The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name corgi is derived from the Welsh words and (which is mutated to ), meaning "dwarf" and "dog", respectively. Two separate breeds are recognized: the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and the Cardigan Welsh Corgi. Physical differences are seen between the two breeds. According to the breed standards, overall the Cardigan is larger, both in weight and height. Their tails are of different shapes, and docking was previously performed on Corgis before the practice was largely banned. Historically, the Pembroke has been attributed to the influx of dogs alongside Flemish weavers from around the 10th century, while the Cardigan is attributed to the dogs brought with Norse settlers, in particular a common ancestor of the Swedish Vallhund. The Pembroke is the more popular of the two, yet still appears on the Kennel Club's vulnerable dog breeds of the United Kingdom list. The Pembroke Welsh Corgi gained in popularity because Elizabeth II had personally owned more than 30 Pembrokes or Corgi-Dachshund crosses, known as dorgis. History Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire are adjoining historical agricultural counties in South West Wales. 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. The term "Corgi" means either cur dog or dwarf dog (cor = dwarf, gi = lenitive of ci, dog) in the Welsh language, which was not intended as an insult to the dog's size, rather as a purely descriptive term. Different tales have been told of the Corgi's origin; some believe that the two modern breeds evolved from shared ancestry, while others attribute the import of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi to Flemish weavers starting around the 10th century. Further theories on the origin of the Pembroke variety suggest that they may have originated from central European herding breeds from the area around modern Germany. Depending on the time when these dogs were imported to Wales, they could have been either Deutsche Bracken or Dachshund. The Cardigan Welsh Corgi has been attributed to the influences of Nordic settlers in the region.