If you have fallen in love with corgis, then you have probably stumbled across a fluffy corgi at some point.

What is a Fluffy Corgi?

“Fluffy” is the name of a corgi, Cardigan or Pembroke with a long coat. The specific gene that causes fluffiness in corgi is called the “fluffy gene” and is the result of a recessive genetic mutation in the coat.
This mutation, apart from long hair, does not cause any diseases. It’s just that dogs have longer hair. In fact, apart from the difference in coat length, fluffy corgi and standard corgi are basically the same dog and can even be born into the same litter.

Unfortunately, fluffy hair is considered a beauty defect in the breed standard and therefore fluffies cannot participate in shows and cannot be reproduced. Since they’re not bred on purpose, they can be extremely hard to come by.

Fluffy and genetics Fluffs are the result of a hidden (recessive) mutation in the coat that is unconsciously passed on to offspring.
The fluffy coat type appears in the offspring only when both parents carry the recessive fluffy gene and pass it on.
A puppy will need to get both of its parents’ fluffy genes to be fluffy. If they get only one of the two, they will carry the fluffy gene, but will never develop a fluffy coat. Until dog coat genes have been specifically studied, it cannot be determined whether they carry the fluffy gene.

How it’s working?
The Punnett square below shows how these genes are passed on to offspring. Each parent has two coat genes and passes one of these genes to their puppies. Puppies will get the gene from each parent (one from mom and one from dad). The dominant gene will determine the type of coat. If a puppy gets 2 recessive coat genes, it will show a recessive coat type.

In the chart above, we can see two standard coat dogs carrying the fluffy recessive gene (Sf) bred together are expected to produce: Standard Coat non-carriers (SS) 25% of the time Standard Coat fluffy carriers (Sf) 50% of the time Fluffy Coat/fluffy carriers (ff) 25% of the time

For this reason, a single litter from two standard coated parents can produce standard coated non-carriers, standard coated carriers, and fluffy coated puppies.

Is it unethical to breed or buy a Corgi Fluffy?
To begin with, I would like to point out that fur is not a health problem. This is nothing but a type of coat that does not allow the dog to participate in shows.
The breed standard for corgi hair says: “short to medium length, with a hard structure. Resistant to weather conditions, with a good undercoat. Ideally straight. With this in mind, fluffers are not within the breed standard but it doesn’t really have a significant impact on their performance.

Is my Corgi Corgi fluffy?
When puppies are born, it can be difficult to distinguish between fluffy and standard puppies.
Significant hair differences appear several weeks after birth. At 8 weeks of age, it’s usually very clear if a puppy has fluffy hair, especially when standing next to their standard hairy littermates.
This was a short explanation covering the basics of genetics and the knowledge of fluffy dogs in the Kennel Club. Remember, however, that apart from the hair length of the corgi fluffy, they are no different from the normal hair length. Which is prettier – tastes are not discussed 🙂