Description
The organised breeding of Mudi dogs is linked to the name Dezső Fényes, a museum director from the town of Balassagyarmat, who purchased a few of these very smart, biddable dogs of this previously unknown breed with glossy coats and upright ears in the course of his ethnological collection work. He began breeding them and then presented his dogs at a breeding fair in 1936 and filed the first standard for the breed. The breed was almost completely wiped out in the Second World War and was then rehabilitated from a small number of surviving dogs. A new standard was elaborated by Zoltán Balássy in 1963, which was later approved by the FCI. The standard for this breed remains open, as previously unknown specimens occasionally appear. Survival of the Mudi was long uncertain, as the breed was neglected and treated with indifference. It was only thanks to the efforts of some enthusiastic breeders that this valuable breed was preserved. At first glance, the Mudi might appear to be a simple mongrel, particularly when compared with other dogs that have a long history of breeding. Its coat is shorter than that of the other herding breeds, and it is an intelligent, biddable working dog. It can essentially have any kind of colours, but not all variations are recognised in the breed standard. It is most often black, but
red, brown, white, yellow or grey coats also occur. However, many feel that the most attractive, unique colouring is the piebald coat, with black spots on a grey background, which Dezső Fényes considered to be the most original coat. The Mudi breed is now a quite common working dog in Hungary. It is used to herd various animals, such as cattle, sheep and horses. It is able to independently herd pigs or geese to pasture in the morning, guard them and then bring them home in the evening, using visual and vocal cues. It is rare to run into this versatile breed outside of Hungary.
