When does a Polish Lowland Sheepdog have its first heat?

Polish Lowland Sheepdog

Lively and self-assured, ready to think for itself.

Photo: Beltapar

Adult weight

14–23 kg

30–50 lb

Lifespan

12–14 yrs

Class · Companion

also Working, Family

What it's like

In temperament it is alert, self-assured and quick to learn, with a watchful reserve towards strangers that makes it a capable watchdog for house and yard. Owners and breed writers often remark on its long memory and its readiness to think for itself, traits that suited a herding dog working at a distance from the shepherd. It tends to be lively and closely attached to its own household.

Day to day

Activity

A good daily walk and play

Intelligence

Needs daily brain work

Handler demand

Needs an experienced owner

With people

Affection

Affectionate on its own terms

Loyalty

Sticks close to its people

Independence

Decides for itself

Around the home

Sensitivity

Average

Voice

Barks to alert, then settles

Prey drive

Chases; needs managing

Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.

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Living with one

Summary

Detail

It has a double coat, an outer coat over an undercoat. Most of the shedding comes when the seasons change. Plan on a brush once a week, plus daily brushing through the seasonal moult. It needs plenty of exercise compared with other breeds.

The FCI standard describes a double coat, an outer coat over an undercoat ("coarse hair, dense, thick, and profuse")4. By its coat type, the undercoat moults, most heavily as the seasons change. As a rule of thumb for this coat: a brush once a week, plus daily brushing through the seasonal moult. Plan for plenty of exercise compared with other breeds, judged from its FCI group: sheepdogs and cattle dogs, bred to herd and drive stock all day.

Size and growth

Summary

Detail

A Polish Lowland Sheepdog is a medium dog, about the weight of a grown Border Collie. Its weight is an estimate, not a published figure.

The dog is compact and muscular, slightly longer than it is tall, beneath a long, dense, shaggy double coat that falls over the eyes. Any colour is permitted; many are white with patches of grey, black or sand, and puppies' colours often lighten as they mature.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log

Summary

Detail

By about 5 months, a male Polish Lowland Sheepdog puppy is already as heavy as a grown Pug. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.

By 5 months a male Polish Lowland Sheepdog puppy already weighs as much as a grown Pug5. It grows fastest between 3 and 4 months, when a male puts on about 0.6 kg (1.3 lb) a week. The chart keeps rising after a dog is fully grown, because many dogs keep putting on some weight into their second year5.

Expected range in kilograms: the breed's own adult weight, grown along the 15–30 kg band of a WALTHAM growth standard5.

Fully grown

11 mo

Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6

Male

Female

Shaded: expected range

Chart

Table

Age

Male

Female

2 months

3.0–4.9 kg 6.6–10.8 lb

3.3–5.5 kg 7.3–12.1 lb

3 months

4.4–7.3 kg 9.7–16.1 lb

4.6–7.7 kg 10.1–17.0 lb

4 months

6.3–10.6 kg 13.9–23.4 lb

6.6–11.1 kg 14.6–24.5 lb

5 months

8.1–13.6 kg 17.9–30.0 lb

8.4–14.0 kg 18.5–30.9 lb

6 months

9.7–16.2 kg 21.4–35.7 lb

9.8–16.4 kg 21.6–36.2 lb

7 months

10.9–18.2 kg 24.0–40.1 lb

8 months

11.7–19.6 kg 25.8–43.2 lb

11.6–19.4 kg 25.6–42.8 lb

9 months

12.3–20.6 kg 27.1–45.4 lb

12.2–20.3 kg 26.9–44.8 lb

10 months

12.7–21.2 kg 28.0–46.7 lb

12.6–21.0 kg 27.8–46.3 lb

11 months

13.0–21.7 kg 28.7–47.8 lb

12.8–21.4 kg 28.2–47.2 lb

12 months

13.2–22.0 kg 29.1–48.5 lb

13.0–21.7 kg 28.7–47.8 lb

15 months

13.5–22.6 kg 29.8–49.8 lb

13.4–22.4 kg 29.5–49.4 lb

Lifespan

Summary

Detail

No vet study has measured how long Polish Lowland Sheepdogs live yet. The 12–14 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The Polish Lowland Sheepdog is believed to descend from sheepdogs of the Huns crossed with local stock, and herded sheep while larger dogs guarded them. Polish sailors are thought to have taken some to Scotland in the 16th century, where they may be among the Bearded Collie's ancestors. After the Second World War it was rebuilt from farm dogs, with Danuta Hryniewicz's Smok as the type to aim for7,8,9.

The Polish Lowland Sheepdog, known at home as the Polski Owczarek Nizinny, owes its modern form to the post-war revival led by Danuta Hryniewicz. A breed standard based on her dog Smok was accepted internationally in the late nineteen-fifties, after which the breed spread through continental Europe and later reached Britain and North America. It was bred to work flocks on the open plains of Poland, moving and gathering sheep with a good deal of independent judgement, and its moderate build suited long days in the field.

Breed standard

The Polish Lowland Sheepdog is judged against standard no. 251, in group 1, Sheepdogs and Cattledogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Polish Lowland Sheepdog figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.