pigmented rims around the eye. Eyes should
be brown and as dark as possible, with
the exception of chocolate dogs may have
lighter eyes.
Ears are medium size and hanging with
inner edge close to the cheeks. They are set
moderately high; not so high that they inter-
fere with the dogs expression or distract from
the shape of the head.
After examining the head move your
hands towards the neck to find it medium
in length, strong and muscular, set in the
well laid back shoulders, carried 45° to the
ground or less while the dog is standing,
carried horizontally or just slightly elevated
while the dogs runs. Neck should be well set
in the significantly pronounced and broad
withers strongly connecting it both to the
back and chest. Necks too long and narrow
or set high and perpendicular to the back
might not allow for proper breed function.
Withers should be visible and easily palpa-
table, with top of scapulae set two fingers
apart. Length of the dog’s body comes from
the thoracic spine rather then lumbar. Look
for the body to be strong, deep and broad.
Back should be well muscled, strong and
straight, level or 2% higher in the withers
then in the loin, avoid rears that are too high.
Chest should be deep with well sprung
ribs, good forechest, in fact, 50% of dog’s
height comes from its depth of the chest.
Scapula and upper arm should be about the
same length, the forearm slightly longer,
with tight elbows meeting the brisket. The
pasterns should angle slightly forward, and
the dog should have compact paws.
The Loin should be wide, well built, opti-
cally shorter than the with slightly cut croup.
Hindquarters should be well angulated,
muscular with well accentuated short hocks.
Rear paws are slightly smaller than the
front paws.
Only naturally short tails or ones that
have been docked to a maximum length
of two vertebrae are accepted by American
Standard PON. However, tails naturally
come in different lengths and carriage types
which are allowed in the European Union.
When you move your exhibits look for
toplines to be level and sturdy , make sure to
examine it also by hand as extensive groom-
ing and hand stacking can affect the topline
as well. Even though sculpting and extensive
scissor grooming is strongly discouraged in
our breed it happens and can change the
outline of the dog significantly. The shaggy
coat of the PON, the hallmark of the breed,
should be double with strong straight crisp
outer coat and dense softer undercoat. The
PONS is considered non-shedding however
you will find seasonal differences in appear-
ance. Remember to consider age while judg-
ing the coat. Younger dogs look a lot taller
then older ones whose back coat can come
all the way to the ground while flattening the
undercoat on the back which makes the dog
optically longer.
All acceptable with solid colors or white
with markings. Black, brown, grey, fawn
and dark chocolate puppies often end up
grey, cream or light chocolate as adults,
with sable pointing due to the fading
gene that some carry. PONs are known
to change their shade or color a few times
during their lifetime. All colors and mark-
ings should be judged equally. A movement
has begun to preserve the rare solid colored
Pons as they appear to be great pigmenta-
tion carriers – with mostly white dogs seen
in the ring nowadays we seem to be loosing
skin pigmentation.
When you send them down and back
and around the ring ask for a loose lead,
medium pace. Avoid speed too slow as they
can go into pacing easily. Allow enough
space between the dogs. The purpose of the
PONS was to work all day, so an easy effort-
less trot should show that he could still excel
at it. Look for a pleasing-to-the-eye harmoni-
ous, efficient gait, with nice forward move-
ment, and a lowered head. Look for the front
optically reaching the nose line. Look for the
rear extended behind the dog.
When assessing the legs look for
straight, heavily-boned parallel columns
with good reach and drive. You may expect
some toeing in. Fortunately we now have
much less east west and cow-hock dogs, it
used to haunt us a lot years ago!
In closing, I would like to mention tem-
perament which I consider to be the most
important trait in every dog. The PON
should be reserved and get to know you
slowly. He is trusting, but only after he has
become comfortable in your presence. He
will bark when you enter his home, but will
stop when he is sure you mean no harm.
He will be respectful of you, and watch you
while you visit. He will remember you in the
future, and greet you warmly. Hopefully you
enjoyed meeting him toos!
BIO
Margaret Korzeniowska is an FCI Judge
and former American Polish Lowland
Sheepdog Club Director.
2-
year-old female, excellent head, bone, chest,
coat
1
½
-
year-old male Note the abundance
of the coat, great pigment , masculine head
Powerful trot of adult male, great reach,
note also topline, coat, bone
An adult female, great structure, level back,
great coat
272 •
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how
S
ight
M
agazine
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ovember
2012