Dog's walking days end

Angus has gotten a lot of mileage out of his stubby Welsh corgi legs.

Angus has gotten a lot of mileage out of his stubby Welsh corgi legs.

For more than a decade, the charismatic corgi rarely missed a day of making the rounds at Woodland Park with his owner, Jan Hutchinson. He was so much of a fixture there that maintenance crews long ago dubbed him the Mayor of Woodland Park.

But at age 13 - that's 91 in people years - Angus no longer can handle the daily walks. Arthritis has forced him into retirement.

"We used to walk in the mornings, and the head foreman of the park crew would announce: 'Here comes Jan and The Mayor. We'd better shape up,'" Hutchinson recalled.

During the years, Angus charmed the children at Woodland Park day camps. Students at the Montessori school, just two blocks from Hutchinson's home, also grew fond of the cuddly corgi.

A few years ago, Angus donated a children's book, "The Great Corgiville Kidnapping," to the Montessori school.

"About 80 to 90 percent of the characters in the book are corgis," Hutchinson said. "The lady at Books West ended up selling so many of the books that they let Angus come into the store. He's the only corgi allowed in the bookstore."

Angus' antics also have earned him mention in the local police log through the years. About 10 years ago, during a winter of record snowfall, Hutchinson taught Angus to carry a flashlight in his mouth so he could find his way across the yard when he went out at night to answer nature's call.

A police officer passing by thought he'd happened upon a burglary in progress, but he quickly canceled a call for backup help when he discovered the culprit was a corgi.

Hutchinson never knew about Angus' close encounter with the law until later, when he coincidentally met the police officer while working at Flathead Valley Community College. When Hutchinson innocently asked him to name the strangest thing was that had happened to him during his police work, the officer promptly told him about the flashlight-toting dog on College Avenue.

"That's my dog," he told the officer.

Hutchinson learned that when the officer radioed that night for backup help to a burglary in progress, the only backup available was the SWAT team. Luckily, a motion light revealed Angus and his now-famous flashlight before the SWAT team descended on Hutchinson's home.

Neighbors not familiar with Angus' nocturnal habits also have called the Police Department from time to time, frequently enough to warrant a special note in the log: There's a dog on College Avenue that carries a flashlight.

Hutchinson's elderly parents, Henry and Hazel Hutchinson, live with their son in the College Avenue home. Angus has been a helpful companion to Hutchinson's 91-year-old mother, who has difficulty in getting around.

"If Mom drops a ballpoint [pen] or envelope, she just has to say 'Angus, will you pick that up for me' and he's right there," he said.

Now confined to the fenced yard, Angus is still chipper and sometimes "forgets he's got 13-year-old legs."

Hutchinson has another Welsh corgi, a 4-year-old named Robbie, who has assumed the routine walks to Woodland Park.

"There'll never be another mayor of Woodland Park like Angus. He can't be replaced," Hutchinson said. "When they ask what Robbie's title is, I just tell them Superintendent of Trees."

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.