5 days ago
Ukraine's corgi dog festival is fit for a Queen
The dog days of summer may not yet have arrived in Kyiv, but on a hot, humid Sunday at a beach club on the Dnipro river, canines are all that can be seen: corgis, specifically — the adorably short-legged dogs beloved of the late Queen Elizabeth, and now the people of Ukraine.
Everywhere you look, there they are: jumping gleefully into the river; competing on a miniature agility course; sporting little sunhats with holes for their ears and generally spreading their furry brand of joy amid a gathering of Kyivans exhausted by the relentless night-time bombardment by missiles and drones.
This is the third 'Corgy' — or 'orgy of corgis' — organised by Katernya Shekshnova, a breeder and pioneer of canine therapy. She was inspired by the comfort that her corgi puppies brought her son when the Russian invasion began. Air raids triggered compulsive behaviour in the young boy, including biting his fingers until they bled.
'They are a key that opens hearts,' Shekshnova says as her tiny charges walk alongside her, recalling Princess Diana's memorable description of the 'moving carpet' that accompanied her mother-in-law everywhere. 'Communicating with animals triggers hormones associated with happiness. And then the work can begin.'
Shekshnova's corgis are regular visitors to a rehabilitation centre for soldiers and veterans, but this event is all about celebrating the breed, with a bit of fundraising on the side. Nadia has brought all four of her corgis: parents Adele and Oscar, and two of their grown-up offspring, Lo and Nicole, all sporting sunhats. 'I don't really know why I chose corgis,' she says. 'I just looked at them and fell in love.'
Nadia is not yet sure whether to enter them in one of the many contests at the event. 'I'm not sure if I want to shame them,' she says with a laugh.
Corgis have been commonplace in Ukraine for some time but their popularity 'exploded after the death of Queen Elizabeth ', said Maria, another visitor. The Queen's death, six months after the Russian invasion began, was deeply felt in Ukraine, as was the support offered by the royal family and Britain as a whole.
Other qualities make corgis the perfect wartime companions. 'Look how calm and sweet they are,' Maria says, noting the absence of barking or growling among dogs that were strangers to one another until today. 'And,' she adds, with emphasis, 'they look like they are smiling all the time.'
Kyiv's most recognisable corgi, Loyd, was well known long before the invasion, having fronted a 2019 promotional video for the capital in which he slipped away from his owners to narrate a tour of the city, mostly from a dog's ground-level perspective. The mascot is followed by 45,000 people on Facebook, while 'Corgis of Ukraine' has almost 3,000 fans.
Ukraine's most famous dog of war is Patron, a Jack Russell who is the face of the country's canine mine-sniffing force. But one corgi, Elton, has been certified as a search-and-rescue dog with Antares, a volunteer group based in Pavlohrad, near the eastern city of Dnipro. Maria Romanova, Elton's owner, was only 17 when she brought him to join the team. She hoped to contribute to the war effort like her older brother, a soldier fighting on the front line.
'Until recently, we did not take young people on difficult missions,' said Larisa Borysenko, who founded Antares back in 2008 as a volunteer service to locate missing hikers. 'But the rush left us no choice, and if a 17-year-old girl can do something that millions of adults can't, then she is needed now.'
The corgi festival, however, is all about fun. Let off their leashes, the corgis bound into the river, some even gamely clambering on to paddleboards for a cruise along the river. Nadia isn't sure whether to let her own four pooches take part. 'I am not sure the water is clean enough for royal dogs,' she says. Misha, a classic white and tan Pembrokeshire corgi, makes do with a paddling pool filled with plastic balls.
The day wraps up with an award ceremony for obedience, agility and looks. An interloping chihuahua makes it to the final but neither organiser nor corgi partisans seem bothered. 'It's about love and joy,' Shekshnova says. 'The corgis teach us that.'
