Yes.
Why should the breed be turned into less and less of a working breed? Why should the breed be made suitable for anyone who wants one? When people ask me about owning a pemmie, I often find myself steering them away from the breed. If you're not prepared to own a dog with the hardness and sharpness and drive of a cattle dog, then go look at a different breed. I adore my breed and part of that includes NOT wanting to see them be able to live in any home that wants them.
Would you suggest breeding sighthounds that can be loose in an unfenced yard and won't run off just because there are people who want the breed but don't have fencing?
How much of a working breed are pems right now? Because I've had cattle all my life, been around other folks with cattle who did have working cattle dogs, and I've never ever once seen or heard of a working corgi. By working, I mean a corgi who goes out every single day and moves stock for a living. I've seen australian cattle dogs, and cur dogs, but never a corgi.
If you could steer me toward any corgi breeder who DOES work their dogs on cattle for a living, then I will believe that the breed is still a working breed. That's like saying, nobody should breed any great danes unless they put them on wild hogs first. Sorry, but most modern danes would probably pee themselves or get killed by the pigs. I don't see how it's remotely realistic to hold the OP to standard of breeding that virtually no other corgi breeders follow.
There isn't a very big market for full time cattle dogs, and of the people out there looking, very few are looking for corgis.
People want to make a big deal about show vs. working breeders, and honestly it is NOT a black and white issue. Yeah, it would be wonderful if there were still jobs for all these breeds. The fact is, there isn't anymore.
People can say their dogs herd all day long, put little titles on them and stuff but the fact is, competitive herding these days is not a
job. It's a
sport. Running around a ring with a bunch of dog savvy ewes is a different world than bringing a pissed off ewe with her lamb off the side of a mountain during a raging lightning storm. Chasing a plastic bag around a field is a world away from running down a wild wolf and hamstringing it, then holding it down by the neck until your master can catch up with you. Also, not all people are lucky to live near a place that offers herding lessons. I am fortunate to have two coursing and two (really good) herding venues within an hour of my house. Where my sister in law lives, she has to drive over 5 hours to do either one of those activities. What then? You can't be involved with a breed unless you move close by a club that hosts activities?
I mean, my borzoi can chase sheep in a circle for crying out loud. He definitely can't work them all day. I don't call what he does for fun, herding.
Let's take pit bulls, or any other fighting breed. Have boston terrier breeders destroyed the breed by breeding DA out of them? What about amstaff breeders taking it out of their dogs now? That is a trait that is REQUIRED for their original job of fighting. Is it ethical to breed away from it? Are non DA pits still pits? What about places where hunting is illegal with hounds? Should people breed away from that? Or should they go out and test their dogs illegally? I'm not saying there is a right or wrong answer. The answer is going to be different for each individual breeder. Each person has their own vision of where they want to take their lines. What eye shape they prefer, what level of drive, what traits they like and dislike, what type of game they want to hunt or stock they want to work. It's not right or wrong IMO unless the dogs are suffering from it, like you're breeding deformed unhealthy animals or psycho ones who suffer from normal human contact.
As long as people are health testing, willing to take back puppies that don't work out in their new homes, and breeding with a goal in mind, I'm happy. I don't have to agree with their goal, but as long as the dogs are taken care of it's better than the vast majority of breedings that go on out there.