It depends on what look you are going for. If you are wanting a realistic fur texture, generally short, close strokes are best. A bit like this
If you want a more stylised approach, I usually use sweeping strokes following the fur pattern (all fluffy animals have one thanks to gravity, I drew is some arrows as a bit of a guide)
No two "clumps" of fur look the same, especially right next to each other. Having them point in different directions really helps it look more life like.
Confidant/deliberate strokes usually work best if you are aiming for a cartoonish look.
I suck at explaining things, buy I hope this helps
(Drawing credit to me, ref for the first one is from Phillip Pilz @ unsplash)