Back to "Dogs of my own" Contents Back to Home                                                                  Why do I breed Croatian Sheepdog ? My first dog was a Berger de Brie (Briard) bitch, while a Newfoundland bitch joined us a few months later. But I really entered in the dog world only when my first Kuvasz came home, a bitch who had a very important influence on me. Then I imported a Kuvasz male, but I never tried a litter, because I was really afraid not to find any buyer in France. Kuvasz is still scarce in France. Because of their strong and not easy character, I can't envisage neither to keep at home several adults nor to give one to anybody who wants just a large breed dog. Kuvasz can't be the dog of anyone, the owner must suit to this particular breed. From the Kuvasz I looked at the Mudi, who seems like a black little Kuvasz - of course, the character isn't quite the same !  But precisely, I can breed such a dog without having owners before the litter, because I can both give such a pup or adult to a lot of kind of people, and keep several with me at home, even a few males. So I imported a couple of Mudi and tried a litter. I got problems with this litter, and then I realized that the parents had too (particularly undershot jaws and fur problems). I didn't want anymore to breed with my bitch, but she died when she was still young. After that, some personal conditions make me wait a few years. During this time, I was still working on both Kuvasz and Mudi. My so dear first Kuvasz bitch had obtained so much things from me, in particular to learn Hungarian, so I could have access to a lot of texts about these two breeds, learning a lot of things. It didn't take long for me to meet the Croatian Sheepdog among Hungarian writings about Mudi. Although the Hungarians deny, it appeared quickly as an obviousness that Mudi comes from Croatian Sheepdog. Croatian Sheepdog is bred as a breed for several centuries and is so the real breed for me. So logically I preferred having and breeding Croatian Sheepdog. It hasn't been easy for me to import Croatian Sheepdog, I received no answer from the Croatian Dog-organization, and out of Croatia where could be found such a breed a few years ago ? So I tried to import good Mudi again, but I didn't succeed too. Then, one day, I could have access to Internet, where I discovered the addresses of two breeders, in Croatia. Only one of them answered, but a few months later, a couple of Croatian Sheepdogs were at home. I didn't try anymore to get Mudi. Two main reasons made me give up Mudi, at least for the moment : my material conditions and the French laws, because of both I chose to breed only one breed with a litter only once a year, so I breed only Croatian Sheepdog. That appears impossible for the moment, so, but I would have liked to breed "coloured" Mudi - as the Hungarians call all the Mudis who are not black ("szines Mudi").  Now I know better both Croatian Sheepdog and Mudi, and black Mudi doesn't make anymore sense for me : excepted these few bitches who are from 38 to 40 cm high, a black Mudi could be overall a Croatian Sheepdog, I want to say that overall the Mudi standard is included into the Croatian Sheepdog's one, the few details which make different the two standards have no real meaning but this aim precisely to make different the two standards, so the FCI could recognize both breeds. In the opposite, "coloured" Mudi not only makes sense for me, but gives sense to the Mudi breed compared with the Croatian Sheepdog. But for the time being, "coloured" Mudi isn't for me, I must breed only one kind of dog, and Croatian Sheepdog appears to me as the real breed, the historical breed, the original breed. And my Croatian Sheepdogs suit me so well and please me so much ... 09/02/03 Isabelle Coquinot Back to "Dogs of my own" Contents Back to Home