FCI No.53 KOMONDOR STANDARD

Created by UDVARINÉ LUKÁCS Ilona (Club President, Breeding Council Member),
ERDÉLYI Károly (Breeding Council President),
KORÓZS Gábor (Breeding Council Member),
OLÁH László (Breeding Council Member),
PUSKÁS Ferenc (Breeding Council Member).

ORIGIN: Hungary

UTILISATION: Livestock guardian dog

FCI-CLASSIFICATION:

Group 1: Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Cattle Dogs)
Section 1 Sheepdogs. Without working trial.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY:

The Komondor is an old-established Hungarian livestock guardian breed of Asiatic origin. His original ancestors almost certainly came with the migrating Old Magyars, living as stock-breeding Nomads, to the Carpathian basin.

GENERAL APPEARANCE:

The Komondor is large in size and powerfully built. His appealing outward appearance and dignified deportment arouse respect and even fear in the observer. By nature he is not ingratiating. His robust body is covered by matted, corded, throughout dense, long hair. The body, seen sideways, forms a prone rectangle, only slightly deviating from a square. The thickly coated head rises above the body. The tail is carried hanging down with its tip bent upwards, almost horizontally. The coat colour is ivory.

The serious, reserved bearing and large body of Komondors give it an air of nobility. Komondors are proportionate and homogenous, a heterogeneous general impression is a serious fault. A flabby construction, a body lacking muscle and light, thin bones are also considered disqualifying faults; a strong, sturdy, solid, powerful and robust physique is preferred. This is not to be confused with the extremes of the height at the withers (a dog with a 70 cm height could be more robust than another with an 80 cm height).

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS:

The body length slightly exceeds the height at the withers.

The deepest point of the brisket is approximately on a level with half of the height at the withers.

The muzzle is slightly shorter than half of the length of head.

Main proportions of Komondors (height at withers counts as 100%):

BEHAVIOUR AND TEMPERAMENT:

He has an imperturbable courage in the guarding and defense of the herds entrusted to him and the property and home of his master. He attacks silently and duringly. He regards his territory as his own property and will not let any living creature unknown to it enter. His nature is suspicious. During the day, he likes to keep a lying position enabling him to control his area. At night, he is always alert.

Taken out of their usual environment, Komondors tend to change their behaviour, becoming more reserved. Their original nature makes them wary of strangers. Their basic nature is calm and harmonious, they like people, family and children. They protect the valuables entrusted to them, their owner and their owner's property, territory and family with their life. Although the function of Komondors and the environment they are kept in for the most part have changed, their behaviour has adapted to the 21st century positively. They are perfect for guarding family homes and urban yards.

HEAD:

The head is broad, in good proportion to the body. Even the dense screen of hair does not make him appear out of proportion.

It is the most appealing part of Komondors. A rough or small head, a pointy, elongated muzzle, and the lack of umbrella-like hair on the head are all serious faults. The bones of the head can be judged by firm palpation.

CRANIAL REGION:

Skull: Domed. Brows are well developed.
Stop: Well developed but not too steep.

FACIAL REGION:

Somewhat shorter than the cranial region.
Nose: Straight, cut off blunt, black.

Compared to the muzzle width, the nose is rather wide, with large nostrils. A slate grey or black nose is desirable. Brown colour is extremely rare today. For breeding quality certification, a damaged, bruised noseleather is not considered a fault of course, but it is an aesthetic fault in dog shows. When judging the pigmentation, it is not enough to look at the noseleather, other parts of the skin have to be considered too. If the dog does not have other serious signs of hypopigmentation, having winter nose does not disqualify a dog from breeding. Winter nose is considered a serious aesthetic fault in dog shows when awarding the winning title.

Muzzle: Not pointed. The bridge of nose is straight.

When looking at proportions, note that the head of Komondors is not a so-called bear-shaped head. Although that shape looks appealing, it is definitely a fault in this breed.

Lips: With strong pigmentation. Tightly fitting to mouth and jaw bones. Corner of mouth jagged.

Lips that are not tight but are hanging are considered serious faults.

Jaws/Teeth: Jaws very well muscled, strong and powerful. Even and complete scissor bite, according to the dentition formula.

