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TL;DR: 

  • Animal psychologist Dr. Roger Mugford met with Queen Elizabeth II in 1983.
  • Queen Elizabeth’s corgis “wouldn’t stop fighting one another.” 
  • The dog trainer suggested there were “too many” dogs, prompting a swift reply from Queen Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth, who, according to a dog trainer, said Prince Philip already told her she had too many dogs, wears a blue dress and smiles sitting with a corgi on a couch
Queen Elizabeth II | Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II loved corgis. So when a dog trainer gave her advice about not having too many four-legged friends she rather “cuttingly responded.” Ahead, what the trainer recommended and where Queen Elizabeth’s corgis are now. 

A ‘distressed’ Queen Elizabeth met with a dog trainer to discuss her corgis in 1983

Animal psychologist Dr. Roger Mugford looked back on his experience working with Queen Elizabeth following the monarch’s Sept. 8 death. He met the queen in 1983 to discuss her nine Pembroke Welsh Corgis. The problem: they “wouldn’t stop fighting one another.”

The author and animal welfare advocate went to Windsor Castle where he had a two-hour consultation with Queen Elizabeth. “She was very passionate and distressed that things were not going well with her dogs,” Mugford recalled (via Newsweek). 

He gave the queen, whom he described as a “very hands-on owner,” a number of recommendations. “My advice was to let numbers of the pack diminish,” he said. Mugford also suggested what he seemingly described as an air horn to “break up fights between the group.” 

After the meeting, he noted, the “instigator” among the queen’s corgis named Chipper left the castle to live out the rest of his life with Princess Anne. 

Queen Elizabeth shared Prince Philip already told her she had ‘too many dogs’

Queen Elizabeth II, who told a dog trainer she could've "saved" their "fee" when they said she had too many corgis because Prince Philip already told her, takes photographs while her corgis stand nearby
Queen Elizabeth II | Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

Mugford went on to remember the queen’s response when he gently suggested she might have too many dogs. He recalled it took place “early on in the consultation” in one of Windsor Castle’s “personal family rooms.” 

“Early on in the consultation, I did hint that having nine dogs in a single pack, unless constantly supervised by someone appropriately equipped, was too many,” he recalled. 

So what did the queen say? “She rather cuttingly responded to me: ‘Dr. Mugford, Prince Philip has already told me that I have too many dogs. If I wanted advice of that sort I could have saved your fee.'” 

Queen Elizabeth’s remaining corgis now live with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson

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As for what happened to the queen’s two remaining dogs — Muick and Sandy — they have a new home. They live at Windsor Great Park with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson who inherited the pups upon the queen’s death. 

While the Duchess of York has occasionally shared updates, Mugford gave it his stamp of approval. Not only did he call it the “perfect setting” and “fully fenced and escape-proof,” he shared the location helps too. 

“Dogs form a strong attachment to a location, especially the wider geographical area. It’s kind of like a magnetic compass for telling them where they are in the grand scheme of things,” he explained. “So, they will know they’re at Windsor, despite not being in the castle.” 

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