The breeds · working
UKC Guardian · FCI standard 252
Owczarek Podhalanski.
Flock guardian that is also a herder and watchdog. FCI 252 utilization: herder and watchdog; its imposing attitude and beautiful appearance make it a good companion dog. FCI history: dogs that herd and guard sheep and other livestock have lived in the Carpathians for centuries; the Polish Tatra Shepherd is an old local breed, used primarily for flock guarding rather than herding; its traditional colour is pure white so that it could be told from predators such as bear or wolf; at the first post-war show in Zakopane (May 1954, about 120 dogs) the vast majority worked with sheep. Temperament: calm, intelligent and alert. FCI Group 1 (sheepdogs), section 1, without working trial. UKC history: developed as a livestock guardian; also used for personal protection, as a guard dog for private property, for military and police work, carting and as a guide dog; UKC temperament: calm and grave, intelligent and alert. Wikipedia: traditionally a flock guardian dog that deters predators from attacking sheep in the Podhale; in modern Poland most often kept as a guard dog or companion. Polish Wikipedia: kept mainly to defend the flock against wolves and thieves, which is why the white coat was preferred (to tell dog from predator).
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.
The body
What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.
Height at the shoulder
Ranges, no ideal; center blank. Wikipedia's inch figures are rounded conversions of the same cm.
Weight
Editorial only; the two Wikipedia pages disagree on the floor (35 kg against 45 to 50 kg), so low/high follow the English band and both stand in text. A breed-wide band counts in both sex rows.
Coat
Heat tolerance
Derived from the coat description (2 = heavy double / long). No source speaks to heat.
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
FCI's utilization line says herder and its history says mainly flock guarding; UKC and Wikipedia say livestock guardian. All stand. Bear and wolf are named in the FCI colour history; Polish Wikipedia (citing Kohler's 17th-century Oeconomia ruralis) names wolves and thieves.
Also used on
UKC and Wikipedia stated; source key is the registry that states the working uses.
How common the problems are
Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.
Hip dysplasia
Voluntary registry: affected dogs are under-reported and evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (mainly North American dogs), so true prevalence is higher and a small n. Current all-data figure, undated. The OFA breed name is Polish Tatra Sheepdog.
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. 4 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Polish Tatra Sheepdog, Tatra Shepherd Dog, Polski Owczarek Podhalanski, Owczarek Podhalanski, Podhale Sheepdog
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour owczarek podhalanski, on the record.
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