Breed Standard

Kennel Club Breed Standard for The Polish Lowland Sheepdog from June 2014

A breed standard is the guideline which describes the ideal characteristics, temperament and appearance of a breed and ensures that the breed is fit for function. Absolute soundness is essential. Breeders and judges should at all times be careful to avoid obvious conditions or exaggerations which would be detrimental in any way to the health, welfare or soundness of this breed. From time to time certain conditions or exaggerations may be considered to have potential to affect dogs in some breeds adversely, and judges and breeders are requested to refer to the Kennel Club website for details of any such current issues. If a feature or quality is desirable it should only be present in the right measure.

General Appearance: Medium size, cobby, strong, muscular, fairly long thick coat.

Characteristics: Lively but self-controlled, watchful, bright, clever, perceptive with excellent memory. Easy to train, works as a herding and watch dog.

Temperament: Alert, equable.

Head and Skull: Medium size in proportion to body, not too heavy, carried moderately low. Profuse hair on forehead, cheeks and chin make head appear larger than it is. Proportions of occiput to stop and stop to nose approximately equal, but the muzzle may be fractionally shorter. Skull moderately broad, slightly domed, furrow from stop to occiput apparent when handled. Well defined stop. Nose blunt, wide opened nostrils, colour as dark as possible.

Eyes: Medium size, lively penetrating gaze, oval shaped. Colour hazel to brown. Eyerims as dark as possible, closely fitting and showing no haw.

Ears: Medium size, heart-shaped, large at base and set moderately high, drooping with fore edge close to cheeks.

Mouth: Jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closing, overlapping the lower teeth, and set square to the jaws. Strong and evenly placed teeth. Lips tightly closed and as dark as possible.

Neck: Strong, muscular, medium length without dewlap.

Forequarters: Shoulders well placed with good lay-back, muscular. Legs, when viewed from front or side, straight with slightly slanting pasterns.

Body: Rectangular rather than square when viewed from side. Deep brisket with moderate spring of rib, neither flat nor barrel shaped. Withers distinctly marked; back level, muscular with broad loin. Belly slightly drawn up. Croup short and slightly sloping. Proportions - Height to length as 9 : 10.

Hindquarters: Well angulated, with broad and well muscled thigh. From behind, legs straight, turning neither in nor out. Hocks strong and distinctly angled.

Feet: Oval, slightly arched but tightly fitting toes, with hard pads, nails dark.

Tail: Previously customarily docked. Docked : customarily docked if not born tailless or stumpy. Undocked : any length acceptable, longer tails well covered with hair. Tail set is a continuation of croup. Carried high and slightly curved over the back when alert. Never curled over back. At rest the tail hangs low.

Gait/Movement: Smooth walking or trotting, inclined to amble.

Coat: Whole body covered with long, dense, shaggy thick coat of harsh texture with soft undercoat, but never impeding the dogs movement/action. Long, profuse hair on head, falling forward over the eyes in a characteristic manner, but not impeding the dogs vision. Slight wave permissible. No loose skin anywhere on body. No evidence of coat trimming to enhance or change the natural outline of the dog.

Colour: All colours acceptable.

Size: Height : Dogs 45 - 50 cms ( 17¾ - 19¾ ins ) Bitches 42 - 47 cms ( 16½ - 18½ ins )

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 and it's effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Note: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.