Corgis are short, fluffy and surprisingly speedy. Now, for the first time ever at the Great New York State Fair, visitors can see the four-legged speedsters with their own eyes thanks to a new show called “The Fast and the Furriest.”
With their short stature and fluffy rumps, you might not think of corgis as racing dogs — but that’s exactly what makes it so much fun.
“The corgi butt,” Sergie Coronas said. “I mean, come on, it’s all about it.”
Coronas and his family have been bringing shows to the fair for 45 years now. “The Fast and the Furriest” is their latest endeavor.
“This show is very new; it’s only been a year, not even,” Coronas said.
It’s the first and only traveling corgi race show in the United States, but the sport in general has been picking up in popularity.
“Corgi racing is popular,” Coronas said. “There’s Corgi Nationals; they have corgi racing at halftime shows, so I thought it’d be a great thing where I can bring the show where people can see it more than having to go, maybe go out west or something like that.”
So far, the fairgoers have been giving the new event a warm welcome.
“It’s just really funny and cute at the same time,” Ethan Lawrence, a young fairgoer, said.
“The response we’ve been getting so far is far and beyond amazing,” Coronas said.
Coronas says the dogs love it just as much as the people. Corgis are high-energy herding dogs, and Coronas says the racing is not just fun, but great for both exercise and mental stimulation.
“We’re always out, like in a home, in a field, we’re running with the dogs, they’re full of energy, and the idea is to get the energy out of them so at the end of the day we can all relax, but that doesn’t stop them,” Coronas said.
You can catch “The Fast and the Furriest” at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 5 p.m. daily now through the end of the fair.