Travel USA

Who Let the Corgis Out?

By Raoul Pascual

Photos by Raoul Pascual

If you’re ever in Southern California, Huntington Beach Tower 22 is famous for one thing. It’s open to dogs! And every now and then there are big dog events like Corgi Beach Day which took place last April 2, 2022. If you want to be part of the Corgi “in crowd,” you need to be there. This year, Corgis arrived from as far away as Texas for one very big reason: to partay! partay! Then partay some more!

We arrived early at 8:30 a.m. and found street metered parking still available a few blocks away. The sun never fully came out to tan the visitors so most of the hundreds of beach goers wore sweatshirts and jogging pants. Vendors selling dog-wares were hurriedly putting up their tents. Food trucks were firing up their grills. The other early birds were staking their claim at the best patches of sand. I guess the Corgis sensed this was going to be a big event because their tails were wagging, and their tongues were hanging out.

Surfers were up early to catch the strong morning waves.

The brave Corgis and their owners and masters ventured into the raging waters. Die-hard surf boarders with body suits were already catching their waves when we got there. This was also an opportunity for the Corgi masters to show off their Corgi accessories: wigs, hats, body costumes, sunglasses, carts, colorful leashes, shoes – you name it – as long as their Corgis allowed it.

Corgis come in all shapes and sizes. But just in case you didn’t know, there are two main types of Corgis: the Pembroke Welsh Corgi (made popular by Queen Elizabeth II) and the Cardigan Welsh Corgi (believed to be bred by Nordic settlers in SW Wales). Both have small furry short legs (they don’t walk, they scurry) and large ears that stand upright like radars scouting for predators. They are, in fact, herding dogs – often referred to as heelers, meaning that they would nip at the heels of the larger animals to keep them on the move. So, it’s their God-given duty to keep people (and sheep) in check and guard the premises. They naturally bark out danger warnings with every shift in the sound barrier. But today, since it was partay day, most of the Corgis left their megaphones at home and played nice to each other.

Humans in tow. The trained corgis ran around without leashes.

These intelligent Corgis come in earth color shades where some are fluffy, others are brindle. I believe the further away you go from the black and sable Corgis, the further away you are from the pure-bred Royal Corgi. Naturally, our very own two Corgis are pure-bred (and we have the papers to prove we spent a fortune for them). Hey, when you’ve spent an arm and a leg on something, you need to brag in order to recuperate your loss, right?

They do shed like crazy! Thank God for vacuum cleaners! They have insatiable appetites. My wife serves them the best dog food money can buy but has to limit their intake to maintain their healthy 30 pound weight otherwise they would eat all day. Strangely, they love vegetables like green beans, broccoli and especially bok choy. I guess Los Angeles Corgis are also turning vegan.

This was also a major selfie opportunity: “Looky here! We’re one of the early rising cool kids!”

You could tell there was going to be a corgi exhibition — bragging rights to be won!

But back to the Corgi Beach Dog party. There were trophies lined up for upcoming contests. I believe the contests were based on skills and good looks. But we didn’t stick around to watch them because our socialite hounds had to go to an obstacle course contest a few blocks away. We did see a woman in leotards teaching the crowd to discover their inner Corgis by doing Corgi Yoga. Yup! You heard that right – Corgi Yoga! Corgis were walking around wondering what their human masters were doing but I didn’t see any Corgis stretching although I did see their masters reaching for the sky – with their feet!

Introducing the fastest growing exercise in the world — Corgi Yoga! Good luck with that!

As we were leaving the party just before lunch, hordes of more Corgis were crossing the street to join the Corgi frenzy. The organizers said they were expecting 1,500 corgis. Just think about it. That’s 1,500 sheep herders with radar ears and hidden blow horns. Imagine the chaos that was about to happen. I remember the Biblical scene of Abraham and his family leaving the chaos in Sodom and Gomorrah. The angel instructed them to escape and not to look back or they would turn to salt. Fortunately, I didn’t look back and I didn’t turn into salt. The local news came after we left the Corgi celebration. I’m sure everyone had a blast … especially the Corgis.