Corgi Tales: Midwest Corgi Picnic and Corgis in the Park!

It was just the last two years that we lived in Minnesota, that some state and region wide corgi events were planned. Because they were new, they weren't real big - but I hear they are growing in numbers. A former friend of mine was very involved in the HUGE semi annual corgi beach days in California, and I think it was because of the wild success (and national exposure) of those events, that other states are following suit.

Tim and I were commenting that you never hear of a "Dachsund Picnic" or a "Golden Retriever Beach Party". Maybe they exist, but I've never heard of them. But corgis are such an incredibly social breed - and, let's face it, - their humans are kind of a subculture, too, that more and more corgi events are popping up around the country.

Here in Indiana, the "Midwest Corgi Picnic" is held in early October. That is a three hour trip from Goshen, and we went this year mainly to check it out. It's a fundraising event, so there are entrance fees, dog park fees, even fees to participate in some of the contests and games. And it wasn't particularly well attended. Still, we had a fun day there and might go back sometime.

There were two Cardigans there and you can see them both in this picture; the blue merle in the foreground (beautiful dog!!!) and the white one with grey markings is a double merle, which is a big no-no in the breeding world. They are usually deaf and/or blind; a genetic aberration that comes from inheriting the merle gene twice. This one was a rescue dog - deaf and an eye that is deformed. But a sweet temperament and much loved by his family.

Corgis in the Park - held yesterday in Grand Rapids - is a huge event and we had a blast! We went last year but it rained almost all day which decreased both the size of the crowd and the enjoyment. Yesterday was cool and damp, but not raining and there had to have been around 300 corgis there! As the pictures will clearly show, while most of the dogs were playing with each other, Zak was working the crowd for some lovin' and cuddlin'. (Poor boy never gets that at home!) I'm sure he was the most photographed dog there because of the way he goes up to people, plops down right in front and waits for them to pet him .... then beams for the camera when they want a picture. What a boy! Scarlett had a LOT of fun running and playing with the other dogs, but made sure she never got TOO far away from me. It was pretty overwhelming! I had a meeting later that afternoon and attended a concert that Tim sang in, in the evening and then drove home, getting back very late. Needless to say, we were ALL tired and have had a pretty lazy Sunday just resting and not doing much else.