About the Mudi
INTERESTING FACTS
The Breed is Called Mudi (Pronounced moody) not Hungarian Mudi just Mudi. More then one Mudi spoken or written in English is Mudis.
The plural for Mudi in the written and spoken Hungarian Language is Mudik.
The first breed description was found in the 18 century, where an excellent and generally black, Mudi-like sheep-dog was described.
There are 3 Hungarian Sheepdogs, the Puli, Pumi and Mudi. In the 90's it still was possible for a Mudi to have Puli in the litter or Puli to have Mudi in the litter.
The breeding of Mudis was started by Dezső Fényes, the director of the Museum of Balassagyarmat, in the 1930’s.
In March 1936 the Mudi was accepted as separate breed and at this time the first breed standard was accepted.
The Mudi was added to the FCI in 1963.
The Black Mudi closely resembles the Croation Sheepdog. Early breed standards had the Mudi and the CS accepted colours as Black or black/white (pibald) in 1963 when the breed was accepted into the FCI acceptable colours were Black, White, Brown, Ash.
The Fawn and Cifra were added in 2003.
Breed Standard Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI)
Breed Number 238
Herding Group
Breed Added to FCI - March 26, 1963
Last Update on Breed - November 9, 2004
Hungarian Mudi
Canis Ovilis Fenyesi
Country of origin Hungary
CANADIAN KENNEL CLUB
In 2002 the Mudi was approved by the board and added to the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) Miscellaneous Class.
The first Mudi Registered with the CKC was CH du Clos Saint-Joseph Tisza (Maze), from France and then CH Pontos, from Sweeden. They then produced the first Litter of Mudi Puppies in Canada, Iszkiri's Amazing Lil Dancer (Diego) and Iszkiri's Amazing Quake du Josar (Quake). At this time the Mudi was shown in the Miscellaneous Class against other Miscellaneous Breeds. (Kelpie, JRT,Border Collies etc.) They could not earn a championship. It was a way of getting Miscellaneous breeds into the public eye. The breed must stay in the Miscellaneous Class for 2 years before applying for full breed recognition. There is a breed referendum help by the animal pedigree act of Canada. At this time new breeds are voted on for full recognition. There h as not been a breed referendum due to un-resolved issues between the CKC and the Animal Pedigree Act. Therefore, no new breeds have been added to the breed registry with the Animal Pedigree Act of Canada.
The Mudi was accepted into the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) in the Miscellaneous Group in 2003. The Miscellaneous Group stayed the same but breed clubs representing the Miscellaneous Breeds could choose to put forward their breed to a Membership vote. The vote was positive and the Mudi was added to the Herding Group 7 and to the new Miscellaneous Listed Breeds Appendix. The CKC "miscellaneous class" is for breeds working towards full recognition by the CKC
Miscellaneous Listed Breeds are authorized to participate in CKC events in accordance with the rules and regulations governing those events. This includes conformation championships and sport performance events.
MUDI FCI STANDARD
Breed #238
22.11.2004 TRANSLATION: Mrs C. Seidler and Mrs Elke Peper.
ORIGIN: Hungary.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD: 09.11.2004.
UTILISATION
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.
CLASSIFICATION FCI
Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Cattle Dogs).
Section 1
Sheepdogs.
Without working trial.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY
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 herding dogs.
GENERAL APPEARANCE
Medium sized herding dog with a wedge shaped head. 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.
IMPORTANT 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 aggessiveness. The head is wedge shaped, tapering towards the nose.
CRANIAL REGION
Skull : Skull and forehead are slightly domed. Occiput not pronounced. Superciliary ridges only slightly developed.
Stop : Barely pronounced.
FACIAL REGION
Nose : Narrow, rounded at front with moderately wide nostrils. In the colours black, white, fawn and blue-merle, the nose is always black ; in the other colours the nose harmonises with the coat colour; e.g. the nose in a brown dog is brown and grey in a grey dog. Brown (liverbrown) coloured dogs have a brown nose and brown eyerims.
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 noseleather.
Jaws/Teeth : Complete scissor 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. Only in blue-merle dogs, wall (white or blue) 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 covered with abundant 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 lenth. Firmly coupled.
Croup : Short, slightly sloping, of medium breadth, muscular.
Chest : Forechest slightly curved. Ribs somewhat broad and rather flat.
Underline : Sligthly 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 even be 10 to 12 cm long.
LIMBS
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. At 45° with the horizontal.
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 are 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 spots, 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
- Fako or Fawn
- Black or Fekete
-Blue-merle, i.e. black speckled, estriped, -brindle or -spotted on lighter or darker bluish-grey primary colour.
-Ash or Hamvas (blue grey)
-Brown or Barna
Only slightly extensive white markings are tolerated but not desired. A white patch on the chest, less than 5 cm in diameter, and small white markings on the toes are tolerated but not desired.
- White or Feher
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.
FAULTS
Any departure from the foregoing points must be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
ELIMINATING FAULTS
- Aggressive or overly shy.
- Flesh coloured, liverbrown or spotted nose in black, white, blue-merle, fawn or ash coloured dogs. Flesh coloured or spotted nose in brown dogs.
- One or 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 in black dogs.
- 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.
- Albinism.
