Photo(s) by Shawn Nowlin
The guest of honor wore hot-pink and hotter-pink hair. The guests played tennis-ball fetch and took home pupcakes topped with treats.
And everybody went away happy and tired.
The occasion in a Salem yard was the 15th birthday in for a locally well-known standard Poodle, Guinivere, who became a national sensation when she walked the runway of a famous New York designer.
Guinivere was already famous in the Roanoke Valley for walking in the annual Pink Parade to honor survivors and fight breast cancer, as well as other fund-raising events.
But to most of the 15 furry guests and 23 human ones, the fluffy dog with the pink topknot, tail and coat was just one of the tail-wagging bunch of granddogs, great-granddogs and friends.
“We celebrated her 14th birthday here, and we’ll do it again for her 16th if she’s still here,” said Marjorie Gordon of Salem, who with her husband Barry and their three standard Poodles, provided the venue for the Poodle Party on Oct. 22.
The party planner was Guinivere’s owner, Jenna Wigglesworth, who also wanted to honor Elizabeth McGee of Pamplin. Wigglesworth purchased Guinivere from her. McGee’s parents started MacBeth Kennels in the Daleville area years ago.
Mainly, the event was to get together owners of Poodles who are descended from Guinivere so they could meet each other and compare notes. Some came from as far as three-and-a half hours away, in Spottsylvania, Harrisonburg and Lynchburg in addition to the Roanoke Valley.
“We’re hoping for a 16th because it’s so much fun. If not, we’ll do it in her honor,” said Wigglesworth. “Guinivere is the matriarch.”
Fifteen, healthy and active is unusual for Standard Poodles. Twelve to 13 is more like an average lifespan, Wigglesworth explained.
A lot of the owners of the grown puppies had never met each other, such as “One who lives in Lynchburg and the other in Harrisonburg, and their littermates are 11-years-old,” Wigglesworth said.
They got to compare notes and see how similar their dogs are.
Out of the 13 Standard Poodles, 12 are direct descendants of Guinivere. There were four generations of dogs at the party, as well as “a couple of honorary Standard Poodles, a Toy Poodle with blue topknot and tail and his friend, a black Shih Tzu.”
Even though Wigglesworth breeds and shows dogs, most of the Poodles there were pets or service dogs. Temperament – and not just a pretty body- is the most important trait for Wigglesworth in her Poodles.
“Guinivere sits at the Pink Parade and everybody comes and sees her. She’s been there six out of the 10 years and people are always happy to see her. She goes with me every day, wherever I go. If I can’t bring her, I don’t go,” she added.
This year’s party had some special features. Wigglesworth’s friend, Olivia Doss, made the pupcakes for owners to take home so there wouldn’t be any jealousy among dogs eating them at the party.
The cakes were made of dog-healthy ingredients, such as whole-wheat flour, banana and peanut butter with yogurt icing. The people had a more traditional cake to eat, with the exception that it was pink and black.
Elizabeth McGee provided a raffle of poodle-related items for door prizes.
Guinivere has made regular personal appearances as the big pink Poodle at Bark for Life; Carilion raises money for underinsured and uninsured women for cancer screening.
“She loves people and doing things that make people want to pet her,” her owner added.
“This one dog, Guinivere, has created all that happiness and interest; at the party she was really happy,” said Wigglesworth, who for 10 years was a groomer at Classy Pets in Salem.
She and Guinivere still go to Classy Pets frequently, to hang out with owner Robin, who has Guinivere’s great-grandson, Axis, a brown Standard Poodle who goes to work with Robin every day.
At home at her kennel, Caliko Rock, Wiggleworth has four generations of Standard Poodles, all with Camelot-related names.
Marjorie Gordon provides the yard for the party because she has two great-granddogs and one great-great granddog and a big fenced backyard for people to throw tennis balls for Poodles to chase.
“My dogs, Anya, nine, Sydney, eight, and Tinkerbelle, two, were perfect hostesses. They were extremely tired afterwards because they didn’t stop during the party,” she added.
“These dogs were just amazing. We had a dozen tennis balls out here and people throwing them. The dogs had a blast,” Gordon added.
