No kidding, Corgis are really cattle dogs!

Corgis are petite and cute, and when you see them, you can't help but stroke their... butt.

Who is obsessed with Corgi's butt!

In addition to being cute, he has a serious job, and the content of his job is something you would never imagine - herding cattle .

The evidence is as strong as a mountain (he is really herding cattle, not playing with them)｜Youtube: @Sergiy Nedzelskyy

In the dog breed classification, the Corgi group belongs to the working dog group . Before Queen Elizabeth upgraded the Corgi to a royal pet, the Corgi was active on the farm as a cattle dog.

Little Corgi, how come you are herding cows?

Logically speaking, most working dogs are employed because they first show a certain nature, and people then develop the functions of these dogs based on this nature and train them to be working dogs. Just like a coach training an athlete, it all starts with "a good seedling".

One of the Corgi's natural instincts is to herd. They like to gather objects together or drive (not scatter) animals in front of them. Herders have cleverly used the Corgi's nature and trained them to be cattle dogs. Moreover, this herding instinct exists in both Corgis.

The Corgi we know today is called the Pembroke Welsh Corgi , but there is actually another type of Corgi, the Cardigan Welsh Corgi . These two types of Corgis look similar, but they come from different sources.

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi (left) looks more serious, while the Pembroke Welsh Corgi (right) is the more familiar Corgi in our daily life, which is more cute｜read01.com

In southwestern Wales, there are two historic agricultural counties: Cardigan and Pembroke. The Cardigan Corgi is a dog brought to Wales by the Celts around 1200 BC, and this Corgi is related to the ancestors of the Dachshund. The Pembroke Corgi is a descendant of dogs brought to Wales by Flemish weavers around 1100 AD, and its ancestors belonged to the group that produced Pomeranians and Samoyeds. Both of these little guys later became cattle dogs for local herders.

Heel-biting cattle herding

The cattle herded by Corgis are timid and docile, not the horned bulls in the Colosseum (after all, Corgis are cattle herding dogs, not bulldogs). In addition, cattle also have a herd mentality in the herd, so as long as the cattle herding dogs can control the cattle at the end and the periphery of the herd, they can make the herd move in a certain direction . Usually, the cattle herding dogs only need to bark a few times, and the cattle will obediently move forward.

However, sometimes, barking may not work for lazy cows that don’t like to walk. For example, in the documentary “Clarkson’s Farm”, farmer Jeremy Clarkson tried to use a drone that played dog barking sounds to herd sheep , but it only worked once or twice at first, and then it couldn’t scare the sheep at all - the cows and sheep found that they were fine if they didn’t run, so why would they run?

Clarkson tried to herd sheep with drones, and his drones were quickly laid off | Documentary "Clarkson's Farm"

At this time, the Corgi will use its ultimate move - biting the heels .

In order to make the cattle continue walking, the cattle dog will bite the cow's heel and quickly dodge. The cow has no idea that something is attacking it under its feet, so it runs forward in fear .

Bite the cow's heels to make it run forward, but the Corgi may be kicked by the cow's hind legs｜Youtube: @sugarwurm

This type of dog that herds by biting the heels is called a heeler . Heelers are usually short in stature. Other heelers include the Lankan Heeler and the Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler).

The top is a Lankan Schnauzer and the bottom is an Australian Cattle Dog｜akc.org

Corgis have a herding instinct, and their work scope is of course not limited to herding cattle, but also sheep. However, as a herding dog, Corgis are not as famous as Border Collies, German Shepherds, and Shetlands.

Won’t the Corgi be trampled into a dog cake by the cow?

There are indeed certain risks for Corgis when herding cattle. For example, as shown in the previous animated picture, the cow's kicking hind legs may kick the dog away . When a bold cow is provoked, it will use its head to butt the cattle dog , which may injure the dog.

Fortunately, cattle generally do not attack by trampling, and cattle dogs generally follow behind the herd, so the chances of being trampled are low.

Today's cattle-herding work is successfully completed, and it's time to go home! | Youtube: @Sergiy Nedzelskyy

There is also a saying that the Corgi's tail is docked to prevent the herders from having their tails stepped on by cattle during work. However, some people think that this argument is untenable because the Corgi's tail is upturned when it moves, and the probability of "only the tail being stepped on" is lower than the probability of "the whole dog being stepped on".

In fact, the tails of modern Pembroke Corgis are docked as pets only because of "early traditions". The Cardigan Corgi, which is also a cattle herding dog, does not have a tradition of tail docking. Therefore, I personally believe that docking the Corgi's tail is not for cattle herding, and its only significance at present is to satisfy people's aesthetic taste .

The tail is up, but it doesn't hinder cattle grazing｜welshcorgi-news.ch

We are used to seeing Corgis with smooth, heart-shaped butts, but in fact, most Pembroke Welsh Corgis are born with tails , which are docked 2 to 5 days after birth to meet the American Kennel Club's breed standard. Cardigan Welsh Corgis, on the other hand, almost always keep their tails because the tail is part of their breed standard.

Naturally, the tail of the Cardigan Corgi is longer, while the tail of the Pembroke Corgi is shorter. Even if the tail is not docked, a small number of Pembroke Corgis are born with a nearly docked tail. Therefore, some breeders are also trying to make the "short tail/docked tail gene" stable and inherited.

AKC Standard: The shorter the tail, the better. Occasionally, a naturally short tail may be present, but this is acceptable if it is short enough. Short tails of no more than 2 inches (5 cm) are permitted. | akc.org

Of course, the American Kennel Club does not have the final say on tail docking. Since the enactment of the Animal Welfare Act, many European countries have banned the unauthorized docking of pet dogs' tails . Even for working dogs, tail docking must be performed by a licensed veterinarian.

The Kennel Club of the United Kingdom describes the tail of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi as "formerly habitually docked", but now it is divided into undocked tails (above the topline when moving and below the topline when alert) and naturally short tails.

Although little corgis are now more like little babies at home and rarely work as cattle herders, the aesthetic tradition of docked tails still continues. Let me show you, corgis without docked tails are actually very cute!

A group of little corgis that never stop following｜abc.net

References

[1] Pembroke Welsh Corgi https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/pembroke-welsh-corgi/

[2] Animal Welfare Act. 2006. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/45/section/6

[3] Welsh Corgi (Pembroke) https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/breed-standards/pastoral/welsh-corgi-pembroke/

Author: SamKakeru

Edit: Small towel

Title image from welshcorgi-news.ch

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