If, like me, you troll the internet for dog-related content, you’ve probably noticed the heartbreaking trend of Chicago corgi meetups. They’re planned, garner excitement, raise our hopes and then dash them when the events get “too big.”
While corgi meetups in California (and Washington and even Kansas) seem to go off without a hitch, those of us in Chicago who just want to be able to fawn over a gaggle of corgis have had no such luck. What does a girl have to do to catch a bunch of furry corgi butts on a beach?
Back in September 2015, a group of corgi parents tried to coordinate a gathering at Montrose Beach. But because humans are a flawed species and we tend to ruin everything, the event was closed off to bystanders after the number of respondents rose above 2,200. In their defense, according to users who RSPVed, the event originally stated it was open to non-corgi owners too. The corgis still gathered on a much, much smaller scale, but those of us not lucky enough to have a fur baby in our lives were left off the guest list.
More recently, Kendal Seale, 21, was forced to cancel her Chicago-area corgi party after more than 9,000 people said they were “interested” in attending the Facebook event. The gathering was set to take place on April 23, but after the event page made its way nearly ’round the world, with people as far away as Germany booking flights to make it here, Seale pulled the plug.
“I kind of knew it was going to have to happen once it spread around,” Seale said. “People from Canada and Germany said they were coming. … Why are you going to fly here?”
Seale, who owns a 1-year-old corgi named Riot, said she was disappointed to crush the dreams of corgi lovers, owners and friends alike but made the call for the pups’ safety.
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“I was really determined to have a group of corgi owners and I didn’t even mind onlookers,” Seale said. “But people don’t see corgis too often, and if they freaked out, the corgis would freak out.”
This wasn’t Seale’s first corgi rodeo, either. While living in Minnesota, she coordinated a few mildly successful corgi gatherings in South Dakota (yet another state that’s managed to host a civil corgi event without massive chaos).
For Avondale corgi owner Tony Burke, 23, it’d be worth leaving the city to get his pup, Moby, in on the action. Burke and his girlfriend are hoping to bring their dog to San Francisco for Corgi Con this summer. Though Chicago gatherings would be closer, their flaky track record makes it tough.
“I understand why they would blow up,” Burke said of past events. “Who wouldn’t want to see 200 to 300 corgis playing together in a confined space?”
Corgi Con has a much better track record and reportedly drew in more than 650 corgis at an event last fall. One noticeable difference between Chicago events and those like Corgi Con is ticket sales. So far, no corgi meetups in Chicago have been ticketed. Seale, however, said she’s planning another event in the Chicago ‘burbs, and it will be a ticketed gathering closed off to non-corgi owners.
“It’s not for people to interact with corgis,” Seale said. “It’s for corgis to interact with corgis.”
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