There’s a saying among corgi owners: “If you know, you know.” And after the first-ever Durango Corgi Crawl, it was easy to understand what they meant.
Corgis are awesome.
On Thursday, some 30 corgis and dozens of adoring humans gathered in Buckley Park to celebrate the stumpy, English-bred herding dog before walking down Main Avenue to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train station.
Corgis of all shapes, sizes and colors amassed in the park, barking at each other, wagging their nub tails, looking bewildered and eating treats. Some even dressed up, wearing their finest flower bonnets, bucket hats and dinosaur costumes.
Event organizer Tracy Harwood said she thought up to 10 corgis and their owners might show up. She was amazed by Thursday’s turnout.
Harwood – who had only large-breed dogs until adopting her corgi, Claire – was inspired to put on the crawl after learning about similar meetups of the corgi-crazed in communities across the country. Prior to the event, Harwood said she was testing the waters to see how much community buy-in there would be.
“I started seeing there were other communities around the country that have big, huge corgi events, and I’m like, well, let’s have one in Durango,” she said.
As it turns out, Thursday was International Corgi Day. Attendees were encouraged to wear costumes, and the best-dressed among them were awarded prizes from local businesses Bark Bark, Tractor Supply, Creature Comforts, the Pet Haus and Basin Co-Op.
Candi Mallari and her corgi, Ein, dressed up as a bumble bee and a purple flower and took first place in the costume contest.
According to an American Kennel Club article on the spunky little dogs, corgis were originally bred in Wales, possibly as far back as the 10th Century. They were employed by farmers as an all-purpose farm dog to help with tasks like herding cattle, hunting rodents and guarding livestock.
“Basically, they would do any task that didn’t require legs longer than 12 inches,” the article said.
Yet, apart from their farmyard utility, Harwood said corgis captured the hearts of generations of people for their outsized personality.
“Sometimes they’re called the clown dog. They’re just big personalities on short legs,” Harwood said. “They’ve got the biggest personalities; they’re judgmental, they’re opinionated, yet they’re affectionate and loving.”
Valerie Mangrum and her corgi, Ms. Potts, said the dogs love people, too.
“Ms. Potts is our first corgi, and she has been one of the best dogs we’ve ever had,” Mangrum said. “Corgis are very people-oriented, and Ms. Potts loves kids.”
Harwood said the corgi crawl was meant to grow community and make people smile.
“I’ve lived in Durango for 22 years, and I just want to bring some happiness and joy, bring people together,” Harwood said.
She said she is interested in starting a nonprofit to make the event more official in years to come. But, in the near-term, with the Durango Cowboy Poetry Gathering coming June 7, she encouraged attendees to go and have a wave of cowboy hat-sporting corgis romp through town.
“My next vision is a Cowboy Poetry Parade, have a whole herd of corgis in little cowboy hats,” Harwood said.
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
