• “Thought I’d share the story of how our family came to be…

  Our wonderful dogs,

  are Hungarian Pulis. The breed have worked with shepherds in Hungary for hundreds of years, but they are pretty rare in Australia. We ended up sharing our lives with this unusual breed thanks to a series of fortunate accidents.

  Darren (my husband) and I were discussing getting a puppy as a companion for our dear old boxer Syd. I mentioned, jokingly, that Pulis were cool. Darren had never heard of them so we googled ‘Hungarian Puli’. He agreed that they were pretty cool but we didn’t expect that a Puli puppy would be easy to come by.

  We were surprised to find that there was a breeder in Sydney, a kennel called Rustufarion. We contacted them by email, were told they’d just had a litter, and were invited to come out and meet some Pulis and learn a bit about the breed. The next Saturday we spent a whole afternoon with the breeder and some of his Puli clan and we left there completely smitten. As well as the new litter, there was a 6 week old pup running around causing mischief and generally giving the older dogs hell…within 2 weeks that Puli puppy was causing chaos in our own home. We named him Loki, after the Norse god of mischief.

  When Loki was 13 months old, we had to say goodbye to the wonderful Syd. It soon became clear that Loki didn’t enjoy being the only dog in the house and he developed fairly severe separation anxiety after Syd died. Loki was such a great pup (he learned quickly, was gentle natured etc) and it seemed natural to get a second Puli…and so Juno, his half-sister, entered our lives.

  Why we thought getting a pup of the same breed meant she would be a similar dog I’ve no idea!! They now look almost identical (we tie different coloured ribbons in their dreads so our friends can tell them apart!) , but she and Loki are chalk and cheese. Juno puts 150% of her energy into everything she does. This means she’s been a handful at times. Its also one of the reasons we love her so much. Loki, on the other hand, has a much more laid back approach to life and of course we love him just as much. Being a working breed they both like to be active so our daily routine includes time in Sydney Park where they chase and rumble with their furry mates and beg shamelessly for treats from friends and complete strangers alike…

  Having an unusual breed means we often get stopped and asked about the dogs. In the 5 years we’ve been lucky enough to have Hungarian Pulis in our lives, the following conversation has been had countless times!!

  Q: Wow, do your dogs have dreadlocks? A: Yes

  Q: Does that happen naturally? A: Yes. They are fluffy as pups and when they are 8-9 months old the fluff starts to matt together and within another 6 months you have dreads.

  Q: Is his name Bob (ie Marley)? A: No! We’re more creative than that…Thankfully one person asked if her name was Whoopi which made a pleasant change” by Kylie 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  are Hungarian Pulis. The breed have worked with shepherds in Hungary for hundreds of years, but they are pretty rare in Australia. We ended up sharing our lives with this unusual breed thanks to a series of fortunate accidents.

  Darren (my husband) and I were discussing getting a puppy as a companion for our dear old boxer Syd. I mentioned, jokingly, that Pulis were cool. Darren had never heard of them so we googled ‘Hungarian Puli’. He agreed that they were pretty cool but we didn’t expect that a Puli puppy would be easy to come by.

  We were surprised to find that there was a breeder in Sydney, a kennel called Rustufarion. We contacted them by email, were told they’d just had a litter, and were invited to come out and meet some Pulis and learn a bit about the breed. The next Saturday we spent a whole afternoon with the breeder and some of his Puli clan and we left there completely smitten. As well as the new litter, there was a 6 week old pup running around causing mischief and generally giving the older dogs hell…within 2 weeks that Puli puppy was causing chaos in our own home. We named him Loki, after the Norse god of mischief.

  When Loki was 13 months old, we had to say goodbye to the wonderful Syd. It soon became clear that Loki didn’t enjoy being the only dog in the house and he developed fairly severe separation anxiety after Syd died. Loki was such a great pup (he learned quickly, was gentle natured etc) and it seemed natural to get a second Puli…and so Juno, his half-sister, entered our lives.

  Why we thought getting a pup of the same breed meant she would be a similar dog I’ve no idea!! They now look almost identical (we tie different coloured ribbons in their dreads so our friends can tell them apart!) , but she and Loki are chalk and cheese. Juno puts 150% of her energy into everything she does. This means she’s been a handful at times. Its also one of the reasons we love her so much. Loki, on the other hand, has a much more laid back approach to life and of course we love him just as much. Being a working breed they both like to be active so our daily routine includes time in Sydney Park where they chase and rumble with their furry mates and beg shamelessly for treats from friends and complete strangers alike…

  Having an unusual breed means we often get stopped and asked about the dogs. In the 5 years we’ve been lucky enough to have Hungarian Pulis in our lives, the following conversation has been had countless times!!

  Q: Wow, do your dogs have dreadlocks? A: Yes

  Q: Does that happen naturally? A: Yes. They are fluffy as pups and when they are 8-9 months old the fluff starts to matt together and within another 6 months you have dreads.

  Q: Is his name Bob (ie Marley)? A: No! We’re more creative than that…Thankfully one person asked if her name was Whoopi which made a pleasant change” by Kylie 

“We found Bella at Blacktown pound. It’s a heartbreaking walk up and down the kennels at the pound – but Bella made us smile with her instant love and affection. When we first saw her she came up to the bars and was madly licking our hands and wagging her tail so excitedly – you could tell she loved people, so we were soon back to pick her up and so happy to give her a home.

We have been told Whippet x Staffy, but we think also part Kangaroo (she has such an energetic spring to her play time bounds).

Bella is 4 years old and her favourite toy is a purple squeaky ring – you can’t even bribe her with food to get it back.

