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COMPARISON BETWEEN KUVASZ, CROATIAN SHEEPDOG, MUDI

1 - MORPHOLOGY Detail :         THE  SMILING  FACE

The Hungarians use the word "smile" (and so on) to describe the face expression of the Kuvasz. The smiling face is really a characteristic of the Kuvasz breed - of course, that doesn't mean at all that a Kuvasz shows the smiling face permanently, by the way the previous standard described his eyes as ferocious ! Both are right, the Kuvasz face can show both a smiling expression and a ferocious one. The smiling face appears to be also a characteristic of the Croatian Sheepdog though all the Croatian Sheepdogs don't get the smiling face. I didn't meet the smiling face in my Mudis, but this characteristic is probably not lost in the Mudi breed too. It seems to be rather frequent in the Croatian Sheepdog breed.

Some dogs seem to be rather laughing than only smiling !

Like mankind, dogs can "smile" without opening their mouth, or just a little.

Conversely, a very open mouth isn't always enough to give the impression of a smiling face. Some dogs don't have got the smiling face characteristic, and they can open their mouth widely and more, they can't show the smiling face. Some other dogs - like the Kuvasz - have got this characteristic, but they can open their mouth without smiling, according to their mind.

The smiling face is given because the dog pull the lips backwards to the ears, nonetheless, this condition isn't enough : see the Kuvasz male who wants to threaten the Mudi (because of the toy), his face doesn't show at all a smiling expression ! See too the Kuvasz bitch who disagrees with me, her wide open mouth doesn't give you the impression of a smile !

The smiling expression is due to the lips very pulled backwards (more than most dogs do and even can), but also to the conformation of the head, especially of the eyes. So some dogs can pull their lips backwards and/or open their mouth very wide and don't give the smiling expression. Nevertheless, it's generally possible to get photos with a smiling face even when the dogs hasn't this characteristic : some light in the eyes, for example, some other things can give a smiling face to a dog who hasn't in reality. When a dog has really the smiling face, the owners can often see him smiling - and they can often got photos with a smiling face, but not always, for some dogs change their expression in front of the camera !

My Mudis didn't get the smiling face, nonetheless I can find a few photos with the impression of a smiling face. In fact, I never saw them smile while it's quite impossible to live with a (normal) Kuvasz without seeing him smile in some circumstances. Photos aren't good enough signs to know if a dog has the smiling face or not, he must be seen day by day in the real life.

A dog who's got the smiling face isn't always smiling, of course ! His head expression depends on his mind. It seems that pleasure can make him smile !

Nonetheless, it appears that a dog can "smile" in unpleasant circumstances, it seems to be a reaction to these circumstances. In general, in such a case, the mouth is closed, only the lips give the impression of a smile. When a dog "smiles" easily, some excitation can often makes him smile.

It often happens to see a smiling expression when pups are just born or during the first days ; excitation makes other dogs "smile" ; as for the mother, it can be also a reaction to the stress of the delivering (a reaction to more or less unpleasant circumstances too).

In conclusion, the best way to be sure that a dog has really got the smiling face, is to see him in the real life day by day. A dog who "smiles" easily and often has the smiling face.

09/08/08 Isabelle Coquinot