Q - Queens
Finding a dog's name beginning with 'Q' proved impossible. But knowing that Queen Elizabeth II bred Corgis opened up a different approach for me.
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| A Corgi from Germany |
This is a dog I have not met, but it's photo appeared on a Christmas Card we received last year so at least I know where it lives.
The Corgi is a small herding dog associated with Wales.
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| A Pembroke Welsh Corgi |
The Queen has been largely instrumental in the popularity of the breed; she has had at least four Corgis at any one time. I have been unable to find a photo of her dogs without copyright restrictions.
However the George VI and Queen Elizabeth Monument has a bronze frieze showing the Queen Mother with her Corgis (on the right).
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| The Queen Mother, her Corgis and a day at the races (A bronze designed by Paul Day; photo by Charlie Dave, CC BY 2.0) |
The Queen that I knew best lived in America - Maxie, the Matriarch of the Gang of Four, who appeared under 'L'.
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| Maxie waiting for the Trash Cart |
This photo accompanied a letter I had published in "Dogs Today" in the UK in 2007
“Dear Dogs Today
The photo of a dog tag for Max in a
letter about ID law (June issue) reminded me of my daughter’s nine-year-old
Labrador, Maxie, who lives in Michigan, USA. She is affectionately known as
‘The Trash Cart Queen’ (the American trash cart performs the same role as our
refuse collection lorries).
When Maxie was a
puppy and living on a development where the houses had no gardens, she and her
brother Sam would often wander off. Despite both of them being well known it
always seemed to be the trash cart that brought Maxie home, riding proudly in
the cab.
Though Maxie,
Sam and two rescued Labs became the owners of a fenced-off 10-acre plot out in
the country, despite the fences Maxie will on occasions still wander off. Now
being lazy, she has been known to sit down by the wayside so that she may be
picked up by the trash cart and ride home in style, in what she seems to regard
as her right. The trash cart crew have never had to resort to coercion or read
the details of her address and phone number on her tag.”
As the Matriarch of the Gang of Four, Maxie 'earned' special privileges none of which she liked better than this.
