In as much as World War I decimated the numbers of many European breeds, it also lead to a swelling of pride over native dogs when the war was over. The Polski Owczarek Nizinny (PON) or Polish Lowland Sheepdog was one such dog.

After the WWI, Poland regained its independence, and the country was once again able to look inward and appreciate its culture. Part of its heritage lay in the rich brown and black soils of the Polish lowlands where the raising of Polish Heath Sheep was important to Poland’s economy. Where there were sheep, there were sheepdogs, and in Poland, that meant Polish Lowland Sheepdogs.  Interest was aroused in the selective breeding of these dogs, but just when breeders were on the eve of starting a breed registry, Germany invaded Poland.

Pedigrees, breeding records, and other historical documents were lost or destroyed, but worse, only about 150 PONs were left alive in Poland.

Never tell a dog person, let alone breed enthusiast, that something can’t be done.

PONS fanciers reestablished breeding programs, and in 1959, a breed standard was established, no doubt influenced by a dog named “Smok” (Dragon) and the work of his owner, Dr. Danuta Hryniewicz, a veterinarian from Northern Poland who went into action in the sixties and seventies. Dr. Hryniewicz searched Poland for dogs of suitable quality to breed, and indeed, she found six females and two males that would help reestablish the breed. One of them, “Smok” (Polish for “dragon) sired the first ten litters of the breed in the 1950s, and he was the basis for the first written breed standard. In 1958, the first litter with a full pedigree was born. For these reasons, Smok is believed to be the modern ancestor of all PONs in the world today. By 1969, Hryniewicz’s breeding program had produced more than 140 puppies.  Indeed, one source writes that one can’t find a PON in the world today without any ancestor with Dr. Hryniewiczher’s kennel name, “Kordegardy” behind it.

In 1965, the PONs was showcased at the 1965 World Dog Show bringing further attention to this good natured and loyal breed, but it wasn’t until 1979 that an American Bearded Collie breeder, Moira Morrison, was intrigued by the PON ancestry in her breed and imported two PONs from Poland, the first known to have come to the U.S.  In 1982, Kaz and Betty Augustowski created Elzbieta Kennels, a Polish Lowland Sheepdog program established in America. They were the same couple, by the way, who imported the first Chart Polskis to the United States, as well.

In 2001, the PON was admitted to the American Kennel Club through the efforts of Morrison, the Augustowskis, and others. Still rare in America today, the Polish Lowland Sheepdog is the most popular of all the native breeds in its home country,  and some consider it to be (unofficially) Poland’s national dog.

Image: Polish Lowland Sheepdog by ©Alexander Mitr/Dreamstime.com