This month we meet Winston Corghill, winner of the 2019 Matthews’ Finest Fido Photo Contest.
As part of his top-dog honors, Winston’s caricature was featured on the official Pawsitively Matthews event T-shirt this past summer and his picture now hangs in Matthews Town Hall and the city’s community center. He’ll also march with his mom, Monica Patel, in the Matthews Alive parade next August.
We recently caught up with Monica to find out a bit more about Winston, how they met and what they like to do when they’re living their best dog-friendly life in the Charlotte region. Here’s what she said.
Meet Winston
- Pembroke Welsh Corgi
- 2 years old
- February 15, 2017
- winstoncorghill_clt
How did Winston get his name?
I knew I wanted an English name for him. My younger brother actually suggested Winston. At first I was unsure, but when we realized it was an awesome play on words with Winston Churchill, it stuck.
That’s not to say he doesn’t have dozens of nicknames. Little Bear was his first, Breadloaf, Loaf, Win. My grandmother – who doesn’t speak any English – couldn’t ever get his name quite right, so to her, he has always been Winister. He even responds to it, but only when she calls him.
How did you and Winston meet?
We got Winston outside Raleigh in April 2017. He peed on me four times on the drive home. We’ve been inseparable ever since.
He was the runt of his litter – only 4 pounds. His ears and tongue were far out of proportion to the rest of his body, which made him look like a bat. He was so tiny, his favorite places to sleep were inside a shoe or the car’s cup holder. His tongue was so long he slept with it poking out.
Do you celebrate his birthday?
YES! Big time. We get Winston a mini cake for every half birthday (in our household, humans and dogs celebrate this, haha).
We realized at his 6-month birthday he doesn’t love hats as much as he loves destroying them.
For his first birthday, we had a corgi meet-up with a cake from Canine Café at Lucky Dog.
For his second, we shared an open invitation on Instagram. We figured the more the better. It was a great turn out and we met lots of new dogs and new people. We realized Winston had more friends than we did when 25 to 30 dogs came by for him and even brought him presents. We had cake again from Canine Café (his favorite) and goody bags for the dogs as well.
We’re hoping for his third birthday to get the fire hydrant mega-cake from Canine Café.
What’s Winston’s best trick?
It might not be his best, but it’s definitely the funniest. When he tries to roll over, he might be a little too loafy – most times he tries and tries but can’t complete the full rolling action because he’s too round. So he kind of just wiggles side to side until he gets close enough and gets the treat.
His latest trick has been that if you put your finger out to him and ask him to “boop,” he’ll boop your finger rather than you booping his nose.
What’s the weirdest thing he does?
Before bed, he has to jump onto our bed and “dig” into the bed. He’ll let out a couple of high-pitched barks as he’s doing it, and then get off of our bed and into his own.
Favorite place for a long walk on the weekend?
It’s a toss-up between Freedom Park and the Polk Fountain Uptown.
Freedom Park is nice because Winston likes kids and watching the ducks.
Polk Fountain has a mini waterfall and steps with gaps between them over a small pool of water. He loves running over the steps. He thinks it’s a challenge because he’ll hesitate at first, but then he goes for it. One time his paw hit the puddle and he froze mid-step but didn’t stay scared and completed a few rounds.
Go-to dog-friendly patio in Charlotte?
We love Max & Lola in the Gold District since they have the off-leash patio. We also like taking Winston to Total Wine, breweries, Not Just Coffee and Seaboard Brewing and Pizza Peel in Matthews.
Favorite time of year to get outside?
The late fall / early winter. Winston hates being hot, but as it cools off, he’ll stop along the sidewalk whenever the wind blows.
Pick for best dog-friendly day trip from Charlotte?
Crowders Mountain! Winston can’t hike or go on too long of walks as he was born with hip dysplasia. We recently got a K9 backpack and he absolutely loves being carried on my back. It is lazy dog dream, plus he’s higher up and gets even more attention, which he loves.
3 thoughts on “Winston Corghill, Matthews’ Finest Fido”
Hilarious. We want an invite to his next birthday party. Fun read!
He is pretty cute, isn’t he? Thanks for reading!
Cute little Winston, always lively and fun to play with him.