Puli

The Puli is generally held to have arrived in the Carpathian Basin with the migrating Magyars more than a thousand years ago, with its ancestors probably coming from the Asian steppe. On the Hungarian puszta it worked in partnership with the much larger Komondor: the Puli gathered and drove the flock through the day, while the heavy white guardian took over the night watch against wolves and thieves.

The type survived largely unchanged into the twentieth century, when Dr Emil Raitsits of the Hungarian veterinary college began studying and standardising the breed in the 1920s, writing a standard and organising breeding after centuries of purely functional selection. The Second World War devastated the population, and post-war recovery relied on a small number of surviving dogs.

Pulis reached the United States before the war, in part through United States Department of Agriculture trials in the 1930s that examined their potential as herding dogs, and the American Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1936. It is now placed in the Herding Group, and in Hungary it remains a national breed with a strong following, though numbers worldwide are modest.

A Puli is a medium-small, square-built dog of surprisingly light bone. Males stand around 17 inches at the withers and females around 16 to 16.5 inches, with weights usually between 25 and 35 pounds. The body is hidden under the coat, so a Puli often looks larger and heavier than it is; underneath there is a lean, deep-chested, spring-legged athlete built for sudden turns and remarkable jumping ability.

The coat is the breed's defining feature. Puppies are born with a soft wavy or curly coat that gradually felts as the soft undercoat tangles into the harsher outer hair, forming cords that continue to lengthen through the dog's life and may eventually reach the ground. The classic colour is a dull, weathered black, and grey, white and a fawn shade called fako with a dark mask are also recognised. Cording is natural, but it needs human help to separate correctly.

Pulis are lively, confident and highly attached to their families. They are natural problem-solvers with a streak of independence inherited from a job that required them to make decisions at a distance from the shepherd, and they can be strikingly inventive about getting what they want.

With strangers they are typically reserved rather than friendly, and they are alert, watchful and quick to bark. Many Pulis are enthusiastic barkers in general, which is worth thinking about carefully if you have close neighbours. Early, positive socialisation makes a real difference to how gracious the adult is with visitors.

The breed is sensitive and remembers unfair treatment, so heavy-handed correction tends to produce a resentful, uncooperative dog. With children in the family, most Pulis are affectionate and playful, though the herding instinct can show up as circling and nipping at heels that needs redirecting early. They usually get on with other dogs but may try to organise them.

As a herding dog the Puli works close, fast and vocally, gathering and driving sheep rather than guarding them. Working Pulis are still used in Hungary, and the breed can compete successfully in herding trials elsewhere.

Their agility, spring and quick minds also suit them to agility, obedience, rally and flyball, where the sight of a corded dog clearing jumps is memorable. Some have worked in police and detection roles in Hungary, and their alertness makes them very effective, if noisy, household watchdogs.