Aspen Peak Corgis

Breeders of champion line pedigreed AKC registered Cardigan Corgis.

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About Aspen Peak Corgis

Aspen Peak was formed in 2020, when I bought my husband his first German Shepherd puppy for showing and breeding, while I did research on Cardigan Corgis. He was going to breed German Shepherds while I was going to breed Cardigan Corgis.

I (Catherine Rudy) started breeding Minuet cats in 2015, with my husband being my right-hand man but not really delving too much into the intricacies of cat associations and genetics like I had. What he learned was through absorption from me. My cattery is called Tiny Lions Minuets (www.tinylionsminuets.com) and I went all in with the breed, even becoming the Minuet Breed Group Chairperson with TICA (The International Cat Association). I show my cats and have taken them to the highest titles they can achieve.

My husband watched proudly from the background. He was always by my side in raising our cats, hand-feeding kittens small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. However, he always felt he was apart from the cat world because he was a dog person. He wanted to do what I was doing with my cats with a dog breed he has always loved, the German Shepherd Dog. He kept his peace until after years of breeding cars, he finally posed a question: Would I be willing to help him breed German Shepherd Dogs.  

I was startled by his question, not so much that he wanted to move into the dog world, but that he would want to take on an endeavor for himself. In truth, several years ago, we raised Jack Russell Terriers, but our growing human family and work constraints put a kibosh on that after a while. It wasn’t until we both retired and our family grew up and moved out that I started raising cats. Now, Scott, my husband, wanted something for himself. He had watched me go through the horrible growing pains of raising kittens of a minority breed, was my rock when I was ready to quit, and knew all the ups and downs of breeding, and he said he was ready to take on a project of his own.  Our own. I agreed only if I could pick my own breed to get behind, while he did the German Shepherds.

So we agreed to explore breeding dogs again, even while I continued with my cats, only after we did a lot of research in the dog breeding world. In truth, we already had a lot of “breeding” knowledge and respect for doing it right, but we wanted to learn the intricacies of the dog world. Things had changed in the many years since we had raised Jack Russell Terriers. Since I am the one who does all the intellectual research, I started reading books on German Shepherds, delving into German Shepherd sites, and making contact with the breeder who would eventually agree to mentor me with our first dog. It took a lot of work and my history with my cattery showed that I was worth the risk with a breeding dog.

To make a long story short, my husband found Julie and Luis Taborda in Florida through some old work contacts and I spent a lot of time speaking with Julie and earning her trust. She grilled me and I appreciated that. I expected nothing less from someone who values her dogs and her lines. Eventually, Julie agreed to let my husband and I get one of her dogs, but it had to be a dog worthy of passing on genetic material–a show quality dog.

We got WDR Lakota Aspen Peak Vom Fustenhund from Julie in September 2020, our first German Shepherd Dog as a 9 week old puppy. She came from exceedingly impressive lines, with her sire being Grand Champion TRG’s Johnny Walker Red V Luzak, and her dam being Grand Champion Wonderland’s Mia Hamm FDC CGC ATT.  We were thrilled and couldn’t wait to have Lakota grow up with us. It was going to be a long wait for our first litter from her–two years to get her OFA certifications–but in that time, we would train and show Lakota, as well as have her be a part of our family. Breeding correctly takes a lot of time and patience, and we were definitely willing to do this.  

In the meantime, it was understood that breeding German Shepherds was my husband’s project. I had said from the beginning that I would like to pick a dog breed that I could get behind. Over time, and much research, I chose the Cardigan Corgi to be my dog breed to get behind.  So why?

Did you miss the point that I was already successfully breeding Minuets? While not well known, Minuets are dwarf cats. I had become so involved in the science behind the dwarf gene, that I was embroiled in an ongoing study with Dr. Leslie Lyons of the University of Missouri and vets with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA), where we were doing a multiple series of radiographs on the joints and bone structure of dwarf cats to identify if there are any health issues with the feline dwarf gene. Dr. Lyons is the geneticist who is the project coordinator and will publish the study; the OFA will be reading the rads, and I am the one who tracks down the cats and gets them x-rayed (and pays for all the x-rays). This is because I am committed to the health of these cats. This commitment carries over to my love for this type of body structure and it was inevitable that I would find myself attracted to dwarf dogs. I did a lot of research on dwarf dog breeds and found that Corgis are an ancient breed that can be dated back to the tenth century. This means they are not a man-made breed, but a natural breed that has evolved over centuries. What this tells me is that they have had over a thousand years to adapt with health and their structure. I chose the Cardigan over the Pembroke because I do not believe in docking tails. I see no need to do this.

While my husband worked on his German Shepherd breeding program, I continued my research into the Cardigan Corgis. With my mind set on them, I searched for a good breeder. Since Cardigans are not as popular as German Shepherds, I realized I would not be able to network with breeders for a stud. I would have to get a girl and a boy. But I did not want a boy at the house with whole girls (being a whole Cardigan and a whole German Shepherd). My husband and I had become members of two GSD clubs and had several options for stud service, but not so with a Cardigan. My daughter, living only an hour away, was only happy to have a Cardigan Corgi added to her family, and her and her husband agreed to keep our Corgi boy if I got it for them. Which I did.  

I found Monarch’s Titonwan Aspen Peak (Seymour) from an exemplary breeder and he went to my daughter’s family. It took a little longer to find my first (and only) girl at this time, reaching out as far as Alabama for her. We named her Legacy’s Stoney of Aspen Peak, and she came to live with us at 5 months.  We were then in a waiting game before even seeing if we could breed Corgis. While my husband progressed with his GSD breeding program, I showed both Corgis sporadically (in between my furious showing of Minuets) until they could reach two years old. At that time, they would be able to have their health testing done.

In 2025, the testing began. We started with hips and elbows. Both Stoney and Seymour passed those tests. Then it was eye exams.  Their DNA was done through Optimal Selection and show clear of 271 genetic diseases.  

Note: It should be noted that 85% of Cardigan Corgis will have the CDDY gene, which is associated with achondroplasia in dogs (dwarfism) and back problems.  However, this is only a risk factor gene and not one that has any definitive indication that the dog will develop back problem. In fact, the likelihood of the condition, per Wisdom Health, is a low-moderate risk:

Likelihood of the Condition

Low-moderate likelihood

At risk dogs may show signs of this disease in their lifetime, although many will not develop the condition due to absence of additional risk factors.*








*Brown, E.A., Dickinson, P.J., Mansour, T., Sturges, B.K., Aguilar, M., Young, A.E., ... Bannasch, D.L. (2017). FGF4 retrogene on CFA12 is responsible for chondrodystrophy and intervertebral disc disease in dogs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 114(43), 11476-11481. View the article ↗︎

Our Kennel in Brief:

Aspen Peak Corgis is run by Catherine and Bryan Rudy of Divide, Colorado, in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. It is dedicated to producing pure-bred, champion line Cardigan Corgis that can pass along the desirable traits found in this loyal, adorable breed.

It is the intention of Aspen Peak Corgis to promote the Cardigan Corgi as an ever-improving, healthy breed by breeding only high-quality dogs that have passed their health certifications and proven clear of genetic diseases tested through DNA by Wisdom Health, Optimal Selection.