What’s shaped like a bread loaf but moves like greased lightning?
The ever-popular Corgi, of course, whose charm, personality, and speed that belies their shape, was on full display at the Sask Corgi Racers annual event on Sunday.
It didn’t matter whether they were pure-bred and papered or had a little mixture going - with or without tails - all the cropped-legged canines came out in their glory to the Glen at Crossmount just south of Saskatoon for the 4th annual races and parade.
The diminutive dogs strutted their stuff around the parade route with the nearly 2,000 or so fans cheering in delight to Princess Peach in her regal attire, Baby Shark with its finned costume, the Wonderbread hound with his trademark bag, and of course, BatDog.
The Sask Corgi Races got their start just up the road in Martensville, says Media Liaison for Sask Corgi Racers Kate Kading.
“Back in 2021, Caresse Ng who is the founder of Sask Corgi Races, wanted an event in Martensville. She is a Corgi owner, and she wanted to see an event happen. So, she popped on to the Saskatoon Corgi Owners group on Facebook and put up a general call out. Seven of us answered the call and formed the organizing board.”
The first race gathering in 2022 was meant to be a litmus test where the board expected 50 or so people to turn up in the Martensville Curling Rink as part of Martensville Buster Days. To their delight and amazement, 700 people showed up for that inaugural event, Kading says.
With that level of response, the races quickly outgrew the venues in Martensville, so in 2024, they sparked a new collaboration at their new site.
“Last year was our first year at Crossmount Cider Company; we’ve partnered with them for the event. This is a beautiful venue for the event that’s grown bigger and bigger. Last year, we had around 1500 people out for the event.”
A hall of vendors with wares for dogs and plenty of merch tailored to the Corgi breed were on hand, alongside a complete food and beverage service.
As a breed, Corgis have become increasingly popular as pets, in part because of a heavy presence on social media, says Kading. Serialized adventures of numerous Corgis have hit pay dirt on YouTube with an immense following. With the Sask Corgi Races, it’s more of a grassroots fan base.
“The success with this particular event is just word of mouth,” says Kading. “It’s a unique thing that no one has seen before. This is the only event like this in Saskatchewan.”
There is a race event in Edmonton, and one of the pooches in attendance at this year’s Saskatchewan edition, Winston, took top race honours at last year’s Alberta event, anointing him with a celebrity status. Kading admits that the whisper telegraph has resulted in this “trendy amazing thing, and we don’t quite know what to do with it.”
A bit of a deeper drill down on the breed will produce some remarkable facts. Corgis come from Wales, originally bred as herding dogs. Like collies, the instinct remains with them – they'll try to herd sibling pets, cats, each other, in a hard-wired commitment to their calling. The Corgi lore is deep and has been transmitted well beyond the confines of Wales.
“If you look at a Corgi, and it doesn’t matter what colour they are – they come in several colours – on their shoulders, you will see a difference in their colour. That’s called the fairy (faerie) saddle. The lore surrounding Corgis is that fairies ride them into battle and ride them at night. How can you not love a breed that has that kind of lore?”
The short legs and their “loaf-like shapes, along with their gregarious personalities make them natural comedians. But ask any Corgi owner, and if you’re lucky enough, get to know one. You’ll find a companion who is incredibly loyal, smart, responsive, eager to please, and with enough personality to delight, and occasionally confound, any dog lover.
The minute the final heat is run, Kading says organizers are right back into planning mode for next year’s celebration of all things Corgi at the Sask Corgi Races.
Enjoy the gallery of these racers, showing off in their finery.