The upper and lower jaws are strong and equal in size. Missing teeth is not allowed. Some dogs in the population have level bite, also called even bite, which is a serious fault. An exception can be made for older dogs, if the otherwise correctly aligned dentition deviates from scissor bite due to erosion. As inherited from the dogs of our ancestors, the breed carries the irregularity of the lower dentition formula. The irregularity is allowed (in breeding and in dog shows) to the extent where lower I1 teeth, and only the I1 teeth have level bite. After 3 years of age, this condition may change in the way that the two I1 teeth go over the upper teeth slightly. That is acceptable if it stays within 2-3 mm.

Cheeks: Broad, of medium length.

Eyes: Horizontally set, dark brown. The rims are strongly pigmented and fit tightly to the eyeball.

A dark brown colour is desirable, but it is common to see medium brown eyes, which is lighter than what we are looking for. Light colours and yellow are not allowed. Rims are black or slate grey. Loose rims are a fault, and rims rolling outward (ectropion) or inward (entropion) are very serious disqualifying faults, as experience shows that these traits tend to get inherited. Rims must not roll inward or outward, they have to be tightly fitting to the eyeball. Ectropium is not a typical problem in the breed, but entropium appears sometimes, unfortunately. This irregularity can be corrected with an operation, which is essential in some cases for the wellbeing of the dog. Breeding such dogs (even though this problem is hard to detect after the operation) would damage the population without question.

Ears: Set medium high on the domed skull. Clearly pendant from the base and V- or U-shaped. Not raised neither when alert nor in attack.

The ears cling to the side of the head. On the bushy head of Komondors, the ears should not be visible at all, actually. The ears are never lifted, they never move at all, whether in a relaxed or alert state. The ears are of the right length if they can touch below the eyes on the stop line.

BODY:

Neck: Very well muscled. Should form an angle of 35 degrees to the horizontal. In relaxed state and in case of indifferent behaviour, it is carried almost in continuation of the backline. Rather short than of medium length. Without dewlap or neck ruff.

Compared to the body, the neck is of medium length. It is strong and very well muscled. It continues the body with a slight curve. There cannot be neck ruff behind the head or dewlap at the lower part of the neck.

Topline: The body parts forming the topline are broad and very well muscled.

Withers: Sufficiently long, higher in front.

There are clearly defined, long and broad withers at the beginning of the topline, making the back short. Sunken withers and loose shoulders are considered serious faults.

Back: Short. Straight, broad, muscular; a direct continuation of the loin. Swayed and roached toplines are serious faults.

Loin: Of medium length. Broad, with rich musculature. That is an essential requirement for good fighting ability and agile, energetic movement, which is a characteristic defining the breed, as these qualities are needed for guarding large areas.

Croup: Broad, of medium length, slightly sloping. The musculature of the croup is substantial. In bitches, a broad croup is very important to ensure that the birth canal is sufficiently broad, and in males, it is needed to support their larger bodies. A slightly oversized croup is allowed in younger dogs, but it is a fault in adult Komondors.

Chest: Brisket of medium depth, broad, long. Well muscled. Well-sprung ribs. The forechest is deep and broad, also well muscled. A hollow heart region, a narrow chest are serious faults. As frequently mentioned by historical descriptions of the breed, looking at a Komondor from the front, its body gives the impression of a barrel.

Abdomen: Slightly tucked up. Compared to the body, rather large. Does not hang below the chest line.

TAIL:

Low-set, clearly pendant; tip of the tail shows a slight bend, almost to horizontal. When alert, the tail is raised to the level of the backline at most. It is desirable that the tail reaches to the hock.

It is desirable that the tail reaches to the hock, and it could go over it by about 1-2 cm. A tail that is shorter by more than 2-3 cm above the hock is a disqualifying fault. In judging the tail carriage of Komondors, raising the tail is allowed to the extent when it is raised above the backline in its full length. Holding the tail above the backline, whether curled or straight, is undesirable—it ruins the general aesthetics of the dog. It is also undesirable that the Komondor tucks its tail between its legs. In judging tail carriage, a passive, static carriage is also not desirable.

LIMBS:

FOREQUARTERS:

Judging of the limbs is made very difficult by the long corded coat. Front legs are columnar and straight, parallel and vertical seen from the front or the side. The forechest is broad which results in wide apart, strong and free moving legs. The limbs are firmly connected to the body. Bone substance is strong and powerful. Joints are large.