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
NB: Male animals must have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
The Breed is Called Mudi (Pronounced moody) not Hungarian Mudi just Mudi. More then one Mudi spoken or written in English is Mudis.
The plural for Mudi in the written and spoken Hungarian Language is Mudik.
The first breed description was found in the 18 century, where an excellent and generally black, Mudi-like sheep-dog was described.
There are 3 Hungarian Sheepdogs, the Puli, Pumi and Mudi. In the 90's it still was possible for a Mudi to have Puli in the litter or Puli to have Mudi in the litter.
The breeding of Mudis was started by Dezső Fényes, the director of the Museum of Balassagyarmat, in the 1930’s.
In March 1936 the Mudi was accepted as separate breed and at this time the first breed standard was accepted.
The Mudi was added to the FCI in 1963.
The Black Mudi closely resembles the Croation Sheepdog. Early breed standards had the Mudi and the CS accepted colours as Black or black/white (pibald) in 1963 when the breed was accepted into the FCI acceptable colours were Black, White, Brown, Ash.
The Fawn and Cifra were added in 2003.
Breed Standard Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI)
Breed Number 238
Herding Group
Breed Added to FCI - March 26, 1963
Last Update on Breed - November 9, 2004
Hungarian Mudi
Canis Ovilis Fenyesi
Country of origin Hungary
CANADIAN KENNEL CLUB
In 2002 the Mudi was approved by the board and added to the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) Miscellaneous Class.
The first Mudi Registered with the CKC was CH du Clos Saint-Joseph Tisza (Maze), from France and then CH Pontos, from Sweeden. They then produced the first Litter of Mudi Puppies in Canada, Iszkiri's Amazing Lil Dancer (Diego) and Iszkiri's Amazing Quake du Josar (Quake). At this time the Mudi was shown in the Miscellaneous Class against other Miscellaneous Breeds. (Kelpie, JRT,Border Collies etc.) They could not earn a championship. It was a way of getting Miscellaneous breeds into the public eye. The breed must stay in the Miscellaneous Class for 2 years before applying for full breed recognition. There is a breed referendum help by the animal pedigree act of Canada. At this time new breeds are voted on for full recognition. There h as not been a breed referendum due to un-resolved issues between the CKC and the Animal Pedigree Act. Therefore, no new breeds have been added to the breed registry with the Animal Pedigree Act of Canada.
The Mudi was accepted into the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) in the Miscellaneous Group in 2003. The Miscellaneous Group stayed the same but breed clubs representing the Miscellaneous Breeds could choose to put forward their breed to a Membership vote. The vote was positive and the Mudi was added to the Herding Group 7 and to the new Miscellaneous Listed Breeds Appendix. The CKC "miscellaneous class" is for breeds working towards full recognition by the CKC
Miscellaneous Listed Breeds are authorized to participate in CKC events in accordance with the rules and regulations governing those events. This includes conformation championships and sport performance events.
MUDI FCI STANDARD
Breed #238
22.11.2004 TRANSLATION: Mrs C. Seidler and Mrs Elke Peper.
ORIGIN: Hungary.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD: 09.11.2004.
UTILISATION
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.
CLASSIFICATION FCI
Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Cattle Dogs).
Section 1
Sheepdogs.
Without working trial.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY
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 herding dogs.
GENERAL APPEARANCE
Medium sized herding dog with a wedge shaped head. 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.
IMPORTANT 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 aggessiveness. The head is wedge shaped, tapering towards the nose.
CRANIAL REGION
Skull : Skull and forehead are slightly domed. Occiput not pronounced. Superciliary ridges only slightly developed.
Stop : Barely pronounced.
FACIAL REGION
Nose : Narrow, rounded at front with moderately wide nostrils. In the colours black, white, fawn and blue-merle, the nose is always black ; in the other colours the nose harmonises with the coat colour; e.g. the nose in a brown dog is brown and grey in a grey dog. Brown (liverbrown) coloured dogs have a brown nose and brown eyerims.
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 noseleather.
Jaws/Teeth : Complete scissor 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. Only in blue-merle dogs, wall (white or blue) 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 covered with abundant 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 lenth. Firmly coupled.
Croup : Short, slightly sloping, of medium breadth, muscular.
Chest : Forechest slightly curved. Ribs somewhat broad and rather flat.
Underline : Sligthly 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 even be 10 to 12 cm long.
LIMBS
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. At 45° with the horizontal.
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 are 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 spots, 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
- Fako or Fawn
- Black or Fekete
-Blue-merle, i.e. black speckled, estriped, -brindle or -spotted on lighter or darker bluish-grey primary colour.
-Ash or Hamvas (blue grey)
-Brown or Barna
Only slightly extensive white markings are tolerated but not desired. A white patch on the chest, less than 5 cm in diameter, and small white markings on the toes are tolerated but not desired.
- White or Feher
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.
FAULTS
Any departure from the foregoing points must be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
ELIMINATING FAULTS
- Aggressive or overly shy.
- Flesh coloured, liverbrown or spotted nose in black, white, blue-merle, fawn or ash coloured dogs. Flesh coloured or spotted nose in brown dogs.
- One or 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 in black dogs.
- 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.
- Albinism.
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
NB: Male animals must have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.