Mudi

Breed Rating

Breed Details

General

The Mudi is a rare herding breed from Hungary. This breed is a very talented and versatile dog that not only adept in herding sheep and cattle but also excel in many other different tasks like search and rescue, agility trials, flyball and obedience. Beside, it is also an able watch and guard dog. It is an extremely intelligent and bright breed that can be compared with the Border Collies.

This breed is one of the three herding breeds of Hungary along with Puli and Pumi. Once all these three different breeds were classified under one breed but they were separated in 1930s into their own respective breeds. This dog is known to have been present since 1800s and is believed to be the result of need and performance selection and not by human intervention. Though uncertainty prevails over its progenitors, the breed is believed to have originated from crosses of Puli with Spitz type dogs or crossing of Spitz type dogs with other herding breeds of 17th and 18th century.

It is a medium size dog with height and weight between 15-19 inches and 18-33 lbs respectively. This dog comes with a wedge-shaped head, slightly doomed skull and medium length strong muzzle with straight nasal bridge. The black or self-coloured rounded and narrow nose has moderately well opened nostrils. Oval shaped and dark brown eyes are obliquely set. Long, V-shaped mobile ears are well covered with ears. Medium length neck is well muscled. The medium size square body has short and straight back and deep chest. Low set tail hangs down when dog is at rest and carried in a sickly shaped when it is moving. The Mudi is the shortest-coated of all Hungarian sheepdogs with dense, shiny and very wavy or curled coat all over the body except for face and front of the legs where the hair is short, straight and smooth. Colors range from brown, gray, black, white, red, fallow, and bread-pale.

This breed, though NOT recognized by AKC for fewer number of dogs available, is on the Foundation Stock Service list, applying for recognition. This breed is recognized by other major kennel clubs like CKC, NKC, FCI, ACR, and APRI.

Color

The Mudi dog comes in different colours that include black, white, fawn (from pale yellow to fox red), brown, gray, gray-brown, blue merle and red merle.

Coat

The Mudi has short, smooth and straight hair on face and front of legs while the coat is medium to long, dense, shiny and very wavy or slightly curly on the rest of the body with approximately 1.5 to 3 inch hair length. Pronounced feathering is present on back of the upper legs and front of the thighs. The coat may form cow-licks or ridges.

Personality

A versatile and multi-utility dog, the Mudi can be a hunter, rodent exterminator and general purpose farm dog with capabilities to be a great guard and watch dog. It is friendly to its family but prefers to bond itself with one person in the family, usually the master. This dog is gentle with children and gets along well with other dogs but it is wary of and reserved around strangers though not aggressive towards them. It is an independent dog that loves to feel free when it is working. It is a courageous dog that is not easily intimated by large animals. With its courage and brave nature, it can take on wild boar and over power it. With incomparable herding skills, this dog is often utilized on large and difficult livestock. This active breed needs lots of exercise and can take part in different dog games with success. Early age socialization with non-canine pets will make it trustworthy around them. Owners of the Mudi claim that it is incomparable for its versatile talents and pleasant disposition.

Care

Once a week brushing of the short coat will keep it in top condition as well as remove dead skin. Bathe only when necessary.

Training

With its exceptional intelligence, the Mudi is an easy dog to train. It learns very fast and can be compared to Border Collies in learning speed. This tractable dog will thrive on appreciation and positive reinforcement training methods.

Activity

The Mudi has high energy levels and as such, requires lots of mental and physical activities. This dog will love to be assigned some work to do and with its multi-talented personality, it can be a handy working dog both on farm and as family companion. This dog can take part in obedience, flyball and agility trials as well as successfully used in search and rescue operations. This breed needs lots of open space to run and play and for this reason and for its propensity to bark, it is not suitable for apartment lifestyle.