[Source: Reuters]

Corgi owners waved toys, treats and even a broom on Saturday to coax their dogs over the finish line at a race in Lithuania’s capital, ​where many of the competitors seemed more interested in sniffing around than ‌winning.

Around 130 corgis from eight countries took part in the annual event in a wooded park in Vilnius, drawing a couple of thousand spectators to what organisers bill as the “European Corgi Capital”.

In race after race, ​some dogs froze at the start, others stopped mid-run to play with rivals, ​while a few turned around and headed back the way they came.

“Well, ⁠they are one of the slowest dogs in the world. I guess that has ​something to do with (people coming to watch)”, organiser Edvinas Miskas Grinius said.

“So a corgi race is ​an oxymoron in itself. And that’s why it is great fun. It’s all laughs”, he added.

Grinius launched the event six years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, expecting only friends and family to watch his ​and a friend’s corgis race.

Instead, hundreds turned up. The gathering has since become an annual ​event, broadcast in Lithuania and the United States.

MR CORGINGTON FROM CALIFORNIA

Away from the track, visitors cheered a ‌corgi ⁠costume parade and a competition to find the loudest bark.

The winner of the latter, Mr Corgington from California, registered 111 decibels, roughly the noise level of a chainsaw, while furiously trying to reach a chew toy waved by his owner.

“I would say it’s not a favourable ​trait to have ​a loud bark but ⁠it comes in handy at events apparently”, owner Zane Strong said.

Corgis are best known for being the favourite dogs of Queen Elizabeth ​II, and their distinctive long bodies with short legs.

In the costume competition, ​judged by ⁠Britain’s deputy ambassador, corgis and their owners turned up as clowns, medieval nobles and cowboys, with one dog cast as a horse.

The winning entry featured a six-year-old girl dressed as a ⁠duke and ​her corgi, Amigo, as the legendary Iron Wolf that ​inspired the duke to found Vilnius.

Amigo tolerated the costume, which took a week to make, but was “not very happy ​about it”, his owner Akvile said.