I've been looking through various dog breeds and came across the Pumi. With it being a relatively new breed to UK,  info, especially from owners is limited. I was wondering if any of you have any personal info with regards to various aspects.

Energy level - How do they compare with other breeds? which are they most like eg mini schnauzers / poodles, spaniels, border collie, something else ?

What are they like living with a different breed ? Some sites say they dont always get on with other breeds.

Grooming I get the impression that some of the jacket, the long hairs are stripped out then others say scissored. Is this a difference between show coat and pet coat like schnauzers ?

Would love to hear anything else about them especially from breeders / owners

Bear in mind Hungarian Pumi are a herding breed & need mental stimulation to keep them occupied. They are now quite a rare breed through out the world at one time there were only a couple of thousand in Hungary. I first met the breed in Hungary still working stock & was very imptessed with them, akin to our working BCs in ability. So careful training/socialisation is required to prevent them developing unwanted behaviours

Their coat needs very regular grooming with a trim once every 4-6 weeks. The shepherds I know(in Hungary)trim their dogs to a workable coat depending on the season of the year & kept them well combed in between trimming as their coat tends to mat(they are related to the Hungarian Puli)

They do tend to be vocal if unoccupied or on the approach of unknown humans.

They tend to be overly trimmed for the showring sadly.

A lovely fairly natural breed, but not one for the faint hearted

Usual health tests should be done, hips, elbows, eyes, patellas & DNA for DM & PLL etc

I met one at the beach once, I was staring at it for ages because it could easily have been some sort of doodle, this one had quite a dodgy clip too but it was sooo cute and something just made me ask the owner what it was. I have a rare breed myself so I like to ask rather than assume it's a cross. The owner was delighted to tell me about her girl, she got her in Poland when she lived there, she wasn't an easy dog, quite reactive to other dogs but she got on fine with my lot, (mine are non confrontational), we walked together for a little while because the owner was enjoying the fact that her dog wasn't bothering with mine. I did pat her and noticed that despite her clip she was matted right down at the skin, so they probably do need a lot of work to stop this happening. Other than that I really liked her, she was full of fun, fetching a bit of seaweed constantly trying to make her owner play with her. We went separate ways though when another dog (a lab) ran up and she had a go at it, I didn't want to be associated with them after that

I've only ever met that one, so I can't say if they're all like that, maybe this one wasn't socialised well as a pup?

A friend of mine has them and breeds them. I went on a showing holiday with one of hers and one of mine and they got on brilliantly. Nothing like a Poodle or Schnauzer as neither of those breeds appeal to me but this Pumi did. Very energetic and they are great dogs for the likes of agility, they are great herders but not in the neurotic way a border collie can get. I have found them friendly but yes they can be very vocal if their needs are not met.
Grooming didn't look to intensive but this one was still fairly young at the time. She got made up in various countries in Europe.
For a small breed I like them and they are a lot of fun, its the vocals of them that put me off.

The our dogs newspaper breed note writer for pumis, is Margaret Harvey

at Margaretharvey@hotmail.co.uk

I hope this helps

https://www.champdogs.co.uk/breeder/13985

>quite reactive to other dogs

This describes the one I knew near us. I wasn't sure if the reactivity was because it basically couldn't see anything....

I read on a few sites that their coat is 50% soft hair and 50% harsh and only needs combing through every 3-4 weeks to remove debris as the coat doesnt matt. I was skeptical so its interesting to read that a few of you have seen matting.

It was the reacting to other breeds that was my main concern. Its a very off lead culture here, I see people who have dogs that are reactive to other dogs, even though most people get their dogs back on leads every walk must be so much more stressful with a reactive dog

Every 3 to 4 weeks ?? Really ? They must like cutting out mats then, the Pumi is closely related to the Puli, traditionally combed daily to prevent matting & clipped down(depending on the weather) every 6 weeks(or sooner in very hot weather) They do not naturally shed & mat very quickly.

Like all intelligent working breeds they need socialisation with humans & outside dogs from an early age & also are not couch potatoes, hence they need s focus.

The show breeders are trying to breed out the working drive, certainly the show bred Pumi I have met in UK are nothing like the working digs belonging to my shepherd friends in Hungary.

I'm not sure if the reactivity is related to the coat - I mean, if they can't see anything through all that coat over their eyes, they are going to be very startled by other dogs because they will just suddenly be on them with no warning. It's a bit like being blind :( If you were to get one, I'd suggest tying the hair out of the way of the face whilst they are pups to try to ensure best socialisation....