"Human beings exercise responsibilities within a social setting and a framework of obligations which transcend the principle of intelligence."
Michael Polanyi, Hungarian Scientist and Philosopher, 1891-1976
BEHAVIOUR/TEMPERAMENT
The Mudi is extremely able to learn, of lively temperament, courageous, watchful, keen to work, alert and adaptable.
The Mudi is a typical herding dog which can be somewhat reserved with strangers. This is not a fault. Being reserved does not mean fearful, shy or panicking dogs are acceptable. Mudis require extensive socialization with humans and dogs in their first year of life to acquire a stable and self confident temperament. Mudis can be strongly protective at home, but in a public area aggressiveness cannot be tolerated.
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.
The wedge shape should be visible not only from above, but from the side as well. The narrow, long (‘beak-like’), or thick, strong, rectangular shaped muzzle is not preferred.
CRANIAL REGION
Skull: Skull and forehead are slightly domed. Occiput not pronounced. Superciliary ridges only slightly developed.
Stop: Barely pronounced.
The so-called apple head (markedly rounded cranial region, with round, bulging eyes, and weak, short muzzle) is a serious fault. The cranial region should be continued into the muzzle without a noticeable break, this is what the ‘wedge shape’ means.
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.
The white and fawn (yellow) Mudis have so-called winter nose with rare exception. The pigmentation changes with the season and the nose is the darkest, almost black, in summer. The nose pigmentation also weakens as the white and fawn (yellow) Mudis age. During breeding the darker nosed dogs should be preferred, but requiring solid black nosed white and fawn (yellow) Mudis is not realistic. In merle Mudis the nose is always solid and dark pigmented, without any pink patches.
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.
The pigmentation of the lips and eye rims is dark, almost black in the white and fawn (yellow) Mudis, as well.
Jaws/Teeth : Complete scissor bite according to the dentition formula. Regular teeth of medium size.
In general, the dentition of the Mudi does not show deviation from the scissors bite, and missing teeth are also not common. Preservation of this positive feature is very important. The most common fault is the lack of one or more P1 teeth. Although the standard tolerates one missing P1, favoring the full dentition is very desirable. The shortening of the muzzle region accelerates the missing teeth phenomenon, therefore the preference for a shorter head, especially for a shorter facial region cannot be the goal of breeding.
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.
Solid blue eyes are very rare in merle Mudis, the merled eyes are more common. Merled, or solid blue eyes are usually asymmetrically presented, it is quite common that a merle Mudi has a differently marked left and right eye. It is important to know that the merled eyes do not represent any health risks for the dog. Yellow eyes are considered a serious fault in black, white and fawn Mudis. The eye color of merle, brown and ash Mudis is usually lighter brown, which is not considered a fault. However, bright yellow eyes are not preferred in these color variants either.
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.
The following ear types are atypical and considered as a fault: too low set ears; rounded eartips; too big ears. The ears should not be vertical either, as they are in the German Shepherd Dog. The ideally set ears point towards 10 and 2 on an imaginary clock. Watched from the side of the head the ears do not lean forward. In ash colored dogs the edges of the ears can be covered with silvery-white fur – this is not a fault. However, the partly/fully naked ears (so-called paper ears), which appear in particular lines of ash Mudis, are unaesthetic and not preferred.
Atypical, Faulty Mudi Ears
Overly vertical,
low set, etc.,
examples can
be seen in
greater detail
on these
Mudi Compass
pages:
Key Definitions
Bridge: The upper or top, bony part of the muzzle between the eyes and nose tip
Keen: Enthusiastic, mentally alert
Oblique: Eyes where the outer corners are placed higher on the skull than the inner corners; slanting; neither perpendicular or parallel
Occiput: Upper, back top point or peak of skull
P1: Premolar 1, premolars are the teeth between the molars and canines
Radar screen: Should be radar dish or radar antennae as radar screens themselves do not turn
Reserved: Not showing one's feelings; restraint or caution in one's words or bearing; marked by self-restraint and reticence
Stop: The step up from muzzle to skull; indentation between the eyes where the nasal-bone and skull meet
Superciliary ridges: Eyebrows; a ridge on the frontal bone above the eye socket; the skin and hair above the eye covering the projecting superciliary ridges
Wall eyes: Also called China eye, merled eye, white or blue eyes; Are basically eyes other than brown, yellow or green color; can be one blue and one brown eye; can have flecks with brown and blue; can be two blue eyes