long time since they had to join local and other international competitions first to build their bond, and to perfect Dalbong’s movements, grooming, and even diet.

Villanueva added that training for a dog show is not only for the pet, but also for the owners themselves since they need to know how to properly present their pets.

Despite their busy training schedule, Dalbong’s owner said he still makes sure the corgi still has time to socialize and play.

Following their victory at the recent World Dog Show, Villanueva said he plans to join other competitions as long as Dalbong wants to.

“Dalbong is only four years old and we’re planning to join more because I believe ang pagiging show dog nafi-feel din po namin yan kasi ako yung nasa dulo ng lead ng aso so naa-understand ko if my dog gusto pang mag-join,” he said.

[Translation: Dalbong is only four years old and we’re planning to join more because I believe, as someone who leads the dog, I understand if my dog still wants to join.]