Crossword Genius

Canine, often royal, growls intimidatingly, initially (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

corgi

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'canine' is the definition.
(I know that corgi is a type of dog)

'often royal growls intimidatingly initially' is the wordplay.
'often royal' becomes 'cor' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'growls intimidatingly' is 'gi'.
'cor'+'gi'='CORGI'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for corgi that I've seen before include "The Queen's favourite?" , "Toy car manufacturer" , "Cardigan or Pembroke dog" , "man's best friend" , "Barker?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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