Wayne County resident Leanne Capozzi has been training her Corgi Derby since she got him at 10 weeks old.
"He was in the show ring competing at the age of 2. And he got his obedience trial championship title at the age of 3 which is pretty darn good to get a title like that at such an early age," she told WXXI News.
Capozzi said this is the second year of the obedience portion of the Westminster Dog Show and the second year Derby was invited. The pair declined the invitation in 2016, but decided to give it a shot when they were invited again.
Derby will have to complete a series of tasks testing different levels of obedience for the morning portion of the event.
"He has to heel by my side with attention at different paces like slow, fast, right turns, left turns, about turns, things like that. He has to bring back objects that have my scent on them."
The top 10 will then move to the finals in the afternoon, where finalists pick a theme and get to add a little entertainment to their obedience routines.
Throughout his successes Derby has acquired quite the fan club, including the Queen of England.
Derby was featured on the cover of an obedience performance magazine this fall. Knowing that the Queen loves Corgis, Capozzi sent her a copy of the magazine on a whim. And just a few days ago she received a response.
"She thoroughly enjoyed it and she mentioned him by name and she’s so proud. I was just so touched by this because I put this in the mail and I really didn’t think I would hear back. Who gets a letter from the Queen?! It’s just too funny."
The Westminster Dog Show is a 3 day event taking place in New York City. Parts of competition will be available to stream at westminsterkennelclub.org. The obedience competition will take place on Monday.