Austin Corgi Lovers, a dog enthusiasm group, held one of its monthly meetups at Zilker Park on Saturday, Sept. 17. Attended by dozens of corgis and their human companions, the meetup was a chance for corgi owners to unite through their fondness of the little herding dogs. 

“We hold the meetups several times a year,” Julie Amundson said. She brought her two corgis Perle and Middy to the event. “It’s a chance for the dogs to run and play.”

Amundson said that when meetup locations are fenced in, there can be more participation during the events. Zilker, a no-leash area, is open so people tend to be leery of letting their dogs off the leash.

“I love going because it’s corgis everywhere,” Amundson said.

Austin Corgi Lovers has a number of guidelines for people bringing their dogs, including providing records of up-to-date shots for the good of the corgi community as a whole.

The meetups are also sometimes held as benefits for related charities such as Corgiaid, a national organization. Their mission is to sponsor medical and adoption expenses for corgis and corgi mixes. The organization also helps corgi owners deal with some corgi-specific maladies such as degenerative myelopathy, a condition including the degeneration of the spine and subsequent loss of mobility in the back legs.

According to Animal Planet, corgis can be traced back to southern Wales where, roughly a thousand years ago, they emerged as herding dogs. Their short legs, intelligence and obedience made them excellent cattle dogs. Since then, they’ve become popular dogs across the world. Even the Queen of England reportedly has more than a dozen corgis.

Austin Corgi Lovers also hold a number of other themed events, including a Halloween meet up in October and a group gift exchange in December. The next meeting, this year’s Halloween-themed meetup, will be on Oct. 23 in Cedar Park. More information can be found at http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Corgi-Lovers/.