Mudi 

  History

The breed came into being during the 18th to the 19th century from cross breeding Hungarian herding dogs most probably with various prick eared German Shepherd Dogs. : Herding dog. Because of his courageous disposition he is very popular with the shepherds for the use of herding large and difficult livestock. He is even used for the battue of wild boar. Excellent guard and companion dog. A dog used for searching out drugs. Watch and alarm dog. Excellent agility dog, lovable house pet. Because of his relatively short coat and his excellent adaptability, it is no problem to keep him in the house. The Mudi is the most uncommon of the five Hungarian Herding Dog breeds (Mudi, Pumi, Puli, Komondor, Kuvasz), In Hungary Mudis have been and are still being used as general farm dogs. They herd cattle, they guard their owners and their property, they kill rats and sometimes they are even used in hunting boars and catching birds from water. There are no records on the origin of the Mudi, and it was distinguished as a separate breed of its own toward the end of the 19th century. The first breed standard was accepted in 1936. In 1996 the Mudi got a new standard, and systematic breeding started from the existing working dog lines. Year 2000 Mudi got again a new standard, main changes are in height and in colors. In Hungary the Mudi is regarded as a general farm dog and therefore most Mudis are not registered. The Mudi register is open, and working dogs who have been accepted in the breed examination can be accepted to the register. These dogs are included in the so called B register. 

 
GENERAL APPEARANCE     Medium sized breed of Shepherd Dog type. The head is wedge shaped and tapers towards the nose. Prick ears. Body topline is distinctly sloping towards the rear. The head and the limbs are covered by short, smooth coat. The other parts of the body have a somewhat longer, very wavy to slightly curly coat. There are different variations of colour.

Inportant PROPORTIONS   The body length is approximately equal to the height at the withers. The depth of the brisket is slightly less than half of the height at the withers.The length of the muzzle is slightly less than half of the total length of the head.

BEHAVIOUR/TEMPERAMENT ***
The Mudi is extremely able to learn, of lively temperament, courageous, watchful, keen to work, alert and adaptable.  

 

HEAD   The most striking part of the Mudi is undoubtedly his head. To the observer it should give the impression of an alert, always energetic, cheerful and intelligent animal without any trace of timidity or aggressiveness. The head is wedge shaped, tapering towards the nose.  

CRANIAL REGION ***
Skull: Skull and forehead are slightly domed. Superciliary ridges only slightly developed.
Stop * Barely pronounced.  

 

 
FACIAL REGION  Nose * Narrow, rounded at front with moderately wide nostrils. In the colours black, white and blue-merle, the nose leather is always black; in the other colours the nose leather harmonises with the coat colour; e.g. the nose leather in a brown dog is brown and grey in a grey dog.
Muzzle * Moderately strong. Bridge of nose straight.
Lips: Tight-fitting to the teeth. Corner of mouth slightly jagged. The lip pigment corresponds with the pigment of the nose leather.
Jaws/Teeth  * Complete scissors bite according to the dentition formula. Regular teeth of medium size.

 

 

 
Eyes  Narrow, slightly pointed at inner and outer corners, set slightly oblique, thus having a "dare devil" expression. The eyes should be as dark as possible. In ash coloured and blue-merle dogs wall eyes are not faulty. Rims of lids are tight, close-fitting to the eyeball and evenly pigmented.
Ears: High set prick ears which are of a reverse V-shape and well covered by hair reaching beyond the edges of the external ears. The response of the ears to stimulation is very lively. The dog can turn the ears independently of each other like a radar screen. Ears are approximately 10 to 15 % longer than their width at the base.  

 

  

 

 
NECK  The slightly high set neck forms an angle of 50 to 55 degrees to the horizontal. It is of medium length, barely arched and well muscled. Without dewlap or pronounced neck ruff. In male dogs there can be a barely developed mane; this must, however, never be noticeable. BODY *
Topline * Clearly sloping towards croup.
Withers * Pronounced, long and muscular.
Back * Straight, short.
Loin * Of medium length. Firmly coupled.
Croup * Short, sloping, of medium breadth, muscular.
Chest * Forechest slightly curved. Ribs somewhat broad and rather flat.
Underline * Slightly tucked-up.

 
Tail. , Set on at medium height. In repose, hanging, with lower third raised almost to horizontal. When alert and during active movement, the tail is carried in sickel shape, higher than the topline. Docking of tail is undesirable but is not regarded as a fault. If the tail is docked, two or three of the tail vertebrae must be visibly left. Dogs born without or with a natural stump tail are rare; this is not regarded as a fault. The tail is abundantly coated; the hair on the underside can be 10 to 12 cm long.  

 

 

 
FOREQUARTERS Shoulders: The shoulder blade is moderately sloping and well muscled. The forechest is curved, the point of the sternum only slightly protruding.
Upper Arm: Of medium length.
Elbows * Close-fitting to the body.
Carpal joint * Firm, dry.
Pastern * Steep.
Forefeet * Round with well knit toes. Little hair between and under the toes. Pads springy. Nails slate grey and hard.

 
HINDQUARTERS The hind legs are a little overstretched beyond the rear.
Upper thigh * Long, well muscled.
Metatarsus * Short and steep.
Hind feet * Like front feet. Dewclaws not desirable.

GAIT/MOVEMENT * The Mudi's characteristic movement is mincing steps.

SKIN * Tight, without wrinkles.  

 

 

 
COAT HAIR * Head and front of limbs are covered by short, straight and smooth hair. On other parts of the body, the coat is uniformly very wavy or slightly curled. It is dense and always shiny, about 3 to 7 cm long. At some sports, cow-licks and ridges are formed. The coat is longest on the back of the foreams and the upper thighs, where it forms pronounced featherings.  

 

 

COLOUR Black.

Blue-merle, i.e. black speckled, estriped, -brindle or -spoted on lighter or darker bluish-grey primary colour.

Ash colour * Brown. Only slightly extensive white markings are tolerated but not desired. A white patch on the chest, less than 5 cm in diameter, and white markings on the toes are permitted but not desired. White.   SIZE AND WEIGHT HEIGHT AT WITHERS
Dogs * 41-47 cm; Ideal height 43-45 cm.
Bitches * 38-44 cm; Ideal height 40-42 cm. WEIGHT:
Dogs * 11-13 kg.
Bitches * 8-11 kg.  

 

 

 
ELIMINATING FAULTS Flesh coloured, liverbrown or spotted noseleather in black, white, blue-merle, or ash coloured dogs. Flesh coloured or spotted noseleather in brown dogs. One of more missing teeth (incisors, canines, premolars 2-4, molars 1-2). More than two missing PM1. The M3 are disregarded. Over- or undershot mouth, wry mouth. Gap of more than 2 mm between upper and lower incisors. Yellow eyes. Drop ears. Short, smooth, flat coat on the whole body; long hair on the head. Coat tending towards matting. Wolf grey colour, black and tan with yellow to brown markings. Height at the withers below 38 or over 47 cm.

 

 

Faults   Any  departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

NB * Male animals must have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

 

 

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