When Dr. Emil Raitsits, a leading Hungarian canine expert and dog magazine editor, took up the cause of rounding up good examples of Hungarian Sheepdogs for a studbook in the first quarter of the 20th century, he seemed more interested in Pulik and Pumik than in the so-called “third type,” likely the oldest of any of the Magyar juhászkutya, or sheepdogs: the Mudi.  Because of its phenotype, it’s tempting to believe that the Mudi was the result of crosses between local sheepdogs and the German Spitz, but some believe this ancient breed resulted from breedings between the Puli and the Pumi. We may never know, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that someone realized that “Pulik with prick ears” was an entirely different breed. Dr. Deszö Fényesi was one of the first breeders in Hungary to intentionally breed the Mudi, and while the breed’s official Latin name is Canis ovilis Fényesi, and at the time, the breed was known as the “Driver Dog,” it was Fenyesi who gave the breed its name, Mudi.

Mudi image found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information