Polish Lowland Sheepdog

The Polish Lowland Sheepdog is a medium-sized, hairy dog ​​that can accompany us during forest wanderings and delight passers-by on walks in urban areas. It is a dog capable of adapting to almost any condition.

Nature

The pastoral past makes itself felt – the Polish Lowland Sheepdog is an intelligent, alert dog, attaches to guardians, but also endowed with a certain degree of independence and often trying to solve problems … on its own paw. Like most shepherds, he likes to use his own voice, especially since he feels responsible for his family and its territory.

Courage is not the strength of this dog – when confronted with the intruder, he will sooner try to grab him from behind the leg rather than carry out a suicidal frontal attack. Anyway, it’s even better – our hero is not a giant with tyrannosaur jaws, so he has to deal with the size of his own format.

The Polish Lowland Sheepdog will definitely make noise in the event of suspicious movements near the property or apartment, and will try – to the best of its strength – to repel any attack. He will loudly call on his allies to deal with the enemy.

He is warm and loving when dealing with household members. If we indulge him too much, he’ll be glad to get over our heads and stamp on her. He will do it with unfailing grace …

PON is not a cuddly toy that does everything – it has a too strong sense of autonomy. He has a lot of patience with children, but, too much pressure, he will be able to let them know that he doesn’t want such caresses – he will show his teeth, snarls and runs away. However, he will rather not try active aggression; however, he is too kind-hearted and has too many warm feelings for people. In general, he is a cheerful, cheerful animal.

Skills

The Polish lowland sheepdog is a keen creature, willing to cooperate, although he often likes to invent his own scenarios – the owners of these dogs often talk about opening doors, cabinets, and even … unscrewing jars and sliding zippers.

No wonder that such potential can find an outlet in training. This dog definitely prefers activities in which he does something together with a man, especially something related to problem solving – obedience training, tracking. Agility, which combines movement with “thinking”, remains the top of exercise classes. Behind our western border, many Polish lowland sheepdogs (which are more fashionable there than in their own homeland!) Practice so-called tribal – running the balls. It’s a discipline that uses a dog’s shepherd skills.

Training and education

Training will certainly not be a chore for the Polish lowland sheepdog. As a shepherd, she understands and appreciates the possibility of cooperation with people. What’s more, he likes to follow orders. However, he does not tolerate brutality – it closes in on himself – and vague transmission of what we actually want from him. It has an excellent memory. He is physically fit, so he is not afraid of prolonged training.

PON appreciates the good motivation – treats come first, given his innate covetousness. The Polish lowland sheepdog should be socialized from puppyhood, showing him different situations, places, animals and people.

Who is this race for?

PON can be a good family dog, provided that one household member (or everyone) devotes time to his upbringing and provides the right amount of movement and activity. Suitable for the first dog in life. It will also be a great companion for older children, as long as parents discreetly watch and watch their descendants look after the dog.

With a Polish lowland sheepdog, a child can try dog ​​sports, such as agility or obedience. You can also try the work of shepherd dogs or treibball – “rushing” balls. PON requires a lot of traffic, so it should reach active people.

Advantages and disadvantages

Disadvantages

• too little confidence
• szczekliwość
• obstinacy

Advantages

• strong attachment to the household
• good memory
• ease of learning
• serenity

Health

This – generally healthy and resistant – shepherd is exposed, however, to several ailments relatively often affecting the breed: otitis, diabetes, allergy problems, hypothyroidism. We must also mention the weakness of the shepherds as a group: eye problems – they are affected by central, progressive retinal atrophy (CPRA) and retinal pigment epithelial dystrophy (RPED). These conditions are hereditary, as is hip dysplasia in the breed.

Feeding

Food is a hobby of the Polish lowland sheepdog. Eats are rare. Therefore, dogs of this breed tend to gain weight. The food that we devote to our dog should be of good quality, given the tendency to food allergies, as well as low-protein and low-calorie.

Care

The coat of the Polish lowland sheepdog is a hard, thick coat and soft, abundant undercoat. He, especially during the molting period, can cause some trouble. The undoubted advantage of re-hair is the fact that at least it does not get stuck in the carpets and upholstery of furniture – it is easy to get it. However, when our shepherd is cared for properly and in addition feeds well, despite the appearance that imposes on most housewives the cry of “oh my, this dog must molt!” – these problems are not great.