Bella thinks she is a 17kg lap dog – she would love nothing more than to sit on your lap and have her head stroked all day long. She also loves to lick the yoghurt foil lids when we are done with them (that said she will coax out of us just about any food scraps she can). Bella has such a cheeky personality – but because she is a pack dog she has been easy to train and a delight to have as part of our family xx .” by Alison

Tailerwolf’s family is made up of Zoe and Warwick, their four children Oscar 9, Jake 7 Josh 18, Jessie 16 plus two hens Marigold and Tulip and a cockatiel Mango. “Tailerwolf was rescued 12 yrs ago from the Sydney Dogs Home, he is about 13 yrs old now. He is a terrier x poodle mix with a mixture of wirey hair and wool on his head, so he gets dreadlocks there but the rest of him is just wiry hair, I think he’s incredibly handsome of course and other people comment on him wherever we go. He loves unwrapping his presents when he gets one, he especially likes getting animals with long limbs or ears he can flip about and throw in the air to himself. He loves chicken wings as a treat (thankfully he doesn’t realise that Marigold and Tulip have some of those under their feathers). I came up with his name Tailerwolf as a mixture of him being a magical creature who would protect me with his love, my talisman, my wolf, the one who tails me, at my side always.. I think his name is perfect for him..” by Zoe

“Bella comes from a breeder in Coffs Harbour – she was flown down and we picked her up at the airport. She is a Chocolate Labrador Retriever She was born on the 24th February so she’s nearly 9 months old (8mths at the time of the photos) She loves bones and her favourite toy is a purple one that makes a funny noise when you move it… not sure what it’s called. She loves to chase the frisbee.” by Riannan

Introducing Bozley and Boof. Part 2

“Bozley 13 years old Lhasa Apso x poodle Back before we knew how bad pet shops really could be, he was purchased from pets paradise at Chatswood. I actually bought him 2 weeks before I moved into suitable accommodation, and the pet shop were kind enough to keep him for me till i could take him. I would come and spend my lunch break with him every day in those 2 weeks. He was my baby before I had babies and has taken to the role of protecting the kids when they arrived. He spends half his night sleeping across their bedroom doors, protecting them. He has never walked with a leash, and is famous for singing (howling) happy birthday into people’s voicemail.” by Cassie

Introducing Bozley and Boof. Part 1

“Boof 4 years old He is a Bull Arab. He was purchased from a breeder in QLD by Rob and flown down to sydney. His parents are champion pig hunting dogs – our boofy is the runt of the litter, unusual colouring for a Bull Arab and has the loveliest nature (sadly the fact he is scared of the wind, the blue tongue lizard (Dorothy) who lives in the backyard and even plastic bags that land in the yard, he would never make a good hunter .. And we’re glad of that). He loves to jump on the trampoline with the kids, go to the beach and destroy soccer balls. He resides in the yard in his custom made kennel complete with heated bed for winter and fan for summer. He comes inside but sleeps outside.” by Cassie

“Our spoodle, Simba is the love of our lives. We got him to be a companion for our only daughter. We chose him over other breeds because spoodle are known to be very family and kid friendly dogs and manageable in size too. Simba is instant positivity in our lives with his lively nature he lifts up our spirits instantly. He is a barrel full of love and affection and he never runs out of it for us!

He has a few favourite toys including his blue teddy called ‘bubble gum’. Simba also lives to eat chicken in any form and would even get upset and growl if we eat chicken without sharing with him. He has turned one in October and is even more playful than before. We wish him a really long, healthy life. He is an absolute apple of our eyes!!” by Shipra

Introducing Buster

“Here’s the story of Buster….

In late 2014, three weeks before his 15th birthday, we suddenly lost our beloved dog, Bulldozer. We were devastated and spent a week mourning the loss of our beloved furkid. At the time, Charlie was about 5mths old and was keeping us very busy (not to mention keeping us up at night!) and we spent many hours discussing whether we could manage a puppy as well. Before the week was out we had agreed that we couldn’t even consider continuing life as a family without a dog and we wanted to get a puppy (rather than an adult dog) so that Charlie and the pup could grow up together.

Bulldozer was an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier (aka a Staffy) and he was the best dog ever…loyal, smart, sweet and super affectionate. Staffies are known for being people dogs that are awesome with kids but, if they’re not handled well, they can be aggressive. So we agreed that we would get another Staffy but, with a small baby, we wanted to make sure we knew that we knew the dog’s background. We wanted to make sure we got a Staffy who’s parents that weren’t aggressive as it reduces the risk of the pup being aggressive. So, we began the hunt for a Staffy puppy. Staffy pups are highly sort after and many people purchase pups before the Mummy Staffy has even become pregnant. It was mid November and we were looking to get a puppy before Christmas…not an easy thing to do! So, after a week of searching and negotiation we found a reputable breeder in Taree (north coast of NSW) who had a pup that was for sale. So, that weekend, we hopped in the car and took Charlie to visit this puppy and his family. We arrived, met the breeder and all his dogs and spent an hour or so playing with this sweet little puppy and introducing him to Charlie. We went for a walk and discussed whether this was the puppy for us. We decided he was and so we brought him home.

Buster was born on 11 Sept 2014 (so he’s 1 and a bit) and we should have called him ‘Chewy’. He has chewed every toy he has ever been given into tiny little bits. He now steals things out of the recycling and chews them into little bits. Every now and then, he steals one of our shoes and chews them up too. When he’s not chewing things into bits, he’s sitting under Charlie’s high chair waiting for food to drop from above and I’m not sure who loves it more, Buster or Charlie. We often catch Charlie gleefully dropping food from her plate onto the flaw and giggling as Buster eats it up off the floor…needless to say, Charlie and Buster are best friends and the bond they share is not only obvious, but beautiful.” by Sarah