meet the... Puli

Head

• General Appearance: Mesaticephalic skull type, moderate in size and in proportion to the rest of the body. From the front, the skull is slightly rounded or domed when viewed or felt from the front and forms an elliptical when viewed in profile. The topskull is sufficiently broad, being slightly longer than wide. The superciliary ridges are well-developed. The head, overall, is clean-cut and without excess skin or wrinkles.
• Expression: The expression is lively, intelligent, and attentive.
• Stop: The stop is slight-to-defined but never abrupt.
• Skull: The ideal muzzle-to-skull ratio is 3:1, with the topskull being somewhat longer than the muzzle.
  The ideal muzzle-to-skull axis is parallel.
• Muzzle: The muzzle is full, deep, blunt, and tapering only slightly from the broad base towards the nose. The plane of the muzzle is straight. The upper and lower jaws have good bone substance, appearing strong and well-developed, never appearing snipey or weak. The lower jaw and chin are strong and equal in length to the upper jaw. They are never lacking, recessed, or appearing short in comparison to upper jaws.
• Lips or Flews: The lips are clean and fit tightly over the teeth and jaws. The flews are well-pigmented blue, slate, or black.
• Nose: The nose is well-pigmented and black. The nostrils are well opened.
• Cheeks: The cheeks may be smooth or may exhibit slight padding to denote strength. The cheeks should not appear bulky or coarse.
• Dentition and Bite: Forty-two strong, clean, and white teeth. The bite may be level or scissor. Contact must be made between the top and bottom incisors. Missing or broken teeth due to routine work is not to be penalized. The gums are slate, blue, or black.
• Eyes: Moderate in size, oval to almond in shape, slightly obliquely set, and as dark in color as possible. Darker eye colors are preferred, but lighter, amber-colored eyes are permissible in liver and liver varieties. The eye rims are well-fitted and well-pigmented. The eyes are never rounded or bulging. There should be sufficient bone in the surrounding orbital sockets to protect the eyes.
• Ears: Medium in size and set neither high nor low on the skull but just above the level of the eye. They are pendant, V-shaped and equal to approximately ½ the length of the head. The leathers are long and wide. When extended forward, the tips should reach to the corner of the lips or beyond. The ears are never long, overly large, or broken.

Body and Tail

• General Description: Balanced, agile, and athletic. The body is never heavy or bulky. The width at the forequarters is approximately equal to the width at the hindquarters.
• Neck: Medium length allows for proud head carriage and is strongly muscled with a good arch. The neck tapers smoothly from the deeper and broader body toward the head. The neck is clean-cut, without excess skin, throatiness, or dewlap.
• Chest: Deep and broad but never wider than deep. The depth of the brisket is slightly less than the height at the withers. The brisket extends to the point of the elbows.
• Topline: Straight and level from slightly pronounced withers to croup but gives the impression of rising toward the croup due to tail coat and carriage. The back is moderately long, broad, strongly muscled, and straight, yet supple. The loin is short, taut, flat, and level, yet supportive. The back is never long, swayed, or roached.
• Croup: May be flat and level with the back or gently sloped.
• Underline: A slight tuck-up is present. The underline is taut and firm, without any indication of sagging or excess weight.
• Ribs: Long, well-sprung, well-laid-back, and oval-shaped, never barrel-chested or slab-sided. The forechest is well-developed but not protrusive.
• Tail: Set neither high nor low on the croup. It is thick at the base and tapering toward the tip. Carried in accordance with the dog’s mood and energy level, carried in a flat curl over the croup, but never tucked. The tail is of a moderately long length, with the tip of the last vertebrae extending to the hock joints when held down.

Forequarters and Hindquarters

• Forequarters: The forequarters are always in balance with the hindquarters and well-angulated with long, well-laid-back shoulder blades. The shoulder blades are approximately equal in length to the upper arm and forearm.
• Elbows: The elbows are close to the body. The distance from the ground to the elbow may be equal to, or slightly greater than, the distance from the withers to the brisket.
• Forelegs: Frontal View: Long, straight, of good muscle, moderate bone, and parallel to one another.
  Side View: The forelimbs appear straight with strong pasterns.
• Pasterns: Never weak or broken.
• Hindquarters: The upper and lower thighs are long, equal in length, strong, sturdy, moderate bone, and well-muscled.
  Rear View: When viewed from the rear, the rear pasterns are parallel to one another.
  Side View: Good angulation will allow the rear toes to align with the point of the rump or within one to two paw-lengths behind the point of the rump, with the rear pasterns remaining perpendicular to the ground and parallel to one another.
• Stifle Joint: Well-angulated with a good bend to well-let-down rear pasterns.
• Stifle Joint: The angulation of the hindquarters is always in balance with the angulation of the forequarters.
• Feet: Oval to round, compact, with well-arched toes and tough pads.

Coat

• Skin: Well-fitted, yet supple. The skin should never obstruct the outline of the dog.
• Coat Type: The coat is dense, weather-resistant, and abundant throughout. The uncorded coat may be curly or wavy. The topcoat is coarse, dense, fine, woolly hair that forms tassels and cords. The cords and tassels on the back, croup, loin, and upper thighs are the longest, ranging from 8-11 inches. The cords on the head and limbs are the shortest. The undercoat is soft, wooly, and dense. The Puli may be shown corded or brushed.
• Coat Color or Pattern: Solid black, rusty black, various shades of gray, white; apricot with or without a mask.

Movement

The Puli breed’s movement is agile, springy, lively, efficient, and effortless. The characteristics of a healthy structure are evident. When moving away, the forelegs and rear pasterns should remain parallel to one another. When viewing movement from the front, the forelegs should remain parallel, with elbows and paws moving neither in nor out. From the rear, the back pads should be visible when the rear legs are extended. As speed increases, the forelimbs and hindlimbs will converge to the centerline of gravity. From the side, the topline should remain firm and level. Good reach of movement in the front allows the forepaw to extend out in line with the nose. When extended, the width between the forefeet should be approximately equal to the width between the hindfeet when extended, indicating balance, good reach, and good drive. Dogs that exhibit any sign of breathing or locomotive difficulty shall be disqualified from the show ring.

Temperament

Like many herding dogs, the Puli breed is rugged, alert, active, and naturally protective. They make excellent watchdogs and will alert their people to anything they deem out of the ordinary. They are extremely intelligent, excelling at activities such as obedience and agility, and are natural at herding activities. They are devoted and loving family companions but can be wary of strangers throughout life. Any unprovoked aggressive or fearful behavior toward people is incorrect for this breed.

Faults

All dogs should be in proper, healthy condition, free from disease or defect. Any departure from this description is considered a fault. Unless altered, all male dogs should have two fully descended testicles.