In Woodinville, just outside of Seattle, Washington, you’ll find a haven and playground for big dogs with short legs at the home of Leo and Kathy Notenboom and their four Corgis, collectively known as The Woodinville Ground Crew.
“Helen’s the oldest member of our group at twelve and a half, and the last of the original Woodinville Ground Crew that included Vera (our very first Corgi), Guido (who taught us about living with a disability) and Helen.
While her spirit (and her bark!) remains strong, like Guido she’s suffering from what we presume is Degenerative Myelopathy. She’s been in a K9 Carts cart for just over a year.
The cart definitely doesn’t slow her down. During a camping trip last Summer, Helen encountered the resident RV park peacock and definitely wanted to be introduced.
Did I mention that Helen’s been mostly blind since birth? She sports some hugemongous cataracts in each eye.
You’d never know it from watching her, though. She’s compensated and lived quite well, relying on her radar ears and pointy little nose. At best she has some peripheral vision, and sometimes you might notice her bobbling her head. We presume she’s “building a picture” of what’s out there from what little she might see.
Dagmar was our introduction to the world of the tailed — and what a glorious tail it is!
She’s the heir apparent to Helen’s role as leader of our little pack.
That’s Sammy chasing Dagmar, though the roles are often reversed. We’d never had Corgis that actually played with each other, and play they do. It’s a kick to watch!
Sammy and Dagmar are buddies, though that usually means that Sammy is Dagmar’s choice of target to pounce on. Sammy’s good at giving “the look”.
No, not this one. This is the “why is Mom making funny noises?” look. No, more like this one …
… her patented seal impersonation.
And this one, the “where’s my nighttime cookie?” look, along with Helen and Dagmar.
The fourth and most recent addition to our crew is four and-a-half year old Chester.
Yep, that’s another tail you see there. There’s absolutely no way you’d guess it by looking, but Chester is Dagmar’s son!
Dagmar puts up with her offspring, but I’m sure in her opinion the kids just aren’t supposed to move back home!
Unbeknownst to us at the time, we’d met Chester before on one of our “puppy visits” to the breeder back in 2007.
He’s grown up to be quite the hulk of a Cardi, and a real goofball too. Unsurprisingly, there’s never a dull moment with this crew.
For the last few years we’ve been hosting the annual Pacific Northwest Corgi Picnic at our Woodinville home. We update the site with current information when we have things planned out, and announce through various venues — most reliably Corgi-L, where Leo happens to be a moderator.
If you’re in the area, you’re most welcome to come and meet the Woodinville Ground Crew in person at one of our events!”
Happy post-party-pooped-out-ness guaranteed!
Love the shot of Helen, Dagmar and Sammy together. This must be a real entertaining group to say the least. The "look" was priceless-loved it!!
Great story about the Woodinville Crew. I hope to some day to meet them all in person!
Great story, love the Woodinville crew! We have had many a happy frap there.
Love the annual Corgi Picnic. So nice of them to host us and all the dogs have such a wonderful time together.
I love the Woodinville Ground Crew! They are all handsome/beautiful. The "look" was priceless. My corgi does the same thing, ears all the way back.
Loved the update on the Woodinville corgi crew as I couldn't make the picnic this year. Linda and Maple, the blue merle in the PacNW.
What a great crew!!
What a wonderful family. Thanks for sharing with us. Bill the beekeeper.