Copper CrestPembrokesInquireIowa families
Our Pembroke Welsh Corgis are raised in Casa Grande, Arizona, and reach Iowa by nonstop flight or by road. One of them, Max, made the trip to Cedar Rapids by ground transport.
Arizona to Iowa
Iowa families have a real choice between the air and the road. Three airports serve the state with nonstops from Phoenix Sky Harbor, each about three hours in the air: Des Moines, with American and Southwest; Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, with American; and Omaha, just across the Missouri River, with American and Southwest.
Pick the airport by your side of the state. Central Iowa meets the flight in Des Moines. Eastern Iowa, from Waterloo down to Iowa City, is usually better served by Cedar Rapids. Western Iowa looks to Omaha. The Quad Cities have no nonstop from Sky Harbor, so Davenport families do best driving a little over an hour to Cedar Rapids.
Iowa runs on Central time: two hours ahead of Phoenix in summer, one hour after the clocks fall back in November. Summer planning starts at our end. Airlines stop accepting pets as cargo on Phoenix flights through the hottest months, and while our puppies never go in the hold, we still pick morning flights so no puppy waits in an Arizona afternoon. Travel is quoted separately once a puppy is reserved; see what a puppy costs for the puppy itself.
See who is availableA USDA certified provider brings the puppy by road over two to three days, with photo updates on the way. It suits rural Iowa, since nobody has to drive to an airport, and it is how Max reached Cedar Rapids. See how delivery works.
The nanny keeps the puppy in a carrier in the cabin, never in the hold, and meets you at the airport the same day.
For families along the Missouri River, Omaha's Eppley Airfield is closer than Des Moines and has Phoenix nonstops on two airlines. The cabin handoff works the same way.
Families who spend part of the winter in Arizona can collect at our home in Casa Grande, or fly into Sky Harbor, meet us there and take the puppy home in the cabin on their own flight.
Available now
See the puppies available now, then ask about the one you like.
Drive times
Rough times on dry roads from the nearest airport with a Phoenix nonstop. Choose ground transport and the puppy comes to your door, so none of this applies.
| If you live in | Airport and drive, roughly |
|---|---|
| Des Moines | DSM, about 15 minutes |
| Ames | DSM, about 45 minutes |
| Cedar Rapids | CID, about 15 minutes |
| Waterloo and Cedar Falls | CID, about 1 hour |
| Davenport | CID, about 1 hour 20 |
| Dubuque | CID, about 1 hour 30 |
| Council Bluffs | OMA, about 15 minutes |
| Sioux City | OMA, about 1 hour 30 |
Around the state
Iowa looks uniform from I-80, but each corner of the state asks something different of a short-legged herding dog.
Newer subdivisions around the metro often come with HOA rules on fences, so check what is allowed before you plan the yard. An invisible fence keeps a Corgi in but does nothing to keep coyotes or loose dogs out. The paved trails around Des Moines are ideal for a daily walk, but July asphalt burns pads, so go early.
Rentals are the planning point here, especially near the university in Iowa City, where many leases limit pets by size or number. Get permission in writing before you reserve a puppy. In Cedar Rapids, keep a young Corgi leashed along the Cedar River, where the banks are steep and the current runs hard after rain.
The wooded bluffs and trout streams of the northeast are where Iowa's deer ticks are most abundant, though they now turn up across most of the state. A low, fluffy coat collects them in tall grass, so ask your vet about tick prevention and check your dog after every hike. Save the steep bluff climbs for an adult dog.
Out west the wind rarely stops, and on open ground a January wind chill can drop far below zero, so keep potty trips short and on the sheltered side of the house. On an acreage, gravel roads with fast trucks are no place for a dog drivers cannot see, so keep a young Corgi fenced or leashed.
Worth knowing
Eastern Iowa families often assume the capital has the only Phoenix nonstop. Cedar Rapids has its own on American, and for most of eastern Iowa it saves an hour or more of driving each way.
Iowa wind can lift fallen snow and close an interstate under a clear sky. When I-80 or I-35 shuts for blowing snow, a ground transport run waits, and so does any drive home from the airport. We plan winter deliveries with a spare day and move the date rather than push through.
The Iowa DNR tests state park beaches for microcystin, the toxin from blue-green algae, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and posts advisories when levels run high. Dogs face more risk than people because they drink the water and lick it off their coats. Check the advisory before a lake day, and rinse your Corgi with clean water after any swim.
Pembrokes were bred to drive cattle by nipping at their heels. On a farm, a Corgi puppy will try it on calves and goats, and a kick from a cow can do real damage. Introduce livestock through a fence with the puppy on a leash.
Day to day
Steady exercise all year. An adult Pembroke is happiest with two real walks a day plus a job, whether that is fetch, a training class or a nose game in the yard. Iowa's extremes make that harder in January and July, so plan indoor versions: hallway fetch, food puzzles and short training sessions. Corgis gain weight easily when walks shrink, and a heavy Corgi strains its own back, so measure food rather than scooping.
The coat handles both seasons if you let it. Never shave a Corgi for an Iowa summer; the double coat helps keep heat out. Brush through the heavy sheds in spring and fall instead. In winter, wipe road salt off paws after walks and watch the fur between the toes, which packs with snow. The first winter is the hardest, since the adult coat is still coming in. Our Corgi care guide covers the routine.
A Cedar Rapids placement
Yes. Max went to the Anderson family in Cedar Rapids by ground transport, the door-to-door road option that typically takes two to three days. The Andersons put it simply: “The process was easy from start to finish, and Max has been wonderful. We are just happy he handled the journey gracefully. We will shower him with so much love.” Expect a puppy who arrives by road to be hungry and sleepy: offer the usual food and let the excitement wait an hour.
Read every family storyIowa questions
Yes. American flies nonstop between Phoenix Sky Harbor and Eastern Iowa Airport, usually more than once a day, and the flight takes a little over three hours. If the schedule does not line up with your puppy's go-home date, Des Moines or ground transport are the backups.
Both work well here. A flight takes a single day, with the puppy in the cabin and you meeting them at the airport. Ground transport takes two to three days but comes to your door, which suits farms and small towns far from Des Moines or Cedar Rapids.
We do not recommend it. A grown Pembroke handles cold walks well, but the breed was developed to work beside people, not to live in a barn, and a puppy has no adult coat at all. Keep your Corgi in the house at night, give it outdoor work and play by day, and it will be a far better farm dog for it.
The parents are screened for Degenerative Myelopathy, hip health, CAER eyes, PRA and vWD1. Ask us about the testing behind any puppy you are considering and we will go through it with you. Every puppy also leaves with a vet exam, age-appropriate vaccines, deworming and a one year health guarantee in the contract.
Next step
Tell us your town and whether you would rather fly or have the puppy driven to your door. Current puppies are on our available puppies page, and they go to whoever reserves first.
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