Corgi's Tush Sinks Red Baron

In World War I, the flying ace known as the Red Baron racked up 80 confirmed kills before he was shot down in 1918.

Here in Brooksville, all it took was a 40-pound Welsh Corgi to destroy the Red Baron.

This Red Baron wasn't a Fokker tri-plane, but a tricked out, three-wheel golf cart painted metallic red, with flame decals and tiny black pompoms dangling from the roof.

Until last Saturday, it was how Debbie Gavin-Derschnack and her husband, Jay, got around on the 15-acre horse ranch they share with their neighbors.

The couple moved to this rural patch of serenity from a gated community in Palm Harbor five years ago. With wide open spaces, the hush of nature and the absence of a finicky homeowner's association, "it doesn't get any better than this," Gavin-Derschnack said Friday.

The Red Baron originally belonged to their neighbors, who gave it to the couple when they bought a newer golf cart. Gavin-Derschnack decided to "gussy it up" with a horn, red paint, flame decals, purple seats and flashing lights.

They named their creation the Red Baron.

Last week, the couple's neighbors headed out of town for a couple of days. Gavin-Derschnack happily volunteered to care for their 16 horses while they were away.

And so it was last Saturday, that Gavin-Derschnack finished her rounds feeding the horses aboard the Red Baron. She was sitting in the golf cart, about eight to 10 feet from her neighbor's backyard pool, "communing with nature" and watching her neighbors' Corgis frolic in the grass.

A Corgi, as the saying goes, is "two dogs long and half a dog high." They carry a squat badger-like frame on four short little legs. Some are stouter than others, as is the case with half-siblings Wally and Casey. Both weigh in at roughly 40 pounds.

On this particular night it was Wally who wanted some affection from Gavin-Derschnack. He waddled over and stepped into the golf cart and attempted to hop onto the seat with her. Wally fell short, however, and lodged his doggy behind onto the golf cart's accelerator.

Gavin-Derschnack only had seconds to react as the golf cart made a beeline for the pool. She belatedly stomped on the brake as the cart tipped into the drink.

"It felt like we were flying into (the pool)," Gavin-Derschnack said.

Gavin-Derschnack quickly surfaced out of the chilly water and searched for Wally. The pooch was pulled out of the pool and set onto the ground. He shook himself off and ran in circles, eager for another ride. Meanwhile, the golf cart was doing laps at the bottom of the pool.

Gavin-Derschnack and her husband wasted two hours that Saturday night trying to pull the cart out of the pool. Eventually they conceded defeat and called a towing service. The truck's driver was polite enough to at least try to conceal his laughter.

Gavin-Derschnack's brothers have mercilessly teased her since the incident, making jabs about the "fairway schooner" and "sink low sweet chariot."

Wally's owner and Gavin-Derschnack's neighbor, Walt Hackos, was surprised by the events, but glad that no one was hurt. If anything, he's learned a lesson:

"We've got to get Wally to a driver's education class," he said.