Marian Your
1. My name is Marian Your, and I have been showing Pembroke Welsh Corgis since 1981, beginning in Obedience. I purchased my first Conformation show dog, “Rocky,” in 1981. Through him, a world opened, including meeting my mentor, Jack Girton, who owned Rocky’s grandfather. Through Jack, I learned about the history of the breed, the art of breeding, and about showing. My foundation bitch was sired by one of Jack’s UK imports, CH Olantigh Copper. I bred my first litter under the Tri-umph prefix in 1984. The Tri-umph motto is, “True Movement, Trainability, and Type,” and I strive to meet that three-pronged goal in every litter.
In 1994, we moved from the Houston suburbs to our 12-acre farm on the far west side of Houston, where our dogs have a fenced half-acre backyard to run in and live with us in our restored 1912 farmhouse. Highlights of my breeding program range from winning Best of Breed at the PWCCA (Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America) National in 1987, with my breeding program’s third generation CH Tri-umph’s Turning Heads, to current wins with “Joy,” MBISS BIS RBIS GCHG Tri-umph Tipsy Tart Of Raven-C: Best of Breed at The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show 2025, and most recently, Best in Show. Joy is handled by Ashlie Whitmore and Alfonso Escobedo. Many of our dogs excel in Performance and Companion events, and I am honored to have bred and trialed the first Pembroke Agility and Conformation Grand Champion, AGCH GCH MACH8 Tri-umph Tommy Wonder MXB3 PDS MJG3 PJD MFC TQX T2B5 CA FCAT2 TKN.
2. I am a member of the PWCCA Judge’s Education Committee, and we recently updated the Illustrated Standard and designed a Quick Study Guide (QSG) for judges. Both the Illustrated Standard and the QSG focus on the breed hallmarks: head foxy in appearance, proper proportions (40% longer than tall), firm level topline moving or standing, the unique wrapped front assembly, tail docked as short as possible, the equilateral triangle ear placement, and movement from the side smooth and free.
These hallmarks speak to both type (having a unique and recognizable appearance essential to all purebreds) and function, because the lower-stationed dog is better able to scale the steep hills of Wales. The free-moving dog could work all day. The wrapped front is essential to allow the legs to move forward unencumbered by the well-sprung ribcage that protects the heart and other organs. The Pembroke is truly a dwarf, medium-sized breed, both in structure and in attitude. This is not a small dog in any way. The Illustrated Standard may be purchased at the PWCCA.org website, and the QSG is available at all PWCCA/AKC Pembroke judging seminars. I wish more judges would come to our fantastic Judges Education Seminars at our National Specialties. This year (2025), we are at Roberts Centre in Ohio, and next year at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Missouri. Even judges who are approved for the breed can learn a lot by seeing the new generation of gorgeous Pembrokes, participating in the hands-on portion of the seminar, and reviewing the Breed Standard.
3. I never breed a litter without having a waitlist that exceeds my expected number of puppies. I am currently sending ten puppies off from my spring litters, and some people will have to wait for the next year’s litter. I can only speak for my part of the country, Houston, Texas, but there is quite a demand for a reasonable-in-numbers breeding program. I also get inquiries from all over the country, indicating there must be a shortage of well-bred Pembrokes in other areas. This is an easy breed to train, and they make excellent house dogs and children’s pets, as well as great Performance and Companion event dogs, which helps.
4. I have a private Tri-umph Group on Facebook, and anyone who submits a screening questionnaire and gets on my waitlist is added. There, a member can see pups and dogs from previous litters with their owners doing dog sports and celebrating birthdays, among other things. All members are free to post any photo or update of their Tri-umph Corgis, and it really makes us one big extended family. One puppy buyer recently told me when leaving with their new puppy how special it was to watch the puppies from birth in the group, then watch them develop, and finally, find out which one was theirs. They didn’t meet their puppy at ten weeks; they’d known him from birth!
5. We are considered part of the Greater Houston Community and my breed club, the Greater Houston Pembroke Welsh Corgi Fanciers, participates in the Astro World Series of Dog Shows’ Meet The Breed event almost every year. It is always a very popular event, and in recent years a surprising number of children as well as adults seem to have done their homework on the breed before they’ve approached us. This is probably due to information available electronically—they might have researched the breed while having lunch right before visiting us! But that’s fine, the interest in the breed is what is important! One thing I particularly noticed was an increasing number of young people asking questions about what it takes to show a purebred dog. I can’t tell you how excited I get when I hear that, and I try not to overwhelm them with information while still being as encouraging as possible, and giving them paths to take. We so desperately need young people in this sport to keep it alive.
6. I can only speak to my personal experience and my breed. When I started in purebred dogs, I became interested in Conformation, read the Standard, met people who bred show-quality dogs, bought a show prospect puppy, took handling classes, learned how to groom and condition, and then showed. He finished. Two years later, I decided I wanted to breed, after a trip to the National Specialty and seeing all the various bloodlines available.
I then bought one carefully chosen bitch from top bloodlines, and references were required to get a bitch pup. The next dog I owned was a puppy from that bitch, and after breeding her carefully via studying pedigrees, produced a girl who was Best of Breed at the National in 1989. These days, so, so many people buy several dogs from breeders who are not producing top quality, breed them, then show, win or don’t win, breed more, buy more, and pretty soon have a lot of mediocre dogs that should never have gone to a show in the first place. Studying the breed, learning and using pedigrees, and knowing the history of the breed seems to be a thing of the past. It’s not improving the quality at the shows and I’m sure it is very confusing to judges who are not very familiar with our breed! Judges, refer back to my comment about the accessibility of Judging Seminars at the centrally
located National!
7. I think the increasing concern for health testing has strengthened many breeds, including Pembrokes. Although our parent club only requires eye exams and hip radiographs for a CHIC (Canine Health Information Center) certification, many breeders are going beyond that by DNA testing for Degenerative Myelopathy and radiographing elbows. Many breeds sponsor health clinics to make expensive health tests such as echocardiograms more affordable. The increasing concern for the well-being of Juniors and other children in the sport is also healthy and necessary.
