FAKE NEWS

I’ve been lurking in the background for a while, watching where things are going.  I’m still trying to figure out if there is any hope for the Mudi breed or not, “hope dies last” is a rather famous Hun saying and quite aptly applies these days.  I decided to dust off my database and bring it fully up to speed, not a monumental task, but indeed there have been a few jaw dropping moments.

It’s nearly impossible to sort out the real from the fabricated these days.  As I look around Mudi-dom I see so much incorrect information being posted on every type of media.  COI’s that are far lower than reality, health and performance data offered without any accompanying documentation, lines that are professed to be clear of epilepsy risk, if in fact the author even acknowledges there is any epilepsy in the breed. How is anyone able to verify any of it without tempting the fates? 

First, the Mudi needs to get on board with some uniformity, across all nations and languages.  I see colors called by all sorts of names, there are more name variations than actual colors and patterns, how did this happen?  COI’s based on only 5 or 10 gens, what’s the reason behind this?  I read breeders claiming they have no connection to epilepsy in their lines since they started breeding, how is that possible?  Are their Mudis somehow different from the rest of the world’s Mudis?

What is the best way to get much needed information and data out to the Mudi interested public?  How do we make it uniform and standardized in all languages and countries, as well as equally and easily accessible?

Perhaps it is best to start with standardizing the basic information. I am fluent in English and semi-fluent in Hungarian, other languages will need someone native to their own language and English to play along.

Breed = Mudi, plural in English is Mudi’s, or Mudis, not Mudik.  If you are not speaking Hungarian, then please do not use mudik.  But if you must use mudik, then learn to speak Hungarian.

COI = You have to use all gens to arrive at the correct COI, as many as can be found for the breed, any other calculation is incorrect, but you can google it if you don’t believe me.

I have 26 or more generations behind many litters now, if your database does not go back that far, then you are not going to get a correct COI. If you don't have the correct parents for all of the dogs in the pedigree, your COI will not be correct. Using incorrect COI’s is misleading. I give COI’s for free, you can do comparisons between the source you were using and mine, I don’t have a problem with that, as long as you use the correct COI.  Why do I think my COI's are correct?  I’ll save that for another time, you will just have to trust me on this one for now.

Color and pattern names = how did it get so disorganized and whimsical?  Why do kennel clubs that are not the originating country for the breed have any right to change the names used in the country of origin, albeit properly translated (and with some guidance from color genetic terms; https://www.pawprintgenetics.com/products/traits/)?  For example:

Hungarian = English

Fekete       = Black   

Fehér         = White  

Fakó          = Yellow (Fakó translates to pale, which has no color meaning in English, yellow is the genetic term and the color that you see on the Mudi; fawn is not correct as fawn is a color term used on the A locus with Sable.)

Barna          = Brown

Hamvas      = Ash (While Dilute is the genetic term, it is not recognizable by most people, and blue has been used for decades to describe this color and could be an alternative, ash is the perfect term for this color as it is not gray or silver which is another color gene which the Mudi does not have. There is no reason English speaking Kennel Clubs cannot add ash to their already long lists of color terms.)

Hamvasbarna         = Ashbrown

Cifra                        = Black Merle (Cifra actually translates to flashy or gaudy which has no color meaning in English; historically the cifra Mudi was black merled; the common English and genetic term is merle; however as the Mudi comes in many merled colors, merle needs to be used in conjunction with the correct base color term: black merle, brown merle, etc.)

Hamvas Cifra          = Ash Merle (This solves the blue merle problem best.)

Barna Cifra              = Brown Merle

Hamvasbarna Cifra = Ashbrown Merle

And yes White Merle and Yellow Merle can occur, DNA testing needs to be done to verify, you cannot rely on blue or merled eyes as an indicator.

Colors that are not standard also happen from time to time, although lately they seem to be almost viral in appearance:

Albínó      = Albino (Snow white coat, pink nose, lips, eye rims and paw pads, eyes can be blue or red; albino is thankfully quite rare but it does happen.)

Cirkás, Tigris, Csíkos   = Brindle (This striped pattern is seen on Boxers, Great Dane, etc., Csíkos translates to striped, Tigris is tiger, cirkás is used for the brindle Sinka; brindle can also have a black mask.)

Fekete-cser or Mézeslábú = Black & Tan (Mézeslábú translates to honey feet as the tan color is mostly seen on the lower legs in the Mudi.)

Barna-cser = Brown & Tan

Maszkos fakó = Masked Yellow (As seen on a Malinois, there are no stripes, unfortunately most Mudi breeders call brindle by this name.)

Ordas = Wolf (The exact translation is wolf, but it is also known as sable or fawn.)
Fekete-fehér = Black & White (Like a Border Collie, again this is a rather rare pattern in the Mudi.)

I do not see the reason that these color names cannot be used in every English speaking country and properly translated into other languages, so we are all talking about the same colors and patterns when we visit Mudi websites, talk on FB or other forums about the breed or meet at events.  No one should have to guess the color of a Mudi, this is an unnecessary problem that is easy to fix.

Epilepsy…what can I say that I have not already.  If you do not want to believe the owners of the 25+ Mudis that suffer from seizures, then there is nothing I can say to you to make you believe it occurs in the breed now either.  It is generally acknowledged by Veterinarians worldwide, that when there are no known causes for a dog to have repetitive seizures, the cause is most likely genetic – inherited.  Some Mudi breeders claim they have no epilepsy in their lines, my database which tracks inheritance patterns disagrees with them.  Other breeders claim that problems at birth (such as lack of oxygen) cause these seizures, a lack of oxygen that would be serious enough to cause seizures would most probably cause other visible problems in the puppy such as cerebral palsy, not only seizures, if the puppy would even survive such a catastrophic event.  And the seizures would be present from the time of birth, not many months or years later.

It amazes me that any breeder would still be in denial of the existence of genetic epilepsy in the Mudi today.  Whether it is out of ignorance, refusal to face the facts, or fear, the essential point is they are not helping the Mudi breed.  Every choice that is made, whether it is where to get a puppy or which Mudis to breed with, matters. The future of the Mudi is everyone’s responsibility, every decision you make is a step in the right or wrong direction.  Where are your steps taking you?