The tributes to Queen Elizabeth II are pouring in — from corgis and (presumably) their owners all over the world.
Corgis are the short-legged herding dogs that seemed to accompany the queen everywhere she went. Photographs of the then-Princess Elizabeth as a little girl include one picture of the future queen cradling one corgi in her arms, with another at her feet.
Even when the dogs misbehaved, the queen continued to delight in their company. She was ever loyal to the breed, even when she ended up with stitches in 1991 after trying to break up a fight among a group of her favored dogs.
Within hours of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, posts on Facebook included sympathy cards with drawings of corgis, including one with a little crown over one ear that read, “Queen Elizabeth II Always in our hearts from Corgis everywhere.”
Other social media posts address the late monarch directly with statements, such as this one from Northern Nevada Corgis, “RIP Queen Elizabeth II. Thank you for loving the corgis so much.”
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Still, other posts fret about who will care for her corgis she is said to have had at the time of her death.
Carrie Chase, like the late monarch, shares the queen’s love of corgis and understands the reactions to her passing on Facebook.
“All the corgi people are on there, everyone is sad about it. We appreciate what she did for the breed, and always had a great deal of admiration for the queen.”
Chase, who lives in West Virginia, is an American Kennel Club judge. She breeds Corgis and is a member of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of the Potomac.
One of her dogs, Champion Hum’nbird Keepn Up ‘Pearances was the top-winning Pembroke Welsh corgi of all time, and won the Herding Group at the Westminster Dog Show.
Corgis, said Chase, “look like little foxes with short legs and they have lots of personality.”
Some members of the royal household might have put that a different way. The queen’s dogs famously snapped at the ankles of staff — and some visitors. That behavior, said Chase, is no mystery. She says it hearkens to their job as cattle dogs.
“They would nip the cattle’s heels on the way to market,” Chase said. And those short legs and low profile were an asset. “They can duck lower to the ground and avoid the kicks of the cattle.”
The formal name of the breed owned by the queen is the Pembroke Welsh corgi. That’s the tailless variety she favored. The Cardigan Welsh Corgi, which has a tail, is not just a different breed, but the two have “completely different origins,” according to the American Kennel Club.
Chase said that while Corgis are small in stature, they are big in personality; and like big dogs, they are athletic.
“Corgis require exercise. They are not a hyper, high-energy breed, but they’re an active breed,” Chase said. “The biggest misunderstanding, in my opinion, is people think they’re a toy dog and they don’t require exercise.”
Corgis need good training and an owner who is active but also disciplined,” chase said.
Corgis are known to be good family dogs and very affectionate, but Chase said they can be stubborn. “If they know you’re a pushover and they can have their way, then they will get their way.”
