Who could resist a beach day filled with running corgis? With countless summatives and an increasing amount of work among Webbies, a relaxing getaway to the beach along with some puppy therapy sounds like the perfect remedy!  

On October 26th, a group of Webb students took on the annual Huntington Corgi Beach Day, as requested by students for a weekend run. Upon arrival, students were greeted by thousands of corgis sprinting across the beach, food trucks lined up, and an intense series of competitions to find the fluffiest corgis run by the event organizers.  

“I had never attended an event with so many corgis,” Isamar Theobald (‘25) said. “It was so exciting to see so many at once.”  

Corgi Beach Day was founded in October 2012, beginning with only 15 corgis and eventually growing to have nationwide coverage with thousands of attendees each year.  

In 2012, the first meetup was advertised through Facebook, and it turned into a very small gathering for Mr. Pickles, a young corgi enduring a torn CCL and MRSA infection, with homemade sandwiches and name tags. But what began as just a small meetup for Mr. Pickles grew into so much more.  

As more meetups were planned in the following months, the attendees grew from 100 to thousands and thousands of new people. 

Kenny Nguyen, chair of the mathematics department, led this run as a fellow corgi owner himself. Ein, Dr. Nguyen’s well-known pet, embarked on this trip to the festival, and even though he did not get the chance to participate in the exciting competitions, he still had a blast meeting some new friends.  

“I would’ve attended even if we didn’t organize a Webb run,” Dr. Nguyen said. “Ein and I love to come to fun events like this to meet other fellow corgis.” 

Upon arrival, students excitedly met various corgis, even witnessing several rounds of a very serious costume contest where a corgi dressed up as a pickleball player came out victorious. Corgis dressed up as cartoon characters, food items, and even Snoop Dog from the Olympics.  

“The costumes were my favorite part because they were so unexpected and creative,” Isamar said. “It was such a great way to destress, and dogs we didn’t even know cuddled with us on the beach.” 

Although the day was filled with adorable contests, there was also an educational speaker who came in to raise awareness on important issues. 

Susan Luong, founder of Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue which is a West Hollywood corgi rescue shelter, gave a speech to all attendees on the beach urging them to educate themselves about degenerative myelopathy and cancer in their pets.  

“It is so important that you are aware of these conditions if you have a pet because so many people wait too long to see these signs,” Susan said.  

These health conditions are often caused by unethical breeding and are crucial to detect at early stages before they cause unbearable pain for the dog.  

Even though Corgi Beach Day was filled with cuddles, joy, and excitement, it also raised many important questions that remind us to look out for the health of our loving pets.