The winter nose is not a serious fault in white and fawn Mudis. The spotted, merled nose is atypical, therefore faulty in merle Mudis.
The judging and accepting of colors should be based on the color genetics of the already accepted colors. The natural combinations of the accepted colors and patterns are not faulty, therefore should be accepted (as in the brown merle, or isabella color). Those patterns and colors, which cannot be created from the accepted varieties, are considered a fault, and not tolerated (black and white spotted, tricolor, brindle, black and tan, brown and tan, sable, wolf, etc.).
However, for better understanding and tracking of color inheritance in the breed, it is important that even not accepted color and pattern variants be indicated correctly on the pedigree of the dog.
See the note at the size description.
Rarely Mudis can have a shorter coat, it is not a serious fault if the fur structure shows the correct waviness. The straight, or almost straight fur is a much more serious fault. Big tufts of long fur on the paws is not desirable, this possibly shows the lack of exercise in the dog's life.
All accepted Mudi colors are equally valuable and preferred, none should be favored over the others.
Merle Mudis do not have white/copper trim, like the Shetland Sheepdog or Collie. Each and every merle Mudi has an individual pattern. There are very light merles, which have only small dark patches and speckles on their fur, and very dark merles, where most of the body shows the solid dark color with minor merled spots only. None of these should be preferred over the others either in breeding or judging. The amount of merledness is not inheritable, the offspring of each merle Mudi will show the full range of merledness when bred.
Another feature of the Merle Mudi is their fur darkens with age, and the lighter patches become less and less prominent.
Besides the blue merle (which should truly be called ‘black merle’) the brown and ash merle can be seen as well. As these are natural combinations of the accepted brown, or ash color and the merle pattern, they cannot be considered a fault.
When they are born, ash Mudis are usually silverish grey. As they age, their color darkens. Some ash Mudis optically are almost black when they are 5-6 years old. This is not a fault.
The color of the brown Mudi can be lighter as the shedding period approaches. After shedding, the new fur is shiny chocolate brown again.
Rarely the ashbrown, or Isabella color appears too. The nose and skin pigmentation is the same as the fur color in these dogs. This color is the natural combination of the accepted ash and brown colors and it is not a fault.
The size of the Mudi gained inappropriate importance in breeding and judging. The Mudi is a fast moving, all day working sheepdog, the radical reduction of its size should not be a primary goal. Judging a Mudi’s value should not be based on size measured in centimeters/inches, but rather harmony and purpose-specific proportionality should be the main factors.