For this to happen, you should comb the Polish lowland shepherd thoroughly once a week, and check the coat a little more often in places where they usually like to make sneaky tricks: in the groin, on the paws, behind the ears. You need to fight urgently, because no one likes combing the tangles – when we allow them to form, the dog will protest against combing them, because it is very unpleasant. In this way, it is easy to lead to a situation in which our dog hates grooming …

Check the condition of your mustache and chin every day; here they like to accumulate leftover food, so from a young age it is worth getting the dog used to gently rinse and comb out these places.

As for bathing, opinions among breeders are divided, however, the prevailing view is that we drip the Polish lowland sheepdog only when it is absolutely necessary. Always, when we decide on this treatment, we have to dry the dog extremely carefully – even when the PON appears dry from the outside, it sometimes happens that its undercoat stays wet and … a tangier is instant.

You also need to check your pet’s ears frequently. Polish lowland sheepdogs, as profusely hairy dogs with drooping ears, are exposed to frequent inflammation.

Accessories

The Polish Lowland Sheepdog will quickly learn to walk around the leg in the collar as well as on the harness. The most reasonable choice seems to be a simple leather or banded collar.

We have to get a good comb, brush and scissors to take care of the robe – without that we have nothing to think about getting a Polish lowland sheepdog.

History

Thanks to the Polish lowland sheepdog we have our own contribution to global cynology. Probably it was PON who was one of the progenitors of bearded collies. How did this happen? As early as 1514, a Polish merchant exchanged sheep grain with his Scottish contractor. A few small, shaggy dogs that worked so well that the Scots bought three of them helped with transport. These individuals, associated with local dogs, have become a genetic basis for later bearded collies.

Many mentions of shaggy shepherd dogs kept by the folds appear in documents from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In some regions, for example in Podlasie, these dogs were born with a rudimentary tail.

Gradually, with the decline in sheep farming, the population of shaggy shepherds fell. In the interwar period, Princess Zofia Czetwertyńska took care of the breed, who bought dogs from their rural owners and tried to carry out planned breeding, calling their dogs “Polish Shepherds”. Countess Żółtowska was another enthusiast of the breed, who also founded a kennel. In 1938-39, attempts were made to officially register the breed, but the war interrupted these plans. Zofia Czetwertyńska was arrested by the Germans, and the dogs were requisitioned.

The winds of war were not kind to Polish lowland sheepdogs – only two dogs with documented origin survived, and one of them soon fell on some infectious disease.

In the 1950s, the then emerging magazine “Pies” sent readers an appeal to report dogs of the breed type, posting a photo of the last living PON.

Fortunately for our dog heroes, a person whose name remains invariably associated with Polish lowland sheepdogs: Maria Dubrowinowa became interested in the matter. She devotedly searched for villages of the breed type in the villages and kept their register. She was joined by Danuta Hryniewicz from Łeba, who had a dog in the type of Polish lowland sheepdog named Smok. This dog became the ancestor of Polish lowland sheepdogs – on the basis of his appearance a breed standard was developed, recognizing him as the ideal PON. The dragon started breeding “Z Kordegardy” and the pattern itself was finally registered in 1959.

A lot has changed since then. From a dozen or so individuals, the population reached the level of over a thousand, the Preliminary Book was closed for PONs (this is a book in which dogs with an extraterrestrial pattern not differing from the pattern, but with undocumented origin), and our shepherds enjoy an interest in Poland and for a border. PONs have also changed a bit – they became companion animals, not typical working dogs. Their appearance has changed – now dogs with more fur are rewarded, looking more effective at shows …

Template

Polish Lowland Sheepdog (PON) – Group I FCI, section 1, reference number 251

• Country of origin: Poland
• Size: dogs – 45-50 cm, bitches – 42-47 cm.
• Coat: thick, thick, hair with soft undercoat; straight hair, slightly wavy acceptable.
• Ointment: all colors allowed; the shade and intensity of the color of the coat change over a dozen years of life.
• Lifespan: 12-15 years
• Weather resistance: high

Interesting facts

Some Polish lowland sheepdogs are born with a tail that is naturally residual or significantly shortened. The breed standard predicts such situations as much as possible.