Puli
The Puli dog (called Roxie if white and blue eyed) falls in between a small and medium sized dog. It originated from Hungary and was used as a herding dog. It has a very distinctive corded coat. This unique configuration of hair looks very similar to dreadlocks. The set up helps this dog to stay dry in the rain, as the tight packing of the hair makes water just bounce off. This dog bares many similarities to the larger dog breed called the Komondor. The Pulis history is linked to Hungary, it came with the migration of the Magyars who came from Central Asia over 1000 years in the past. There herding and guarding duties were what they were used for. Usually they would work in concert with the larger Komondor dog. Generally the way it worked is that the Puli would alert the Komondor of attacking bears or wolves. Then the Komondor would jump in and repel the attack. Pulis were able to fight of wolves by themselves but being backed up by the Komondor gave them a good edge. Tracing the ancestry back further in Asia evidence is found 2000 years ago and there is even anecdotal evidence that indicates that a Puli ancestor may have been around as early as 6000 years ago. It has been postulated that this dog is related to the Poodle..
Appearance
This distinctive looking dog is normally found in black. It can also be found in cream, gray or white. If the dog is not black it may nevertheless have a black mask. The coat is created by a matting process. As the Puli gets older its coat can even drag along the ground. The standard size for a Puli is 42 to 25 cm to the withers and 10.5 to 11 kilos in weight.
Temperament
The Puli is characterised by being an athletic and highly intelligent breed, they tend to be quite strong willed but friendly. The hair makes this dog look bulky and unwieldy but actually they are very agile and are great dogs to be used in dog shows in anything required high levels of agility. It is not surprising given that they are actually a herding dog. This dog also does well as an animal guard dog. These dogs tend to be very protective of their owner and home and wary of strangers so they make good watch dogs. These dogs can be trained well but the owner needs to be in control, as long as it is given a job to do it is a happy dog. However these dogs are not best suited to city life as they want to have space to roam around in, they will quickly get bored indoors. So ideally are large garden is required for this dog, but realistically it is more of a country dog.
Grooming and care
To keep the Pulis coat looking good takes a significant amount of grooming. On the plus side this dog sheds almost no hair, so at least cleaning the house is cut down.
Health
As expected for such a hardworking dog, this breed does not suffer from any major health problems. As usual for dogs though hip dysplasia and eye problems are to be expected.