KENNEL CLUB BOOKS® POLISH LOWLAND SHEEPDOG
ISBN 13: 978-1-59378-284-9
eISBN 13: 978-1-62187-046-3
Copyright © 2007 • Kennel Club Books® A division of Bowtie, Inc. 40 Broad Street., Freehold, NJ 07728 Cover Design Patented: US 6,435,559 B2 • Printed in South Korea
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Augustowska, Elzbieta.
Polish lowland sheepdog/ by Elzbieta Augustowska.
p. cm.
1. Polish lowland sheepdog I. Title.
SF429.P75.A94 2007
636.737—dc22
2006016290
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Photography by Mary Bloom
with additional photographs by:
John Ashbey, Betty Augustowski, Norvia Behling, Dr. T. Borkowski, Paulette Braun, David Dalton, Isabelle Français, Carol Ann Johnson, Bill Jonas, W. Larski and Alice van Kempen.
Illustrations by Patricia Peters and Ewa Dobrzynska.
The publisher wishes to thank all of the owners whose dogs are illustrated in this book, including Barbara Bruns, Roxanne Connor, Andrea Erickson, Nichol Fages, Rich & Ann Glazeski, Darius Holloway, Dr. Danuta Hryniewicz, J. Keats, Maggie Keats, M. Korzeniowska, L. and S. Mansfield, Wolfgang Stamp, Susan Stekoll, Donna Strama, Nicole Teed, CJ Titus and C. Williams.
Devised as a herding dog, the Polski Owczarek Nizinny, or PON, is a marvelous working dog of remarkable herding ability.
Princess Marti Grocholska was a pioneer breeder who lived near eastern Poland. She is credited with being the first person to selectively breed the Polish Lowland Sheepdog. She showed her first two representatives at a show in Warsaw in 1924.
The first information about the Polski Owczarek Nizinny, as the Polish Lowland Sheepdog is known in its native Poland (and hence the acronym PON), was written in the 16th century, according to the late Mrs. G. O. Willison, who is also credited with developing the Bearded Collie in the modern dog fancy. It is recorded that a medium-sized shaggy-coated herding dog existed in Poland for centuries. It is believed that the Polish Lowland Sheepdog originated from an Asian sheepdog, similar in type to the Tibetan Terrier, which believably may be the ancestor of the Hungarian Puli.
Since the breed was used for its magnificent working qualities, type was not considered important. In the 19th century, a painting called A Shepherd Boy by F. Maslowski depicted a small shaggy-coated bobtailed dog with ears that are almost pricked. In 1514, there is a record of a trading ship owned by K. Grabski sailing from Gdansk, Poland to Scotland with grain in exchange for Scottish sheep. The ship reportedly had six Lowland Sheepdogs aboard. A Scottish shepherd admired the dogs for their excellent working abilities and traded a ram and a ewe for three Polish dogs. It is believed that the Polish Lowland Sheepdogs were bred to the shepherd’s Highland Collie; this breeding eventually developed into the ever-popular Bearded Collie.
The foundation of the famous Kordegardy kennels, Smok z Kordegardy, is regarded by fanciers as the father of the Polish Lowland Sheepdog in the 20th century.
Here’s a fine example of an American-bred, modern PON.
Smok was not only the most important sire of the breed but also an accomplished, hard-working herding dog.
In the 17th century, there were written instructions by Princess Jablonowska ordering that these dogs should be kept for their superb working qualities by the shepherds on her estates in northeastern Poland.
In 1779, Christopher Kluk, a reputable author of zoology and botany, described a dog that could easily be an ancestor of the Polish Lowland Sheepdog. Because of its shaggy coat, Kluk used the word “poodle” to describe the dog. It was a medium-sized dog, said to be most clever, having “almost human intelligence.” He maintained that no other dog could be compared to them in herding flocks.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many Polish people became interested in pure-bred livestock and began to turn their attention to these intelligent country dogs. The foundations for breeding stock were achieved by three women, Maria Czetwerynska and Wanda and Rosa Zoltowska. Princess Grocholska purchased a few dogs and started breeding on her estate in Planta (eastern Poland). In 1924, she exhibited two of them for the first time. These dogs were of unknown origin but eventually she exhibited dogs that she had bred herself. She started in 1930 and exhibited regularly. Her top brood bitches were Faja and Fryga. The studs were Sep and Wykop. Madam Zoltowska started breeding in the 1930s with famous foundation stock, namely Fajkus z Planty and Tuska z Planty. She bred five litters from this pair, and the pups began to show uniformity of type. They were medium in size, pure white or biscuit with darker markings. Most of them were natural bobtails.
In 1937, My Dog, an official paper of The Working Dogs Society, published a research program for the establishment and development of the breed. Ms. Zoltowska wrote: “In our region (eastern part of Poland) we recognize a particular type of herding dog. The breed type remains strong and uniform, even after being neglected by [our] countrymen. In our breeding program, we have never seen puppies of a different type, coat and color. They are magnificent for herding sheep and cows, and make good guard dogs as well. They also make very intelligent, friendly pets.”
Participating in a show on the Continent, this handler from Poland presents two very typical PONs.
Then came the devastation of World War II, and everything breeders worked so hard to achieve was lost. Ms. Zoltowska did survive the war, including the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. Two of her dogs also survived. She settled in Krakow, but nothing more was heard from her.
Dr. Danuta Hryniewicz with two of her Kordegardy PONs, Doman and Inkluz.
Int. Ch. Doman z Kordegardy won championships in Poland and the Czech Republic. This accomplished dog was bred by Dr. D. Hryniewicz.
In 1948 the Polish Kennel Club was founded and new attempts were made to rescue and establish the breed. Pioneer breeders found strong support from officials there, and tribute must be paid to the late Mrs. Dubrowinowa, who formulated the whole plan. These pioneer breeders were the late Mrs. Kusionowicz (Babia Weis), who was considered the pillar of the breed, and Dr. Danuta Hryniewicz (Kordegardy kennels), who continues her breeding