Polski Owczarek Nizinny

History

Created in the Tatra Moutain tops in Poland, this snowflake white, large breed dog was used for flock and herding. Stemming from the bloodlines of the Great Pyrenees, Maremma Sheepdog, Mastiff and the Kuvasz, its no surprise that this breed is a fantastic livestock guard, but also a wonderful family companion. It is unknown exactly what year the Polski Owczarek originated, however it is known that this breed is hundreds of years old. Today, in the USA, this breed is still considered a rarity. Similar to many other breeds, during World War I and World War II, this breed was basically extinct. After special care and attention that breeders took to this, many more were again reintroduced and later shipped to the USA and Canada for their premier and introduction to farmers. It is estimated that less than 500 Polski Owczarek's live in the USA today.

Appearance

Both males and females measuring 25-28 inches in height and weighing in between 85-110 pounds, this breed is a large breed. Sporting a very thick, double layer coat, known for only being solid white, the Polski Owczarek is sure to catch anyone's eye. Two pendant shaped ears fall very closely alongside of their face, with feathered hair outlining them. Two large, round black eyes and a large black nose at the end of their muzzle. Their tail is large and should be relaxed, facing the ground at all times.

Temperament

This breed is not for everyone. Requiring a firm, confident and a large breed experienced owner, this breed is sure to push all limits. Extremely smart, courageous, confident and active, best describes this breed. Best suited for farm living situations with enough land, and proper fencing with the freedom to roam free, safely. As always, positive reinforcement training methods are the only method recommended for training the Polski Owczarek. With proper training as early as 12 weeks of age and set rules and boundaries within your home, this breed does great with older children and family. Please note that due to this breed being a natural herder, they are very likely to try and herd their own family. For this reason, small children and elderly are not recommended to live with this breed. Without enough daily exercise mentally and physically, this breed will develop ill-full behaviors based on anxiety. Please provide a long daily walk as well as other activity outdoors daily to ensure the health and well being of your new pet. Please also note that this breed is not aggressive however they are protective and are known for their "large and loud" bark. They are likely to sound out their bark when people are approaching they are unsure of, or they feel something is wrong.

Grooming

Requiring daily brushing and bathing when needed. Please note that this breed sheds daily and extremely heavy during the Spring months. Consider this happening yearly to your new dog, prior to adding one to your family.

Special Notes

Please fully educate yourself about the Polski Owczarek prior to adding one to your family to ensure you are able to provide proper vet care, time and space for your new addition. Do not add this breed to your home if you aren't able to make a life long commitment to him or her. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.