I was pretty sure that corgis weren’t bred simply to look ridiculous, but I didn’t know exactly what they were bred for:
Welsh Corgis were cattle herding dogs; the type of herding dog referred to as “heelers”, meaning that they would nip at the heels of the larger animals to keep them on the move. The combination of their low height off the ground and the innate agility of Welsh Corgis would allow them to avoid the hooves of cattle.
I love the notion of being too short to kick.
I remember being amused years ago when I learned that the similarly short-legged dachshund was a fierce badger-hound:
The standard-sized dachshund was developed to scent, chase, and flush out badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals. The miniature dachshund was bred to hunt small animals such as rabbits.
I had a dachshund. He was a fierce dog, often forcing much larger dogs to retreat.
Dachshunds, known here in France as teckels, are still commonly used as hunting dogs. We do have plenty of foxes, rabbits and badgers.
Teckels? I’d never heard that before.
A Dachshund will pick a fight with anything.
A dachshund looks cute and cuddly until you see one yawn, and then you realize they’re little furry alligators.
My Mom used to keep rabbits; one day several dozen of them got loose. The family dachshund tore off after them, picking them up by the scruff of the neck and dropping them back in the main herd. The bunnies didn’t make any efforts to avoid the dog and didn’t seem fazed by being relocated.
Having watched the same dog hunt mice, rats, squirrels, and other vermin, we were expecting rabbit confetti. Watching her gently herding the rabbits was a complete surprise.
Doxies are deadly to EUROPEAN badgers. North American badgers and African Honey Badgers are too much to take on.