Pumi

The Pumi is devoted to her family members and comes across as warm, affectionate and loving. She has been known to show exclusive love to one member of the group.

Nicknamed ‘the clown’ in Hungary, the Pumi is a super playful breed, remaining puppy-like into her adult years.

The Pumi is bold and vocal - probably not the best choice for those looking for a calm, placid dog!

As a herding dog, the Pumi is an intelligent and helpful companion. She excels at agility and ball sports and enjoys obedience training.

The Pumi holds a very high prey drive and will chase small animals.

The Pumi is very suspicious of unfamiliar faces and becomes anxious around strangers. Early socialisation can help this problem slightly, although the Pumi will likely always need time to warm to people.

Bred to hunt independently, the Pumi wants to be the boss and needs a firm, confident owner. She has a definite stubborn and willful streak.

The Pumi forms a super close bond to her owner and family members and, therefore, doesn’t cope well with being left alone for too long. Early habituation to short periods of alone time may help.

The Pumi is intelligent and can pick up new tricks and follow orders with ease. However, the independent streak means training should start early.

She is known to be a vocal dog who barks loudly and excessively if not trained well.

Due to her strong herding and hunting instincts, the Pumi may run off around livestock, wildlife and small animals.

If a Pumi is trained, exercised and isn’t left alone for long periods of time, behavioural problems are unlikely. On the other hand, the Pumi can be a huge troublemaker when lonely and/or under-exercised, resulting in barking, digging and unwanted herding.

Not known to be a particularly greedy dog, but treats are a welcome reward for good behaviour.

Naturally suspicious of strangers, the Pumi makes a fantastic watchdog who will bark at strangers to protect her social group.

She is a very good first choice for sporty and dynamic masters who wish to keep active or even work with their dog.

She can live in an apartment without too much trouble, but only if her needs are met and her owners are available and active.

The Pumi has a very high exercise requirement and should be walked for a minimum of 1-2 hours per day. On top of this, she will need plenty of playtime and ball games throughout the day. This is a very intelligent breed who will quickly become bored.

Her average size does not allow her to travel in a transport bag but her docile and communicative temperament makes her a very pleasant traveling companion.

A very well-socialised Pumi may tolerate a family cat if introduced to it whilst a puppy.

Assuming the Pumi is well-socialised, she won’t have any problems living alongside other dogs.

The Pumi will form strong ties with the children, and will play gently with them.

An elderly person would probably find the Pumi’s high exercise needs and stubborn streak too much to handle.