What makes the Mucuchies Unique?
The hard working Mucuchies make excellent guard dogs and companions, as they are loyal, confident, and courageous. The Mucuchie forms a strong attachment to its family, to whom it is affectionate, loving, and gentle.
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Is the Mucuchies Right For You?
Mucuchies form a strong bond with its family and thrive on attention and love extended to it. This dog is specially kind and gentle with children. It is a very loyal and active dog breed that will protect its family and possession with courage and bravery. With a high protective instinct, the dog is highly suspicious and wary of strangers. It can be aggressive towards strangers. As such, early age socialization and obedience training is a must for this breed to enable it to be friendly or atleast not aggressive towards strangers.
In 5 Words
- Brave
- Trainable
- Affectionate
- Trustworthy
- Intelligent
Characteristics
Learn About the Mucuchies
Description
General Description
Mucuchies are large dogs, rugged and powerful in appearance, who carry themselves with great confidence. This breed measures 22 to 28 inches in height, from ground to withers, and weighs between 66 to 100 pounds. Their thick, short coat hair may be straight or somewhat wavy, feathering on parts of their bodies. Mucuchies are solid white or white with markings in various shades of honey, gray, or black. The Mucuchies have long, wedge shaped heads; their foreheads are rounded, with slightly wrinkled brows. This breed has medium sized ears that are triangular in shape, with rounded tips. Their round, brown eyes are set obliquely, and have an expressive look. They have dark eyelids and black noses. The jaws are well developed, and their black lips are thin and tight. These dogs have short, muscular necks and obliquely placed shoulders. Their broad backs are straight; their chests are deep, with flat ribs. The Mucuchies have long tails, covered with an abundant amount of hair. Their tails hang down to their hocks, when relaxed; Mucuchies raise their tails over their backs when alerted.
Short History of the Mucuchies
The origins of the Mucuchies are unclear, but it traces back to the 1800s. It is thought to descend from various Livestock Guard Dogs brought to Venezuela by the Spanish. It is thought that these Spanish owned dogs included the Spanish Mastiff, Great Pyrenees and Pyrenean Mastiff. Most of these breeds were very variable at this time in their history and mixed together with each other and possibly some native Venezuelan breed, and created the Mucuchies. By 1926-27, the Mucuchies could be found throughout the Venezuela Andes and beyond, particularly in Caracas. After this widespread distribution the breed began to fall prey to bad breeding and over-inbreeding. To combat this degeneration, a group of concerned breeders got together in 1961, forming a club. Together this club began breeding for improved type and uniformity. In 1964, the Mucuchies was designated the national dog breed of Venezuela. Since that time the breed has become standardized and much improved. Recently, however, the club formed in 1961 dissolved. How this will affect the future of this breed, only time can tell. There is a famous painting of Simon Bolívar mounted with the Mucuchies dog given him when he was crossing the Andes near Mérida, Venezuela.
Temperament
The Mucuchies is a very active breed. It is brave, trainable, affectionate, intelligent and trustworthy with those they know, but will act as a guard dog with intruders. Training and socialization are a must. The objective in training this dog is to achieve pack leader status. It is a natural instinct for a dog to have an order in its pack. When we humans live with dogs, we become their pack. The entire pack cooperates under a single leader. Lines are clearly defined and rules are set. Because a dog communicates his displeasure with growling and eventually biting, all other humans MUST be higher up in the order than the dog. The humans must be the ones making the decisions, not the dogs. That is the only way your relationship with your dog can be a complete success.
Caring for Your Mucuchies
General Health
Mucuchies are a hardy breed with no known genetic issues. They live about ten to thirteen years, on average.
Grooming & Bathing
The Mucuchies’ short coats require a minimal amount of grooming. Brush the coat weekly to keep it in good condition. Bathe only as needed; frequent bathing can harm the natural oils that protect the dog’s coat and skin.
Exercise & Training
This breed needs to be taken on a daily, long, brisk walk or jog. While out on the walk the dog must be made to heel beside or behind the person holding the lead, as in a dog’s mind the leader leads the way, and that leader needs to be the human. In addition, your dog will benefit from a large, safe area where it can run free.
Mucuchies Picture Gallery