Loose shoulders, outward sticking elbows and sunken withers reflect a flabby construction, which can be of genetic origin, but could also result from a lack of exercise. These faults are rather obvious when looking at the forequarters. In dogs with a small chest, the functioning of the heart, lungs and major blood vessels is inadequate. A narrow stance of the forelegs is a serious fault in Komondors. A narrow support decreases stability in such a robust breed as the Komondor. Thin bones, fiddle front, knocked knees, bandy legs, feet turning inward or outward, soft, loose feet are all serious faults.

Shoulders: The shoulder blades are moderately sloping. The forelegs start from the shoulder joint and continue downward in a right angle. Loose, underdeveloped shoulders are a serious fault.

Paws: Large, strong with well knit toes. Pads are slate grey, thick and well padded. Toenails grey. Soft and overly steep pasterns lead to oversized feet, which will be loose. Front feet are rounded. The darker the pads the better.

HINDQUARTERS:

The position of the hind legs supports the body with relatively steep angulations. Continuing the croup of medium length, broad, well muscled limbs are desirable.

Thin bones, cow hocked and sickle hocked stances or barrel hocks are serious faults. Soft, loose feet pointing outward or inward are undesirable both when static and in movement.

Upper thigh: Strongly muscled, voluminous.

Paws: Hind paws are longer than forepaws. Dewclaws to be removed.

GAIT/MOVEMENT:

Light, free and even. The stride is wide and ground covering.

Despite their huge body, the movement of Komondors is harmonious and light. Gait faults are considered serious.

SKIN:

The skin contains a lot of pigment and is slate grey. Dark pigment at the gums and the roof of mouth preferred. Diminished pigment and pink skin undesirable.

The pigmentation of hairless parts of the skin has to be judged together. Paler pigmentation of the noseleather and winter nose are common and are not considered faults if the pigmentation of the lips and eye rims is correct. A general hypopigmentation of hairless parts of the skin and pink eye rims are serious faults.

COAT:

HAIR:

The whole body is covered by long hair. The coat consists of a coarser topcoat and finer undercoat. The characteristic coat is determined by the proportions of the top coat to the undercoat. A shaggy coat that tends towards matting is a basic requirement. An homogenously dense, wavy, corded coat also occurs. The smaller tufts of such hair are less or not matted at all. The coat is longest on the croup, at the loin region and on the rear of the upper thighs (at least 20–27 cm). On the back, at the sides of the chest and at the region of the shoulder blades, it is of medium length (15–22 cm), at the cheeks, the brows, on top of the head, on the ears, the neck and the limbs, it is shorter (10–18 cm) and it is shortest at the lips and on the lower parts of the limbs (9–11 cm). Neither a combed nor a completely neglected coat are desirable.

In judging the coat, not only the length of the hair has to be considered, but primarily its quality. A so-called torn coat is allowed if it resulted from old age or whelping, provided that it can be clearly discerned that the dog otherwise has appropriate hair quality. The quantity and quality of the undercoat is very important. Any deviation from the typical hair of Komondors is a serious fault. In shows, a uniform, homogenous coat is ideal for Komondors.

COLOUR:

Ivory.

Any deviation from the shades of white is a serious fault. Such dogs are to be eliminated from breeding!

SIZE AND WEIGHT:

Height at withers:
Males: Minimum 70 cm.
Bitches: Minimum 65 cm.

Weight:
Males: 50–60 kg.
Bitches: 40–50 kg.

As it is a large livestock guardian dog, it is important to preserve the size of Komondors. We have to avoid trying to increase the height at the withers unreasonably, because that would lead to losing homogeneity.

The breed shows few faults in type and is largely uniform as it has always been bred with the same objective.

FAULTS:

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

• Lack of pigment on noseleather, eyelids and rims.
• Loose eye rims.
• Ring Tail.

DISQUALIFYING FAULTS:

• Flabby construction, body lacking muscle.
• Overshot or undershot, wry mouth.
• Entropion, Ectropion.
• Pricked, light ears.
• Short tail (ending 3 cm above hock).
• Heavy limbs and faulty movement.
• Coloured or multicoloured coat.
• Diversion from lower height limit as mentioned in the standard.

Notes:
Male animals must have two apparently normally developed testicles fully descended into the scrotum.