A gorgeous Komondor (one of the breeds that look like big, walking rag mops) won in the working group.

Komondor remains have been found in Cuman gravesites.

The huge Komondor and the Kuvasz were used for guarding the belongings of the owner.

Some dog breeds that are often corded are the Puli and the Komondor.

Keeping these dogs show-quality clean is a full-time job, and the Lawrences vow Leo will be their last komondor.

Komondor (Hungary)

Hungarian Komondor - a very large livestock guardian and shepherd dog, was brought to Hungary a thousand years ago by nomadic Magyars.

Corded coats, like those of the Puli and Komondor are thought to be the result of continuously growing curly coats.

The Lawrences hired Olson, a veteran handler-agent with a lope that matches Leo's, as their komondor handler last year.

Due to the Komondor's size, power, speed and temperament, a lack of obedience training, which should start from a young age (4 - 8 months), can result in danger to others.

The Westheimer group winners who are returning are Patricia Turner's and Anna Quigley's komondor, Ch.

Pennywise The Butler Did It, and Patricia Turner's and Anna Quigley's komondor, Ch.

Alice Lawrence, the owner of Leo, a komondor, explained that komondors, the shaggiest dogs of all, were Hungarian sheep dogs, ("Have you seen my car keys?"

Ann Nagy ("The Monster Hunters") is a Canadian who lives in North Carolina with her husband, Les, and many pets including a komondor named Sehlat.

He is ranked seventh nationally among all working dogs, no minor feat for so unheralded a breed: the komondor ranks 108th of the 130 breeds listed by the American Kennel Club.

The Komondor's temperament is like that of most livestock guarding dogs; it is calm and steady when things are normal, but in case of trouble, the dog will fearlessly defend its charges.

The Komondor (or several Komondorok if the there was a large amount livestock) guarded the sheep or cattle mostly at night, while the Puli herded and guarded them during the day.

The Komondor's coat is long, thick, and strikingly corded white coat, about 20 - 27 cm long (the heaviest amount of fur in the canine world), which resembles dreadlocks or a mop.

Hungarian Komondor breeders used to say that an intruder may be allowed to enter the property guarded by a Komondor, but he will not be allowed to come out again.

Later by telephone, the proprietor, Herbert Weitz, explained somewhat redundantly that the dog was there for protection and that he was a 100-pound komondor, a Hungarian breed that keeps wolves away from sheep.

If Forsyth elected to return as the hairiest show dog imaginable, she would probably look something like Leo, the sofa-sized champion ranked third among all breeds on the Northeast circuit and the nation's top komondor in 1990.

Maybe it was the fresh batch of garlic-spiked liver his owner cooked up, or maybe it was the wide open spaces of Madison Square Garden, but Leo the champion komondor, a k a Ch.

Back in Hungary, the Puli herded sheep by day and the komondor guarded them at night; the couple, whose Fuzzy Farm kennel is a word play on Steve's profession, has been buying, breeding, and showing the two unusual breeds for 20 years.

When his turn came, Leo, a 110-pound komondor with a floor-sweeping white coat, was relieved of the T-shirts and sweatbands that restrained his canine dreadlocks and soared down from his grooming table in the arms of his owner, Steve Lawrence.

If the dogs - a huge brown Newfoundland, a tiny longcoat Chihuahua, a curly coated retriever, a sad-eyed bloodhound and a peripatetic wet mop of a komondor - weren't up to the usual comic turns, that, after all, is what comedy show hosts are for.