If ever there was a BIG dog inna SMALL dog body, Windsor Allen is it! Windsor’s a proud Pembroke Welsh Corgi, but not a Snobnose.
He an his mom an dad greeted me an my assistant at the door. Windsor gave a coupla Barks in his o-fishull capacity as Designated Watch Dog, then trotted up for the Wag-an-Sniff.
Windsor’s a hansome pooch, with soft, thick, budder-scotch-an-white fur (which he said was very dark when he was a pupper), exceedingly fluffy panta-LOONS, anna uh-MAZE-ing fluffy tail that curls over his back (which looked great, even tho, he later explained, most Corgis’ tails are BOB-ed). An his EARS! They were AWESOME! Like sails, and they can rotate 180 degrees, like antennas!
“Welcome, Mr. Bonzo. Meet my Daddy, Jeff, an my Mommy, Tina. Let’s go sit down an I can tell you all about ME.”
“Sounds like a plan!” We followed him into the living room, an my assistant produced a duh-lishus treat from The Satchel.
Treat polished off, I opened my notebook. “So, Windsor, you have a very cool, unusual name.
How’d you get it?”
“Well, it was about 4 years ago: Mommy an Daddy are Snowbirds (we still are, ackshully).
Anyway, they were up in the Snow part at the time, Maine, an were lookin’ to downsize since their kids were grown. They’d always had Labs, but were currently dog-free.
“So a fren suggested, since they were plannin’ to downsize anyhow, they might as well downsize their dog, too, an she told ’em about this kennel in Bar Harbor: Corgi Bliss.
“Anyway, long tail short, they checked it out at JUST the right time (Thank Lassie) cuz they got to see MY litter. There were seven of us. The others were just bouncin’ around, but I was under the couch. I peeped out an saw Daddy: I mean, I KNEW he was my Furever Daddy. So I crawled out an came right over to him. An, That was That! (Now I’m almost 4!)
“I knew I’d found my Furever Humans cuz, well, us dogs just KNOW, you know? So, anyway, I gave ’em The Look. Us Corgis are HERDERS, an we know how to do The Look. Eye Contact is SO effective. Like, we can go from 1 to 10 on the Happy Meter just like THAT!”
I nodded. Only the grumpiest human can resist Puppy Eyes.
“But I digress,” Windsor said. “You asked about my name. Mommy an Daddy thought, because the Queen loved Pembroke Welsh Corgis and had generations of ’em, an since she’d lived in Windsor Castle pretty much her entire life, Windsor’d be the perfect name for ME, as a nod to the Queen!”
“Woof! Windsor, that is Totally Cool Kibbles! So, tell me about life with your Furever Famly.”
“First I gotta say, even though us Corgis look refined and deli-cat, we’re SO Not. We’re ackshully quite agile an athletic. We came from a small, Very Cool Kibbles country called Wales. Our job was herding cows an sheep, an bein’ guard dogs. So we hadda be Fast. I mean VERY fast! Daddy says I can ‘Flat Out Fly!’ Come on. I’ll show you.”
With that, Windsor leaped up, His Dad nabbed a few nearby tennis balls, an they both headed for the side yard.
“Come’on, Bonzo!” he hollered.
I grabbed my notebook an followed.
The side yard was a long grassy strip. We stood at one end, Windsor At The Ready.
“Watch THIS!” he called. With that, his Daddy launched a tennis ball high an far across the grassy alley an Windsor took off like a jet. His little legs were a blur. At the far end he leaped an grabbed that ball right outta the air, then came flyin’ back.
“Cool, right?” he said, not even breathing that hard.
“WAY Cool, Windsor!” I exclaimed. He executed a couple more catch-an-fetches, then we returned to the house.
“Wanna see my toys?” Before I could reply, Windsor’d pulled over a tall, soft-side toy basket an dragged from it an obviously well-loved lamb stuffie.
“Thiff ib by FAY-brit! Labbie!” Windsor exclaimed, mouth full of lamb.
“Got any fave foodstuffs? Pooch pals? Do you enjoy travel?”
“I admit I’m kinda finicky about foodstuffs. Well, VERY finicky. Mommy an Daddy call me The Prince. I don’t eat just boring kibbles. I get MY kibbles with cooked chiggen. An I get liddle ice cream balls called num-nums. But only Haagen-Dazs. One time Mommy couldn’t find Haagen-Dazs so she got Edy’s. WELL, one slurp an I’m like Wait! What? So they hadda eat it all themselves.”
Then Windsor’s Daddy got up, said, “Hey, Windsor, wanna num-num?” and headed for the fridge. Upon his return he held the treat up high, an Windsor did a head tilt, then bounced onto his hind legs an twirled in circles. He had great balance. I wudda been smack on my kazoo in, like 2 seconds. I was impressed.
Having dispatched his treat, Windsor continued. “As to pooch pals, I’m a frenly kinda pooch. At the dog park, I hang with the big dogs. Even tho I’d qualify for the liddle dog side, those little pooches are kinda nervous around me an tend to nip at me. The big dogs are like, ‘Hey, Dude, come on over.’
“Here, there’s Sofia Rose, she’s a super pretty Chu-Waa-Waa, anna Snowbirddog like me. I also have a buncha Grand Harbor pooch pals, cuz we usta live there.
“Plus, I have human brothers: Payson’s in Charleston, an Parker, up in Maine. We totally bonded. When he visits I get to sleep with him.
“I love car rides; an tummy rubs; an walks on the beach but not IN the water; an rides in the golf cart, WAY fun, but not ackshully exercise for me. Oh, an,” Windsor leaned in, lowering his voice, “most people don’t know, but Corgis are frens with fairies. Have been for centuries. At night, when there’s moonlight, we gather together an the fairies ride on our backs. See, my fur right around my shoulders is extra thick an fluffy. That’s called a Fairy Saddle. Cool Kibbles, right?”
“Totally!”
I couldn’t buh-leeve an hour had passed. Headin’ home, I was thinkin’ about Windsor’s adventures and his contagious enthusiasm for life. An reminding myself to ask my Gramma what my chances are of getting some num-nums.
Till next time,
Don’t Be Shy
We are always looking for pets with interesting stories. To set up an interview, email
[email protected].
