The breeds · scenthound · scenthound

UKC Scenthound · FCI standard 52

Polish Hound (Ogar Polski).

FCI 52 utilization: scent hound; classed Group 6, Section 1.1 large sized hounds, with working trial. Behaviour: like all scent hounds it chases the game on the hot trail with loud barking, called giving tongue; the voice is lower pitched in the male and higher in the female. UKC: medium sized scenthound; strong, compact and massive, the appearance of endurance rather than speed. Polish Wikipedia: a hunting dog of the hound type, subject to working trials; clear, loud voice on the trail, usually higher in bitches..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.

44–71LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 55 to 70.5 lb; breed bitches 44 to 57.5 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 21.7 to 25.6 in · bitches 21.5 to 23.6 in

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

No ideal printed. Low and high span FCI and UKC.

Weight

dogs 55 to 70.5 lb · bitches 44 to 57.5 lb

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Same note as males.

Coat

FCI: short and smooth on head, muzzle, ears and limbs; medium length, thick and hard elsewhere, a little longer on nape, buttocks and underside of the tail; dense soft undercoat. Colour dark saddle (black or dark grey) and tan, tan from dark yellow to mahogany, ears always darker; white blaze, chest spot, toes and tail tip permitted. UKC: medium length and thick with a dense undercoat; tan extremities with a black or dark gray body; black muzzle disqualifies. English Wikipedia: thick double coat.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

FCI and UKC agree on colour and coat.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Short and smooth on head and limbs; medium length, thick and hard on the body with a dense soft undercoat (FCI, UKC)

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale

Derived from the coat description (medium double coat = 3). No measured data.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Energy

Polish Wikipedia: calm and balanced; at home quiet or even lazy and does not demand much exercise, but like any hound likes to run in any weather, best with other Ogars; greedy, and tends to gain weight without enough exercise; very independent, so not easy to train and not recommended to inexperienced owners; learns willingly with positive reinforcement and is very sensitive to tone of voice. FCI: an excellent family dog, easy to maintain, devoted to the household and wary of strangers. UKC and English Wikipedia: intelligent, easily trained, loyal.

EditorialWikipedia (Polish)

Registry (FCI) and Polish Wikipedia disagree on ease of training in tone: FCI 'easy to maintain', Polish Wikipedia 'not easy to train'. Both stand.

Grooming

Polish Wikipedia: grooming is not difficult; the coat of undercoat and slightly longer guard hair needs no regular treatment but protects the dog well in all weather; brush out dead hair in the shedding season. Check the ears regularly, because hanging ears ventilate the canal poorly and raise the risk of inflammation.

EditorialWikipedia (Polish)

Single editorial source, the Polish Wikipedia article. No RKC or AKC band exists for this breed.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

FCI and Polish Wikipedia agree. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Primary game

FCI: in the past used mainly for hare, fox, roe deer and wild boar; nowadays, since hunting hare with dogs is prohibited in Poland (except in mountain areas), used only for wild boar and fox throughout the country.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Single registry source, the FCI utilization line. No other source read states the game.

Also used on

FCI: in the past also duck hunting, flushing wild ducks from rushes.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Search pattern

FCI: chases the game on the hot trail with loud barking (giving tongue; the loud pursuit is called the chase); while chasing, not a very fast gallop, and the tail is carried below the top line, slightly turned aside; gait is a slow trot. UKC: gait at a trot is slow, heavy and short; gives the appearance of endurance rather than speed. Polish Wikipedia: hounds hunt as a group (the character section calls them sociable like other breeds made to hunt in a group and fondest of running with other Ogars); not fast on walks but very enduring; very independent; has excellent orientation in the field and no tendency to roam; a bark of moderate carrying power, not frequent. English Wikipedia: resonant, pure voice.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Pack or single work is not stated by FCI; Polish Wikipedia describes a group-hunting type. Polish Wikipedia's 'moderately loud, not frequent' bark sits beside the FCI 'loud barking' while on the chase: the two describe different moments (chase versus walk), and both stand. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Field trial standard

FCI: with working trial. Polish Wikipedia: subject to working trials (podlega probom pracy).

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

The Polish working-trial rules were not read; see open_gaps.

Water work

FCI: in the past used in duck hunting, flushing wild ducks from rushes. English Wikipedia: thick double coat that provides water resistance on outer and underlying skin layers.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Old use plus an editorial coat claim; no source describes a water-work test.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Most common disorders

Polish Wikipedia: a very hardy breed that rarely falls ill; most problems relate to its build: ear infections, and eyelid defects fairly often, especially entropion (corrected surgically at about 9 months, since it can resolve on its own before then). Life span 12 to 13 years (Polish Wikipedia); English Wikipedia says 13 to 14 years, with a 'better source needed' tag.

EditorialWikipedia (Polish)

Editorial only; no screening or survey figure read. The lifespan figures are editorial and are not entered in median_lifespan_yr (reserved for the Dogs Trust table).

No KENAI kennel lists the Polish Hound (Ogar Polski) yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 3 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called: Ogar Polski, Ogar

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your polish hound (ogar polski), on the record.

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