I have been seriously thinking about Griff's heritage lately! We adopted him from the Humane Society when he was 10 months old, so we don't have the exact story of his lineage. We were told that his Pembroke mother was rescued from a puppy mill while pregnant with Griff, but who the father was - who knows?

Part of me thinks that Griff's father was a Sheltie. Sometimes his face shape doesn't look truly 'Corgi', and his ears aren't as large as the rest of the breed. I attributed the ears to his fluffy coat, which makes them look a little smaller because of all the fur. But looking at pictures of Shelties, I now see a strong resemblance between their ears and Griff's. (Maybe I will add some comparison photos a little later!)

Because the Sheltie coloration is so similar in pattern to the Corgi's, I never thought twice about his color; however, Griff's fluffy coat isn't as silky as other Fluffs I've seen, nor as long. His front legs and elbows grow out as this crazy, bushy, rough undercoat mess! His paws need constant trimming along the toes, and the fur on his hips is constantly matted...that's honestly just how it grows! I keep him groomed (I do it myself) and trimmed down now to decrease unwanted mats, but I think his coat is outrageously high maintenance for a Fluffy. I think that maybe the mix of the Corgi and Sheltie coats created a strangely textured fur.

Even the tail didn't make me think twice...I knew Pembrokes were docked at birth, and with Griff being born in the shelter, of course he wasn't docked. The full Pembroke tail even has the same pattern as the Sheltie's: solid color with a black stripe close to the butt, and a pretty white tip like it was dipped in paint!

Personality-wise, Shelties are high-energy, intelligent herders, just like Corgis. Griff is our own personal Energizer Bunny! No difference there!

With all of these similarities, it's hard for me to figure out if Griff's small differences are from him being a mix, or just Corgi irregularities. Maybe he is kind of like a mutant Corgi with his smaller ears and crazy fur?

I guess one will never know! And it doesn't matter either, since I will always love him to death :)