SK's illustrated fact of the day: 4/16/14

Did you know... that corgis' adorably stumpy little legs serve an actual purpose?

Corgis were bred for herding cattle, and they do their job a little differently than other breeds. Some dogs, like collies, herd by running in circles around farm animals to group them up. Other breeds, like shepherds, prefer to stare down their charges and use the power of intimidation. Corgis, on the other hand, nip at the heels of cattle to get them to move in the appropriate direction.

Unsurprisingly, cows don't really like that. Screw with a cow's back legs and they'll try to kick you in the face... unless you're low to the ground like a corgi! Cow hooves go right over a corgi's short body, keeping them safe and letting them herd to their little hearts' content.

Corgi on, my friends!

BUT WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE CUTENESS SERVE?!?!!?!

The scientific gist is that we find them cute because they share characteristics with human babies: large heads (exaggerated by the big ears), large eyes, facial symmetry, and a fluffy/fat appearance. When you tie it to dogs, it brings out the human protection/nurturing instinct, which makes us want to protect our dogs, just as you'd want to protect your cute little offspring from any threats. It also helps us to be willing to put up with one when it eats your shoes, poops on the carpet, etc. :)

Yep. The scientific term for it is "neoteny". 

The ears kill me...OMG THE EARS!!!

The funny thing is, sometimes the ears don't stand up on their own and need a little help! When that's the case, you need to take part of a toilet paper tube and attach it to their ears with athletic tape for a day or two to help "train" the ears... we did that with our puppy and he looked so sad, so we drew a little crown on the tape and called him "King Lloyd," LOL!

Ha! I had a German shepherd once who took almost a year for one of his ears to stand up all the way. I was kind of sad when it did, he looked so cute with one floppy ear.

A friend of mine was into Dobermans at one point, and the breeder he used to work with used to use tampons (the kinds with paper tubes) as the supports for puppies when they had their ears cropped. (Note: I hate cropping/docking of any kind, but it was a thing that happened and I didn't and don't support it.)

That is one adorable puppy.

I absolutely LOVE Corgis :) I worked my way through college in an animal hospital and one of our owners had a Corgi named Woogie (rhymes with "boogie"). I was so tempted to steal that dog on more than one occasion!! In the time that I worked there we only ever had one corgi puppy come in, but it got away from its owner and we had to chase it down in the back of the hospital! Those little 4" legs were FAST!! No wonder they're such great herders!!