The Polish Hound is one of the five FCI Polish dog breeds.
The beggining of the breed history lies in the Middle Ages. Among its ancestors are St Hubert hound, Eastern hunting dogs and the foxhound. In the literature these dogs appeared in XVI for the first time. Since the begging they were used as hunting dogs especially for heres and foxes. The Polish hounds became popular between XV and XVIII century. They were kept in big packs in the nobility residences. Unfortunately the history of Poland effecteed the population and their became almost extinct. After the Second World War, in the 1950’s Piotr Kartawik started to breed the Polish Hounds in Poland again. Thanks to his tries and efforts in 1966 the breed was officialy registrated in FCI.
Today the Polish Hound is maybe not very popular but there is still a group of fans of that breed.
It is usually kept as a family dog but sometimes also as a great companion for hunters.There are also representatives among that breed working as therapy dogs and some of them were trained as rescue dogs .
My Polish Hounds.
The Polish Hound has been at my home since 1998.
Bard z Kiciborza was the first one. He was 8 weeks old when we took him and since that moment he became the best friend of our family. After a few months I knew that it was the best choice we could have ever made. Calm, patient, very friendly …and sometimes a little bit stubborn – that was Bard. I started to participate in the Dog Shows and met a lot of great people. Bard became a Champion of Poland and had two litters – 12 puppies. He passed away in 2011.
Łoza z Jaśminowej Ulicy arrived to me in August 2009. She’s Bard’s granddaughter but in many ways she’s completely different. She is more energetic, smart (she likes to learn new things) and she likes new challanges. Because Łoza loves scent work we started to train tracking and we have first small successes in tracking competitions for hunting dogs. Łoza works also as a therapy dog with children in schools and kindregardens and with senior people.
In my opinion Polish Hounds are great but this is not a breed for everyone. They love to sniff, during the walks they do it almost all the time and sometimes it is hard to recall them. If you expect as obiedent dog as a shepard the Polish Hound won’t satisfy you. This breed won’t be good as a guard – it may bark but they are usually very friendly for people . Some of them tend to dribble (specially males). They don’t need special care but they moult twice a year.
They can live in a house as well as in a flat but they should have enough activity to stay fit. They can stay outside even in winter (of course having warm kennel) but they need to be in contact with people. If you like long walks this dog will be your great companion. At home they are patient for children, calm and quiet. They want to be close to their family. Many of the Polish Hounds live with other dogs or cats in a one household and they are real friends. They are rather easy to train but may be sometimes stubborn and independent.
The Polish Hound running through the fields is one of the most beautiful and amazing things you can see, especialy when it uses its melodius voice.
FCI-Standard N° 52 / 24. 07. 2000 / GB
POLISH HOUND
(Ogar Polski)
TRANSLATION : Mrs Peggy Davis.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 6 Scenthounds and related breeds. Section 1.2 Medium sized Hounds. With working trial.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : Medium size dog, of strong and compact build, powerful bone-structure and quite massive with legs in proportion. The whole outline is that of power and endurance rather than speed. The voice on the trail is sonorous and pure, of changeable medium pitch, generally higher pitched in the female.
IMPORTANT PROPORTION :
Skull as long as the muzzle.
HEAD : Rather heavy, nobly chiselled. In profile looks like a medium length rectangle.
CRANIAL REGION :
Skull : The line of the forehead forms a blunt angle with the topline of the muzzle. Superciliary ridges very developed; forehead very wrinkled. Occipital protuberance well pronounced.
Stop : Well defined.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose : Black, large and wide.
Muzzle : Elongated; truncated at the tip; neither wedge-shaped nor pointed.
Lips : Thick and drooping; corner of bottom lip drooping.
Jaws/Teeth : Strong jaws, sufficiently long, with rectangular bite.
Cheeks : Muscles well developed.
Eyes : Gentle and serene expression; set on the slant, not very deep-set, dark brown; lower lid drooping in older dogs.
Leathers : Set low, quite long, hanging, slightly rounded at the tip. The base of the ear flap is twisted and hangs close to the head.
NECK : Remarkably thick at point of insertion with the body, powerful, muscled, of medium length. Dewlap is loose and very richly folded.
BODY :
Back : Long, broad and muscled.
Croup : Not sloping, broad.
Chest : Thoracic cage is ample, wide and deep in proportion. The sternal region descends to the elbows. Ribs well sprung, long like the whole rib cage, closer to the vertical position than in other breeds.
Belly and flanks : Belly capacious, broad, nearly as deep as the chest. Abdomen not too tucked up. The flank is not hollow, well filled, rounded with a possible hollow below the last ribs.
TAIL : Rather low set, thick, covered with long hair in its lower part, hangs below the hock, slightly drooping; from half the length of the leg, slightly curved. In normal movement slightly raised but not rolled up. In action, slightly raised, but not above the horizontal.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS :
Shoulder : Shoulder blade oblique, muscled, well developed.
Forearm : Quite well muscled.
Pastern joint : Well defined, prominent, neat, lean, of size corresponding to the pastern.
Forefeet : Of quite a strong bone structure, strong muscles. Toes tight. Nails strong, thick and short in working dogs; they are light coloured when the toes are white and black when the toes are fawn.
HINDQUARTERS :
Upper thigh : Long, strong, with well developed muscles and strong bone structure.
Lower thigh : Sloping, fairly short, well muscled.
Hock : Well defined, lean.
Metatarsal : Slightly inclined.
Hind feet : Toes tight. Nails thick, strong and short. Pads large, covered with thick skin.
GAIT / MOVEMENT : Normally moves at a slow and heavy short trot. When hunting, he quarters and chases at a heavy gallop.
COAT
HAIR : Medium length hair, thick, with a dense undercoat, a little longer on the back, at the back of the hindquarters and on the lower part of the tail.
COLOUR : Head and ears, except the lateral sides of the skull, of tan colour; the ears a little darker than the rest. The legs, sternal region and thighs also tan. Body black or dark grey almost black; in ancient Polish hunting language it was called « podzary » (burnt). The tan colour, essentially fawn, has various intensities of that tone up to cinnamon, very much appreciated in the Polish Hound. The white hairs, admitted in shape of a star, forming a blaze reaching to the muzzle, on the chest, the extremities of the legs and of the tail. The black may form a mantle which extends as far as on the head. Distinct tan spots above the eyes. Black which extends as far as the muzzle of the Polish Hound is a case for disqualification.
SIZE AND WEIGHT :
Height at the withers : Dogs : 56-65 cm, Bitches : 55-60 cm.
Weight : Dogs : 25-32 kg, Bitches : 20-26 kg.
FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
Insufficient musculature.Hoarse voice. Head with occipital crest not enough pronounced.
Upper orbital arches not sufficiently defined. Muzzle too pointed; black muzzle. Defective teeth. Eye too light. Ears too long or too short, standing away from the head. Thoracic cage underdeveloped. Tail fine, too short or too long, barely covered with hair, rolled up. Down in pastern. Flat pads. Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.