are silly ones. Find out about any health
problems in the breed and possibly in their
lines (such as PRA, hip dysplasia, thyroid,
diabetes, etc.). Don’t be afraid to ask to see
test results. They should also be asking you
lots of questions—your experience with
dogs, your home environment and sched-
ule, your ability to socialize and train, and
many, many more. There is a PON puppy
buyers guide on line that can help you with
questions, what to ask and what you should
be asked as well as other information. If
the breeder doesn’t seem that interested in
your situation or seems more interested in
rushing you into buying a puppy, I would
go elsewhere.
I would also recommend you speak
to several breeders in several parts of
the country before purchasing a puppy,
be honest with them, and trust your
intuition if something seems awry with
them. Good breeders are interested in
seeing that there puppies go to good
homes where they can spend a lifetime
not just selling puppies. Do not rush into
buying. Do your homework!
BIO
Getting her first PON in 1985, Loana
J. Shields has long been a Polish Lowland
Sheepdog (PON) fancier. As a breeder-
owtner handler she finished the first U.S.
champion in both conformation and obe-
dience, SKC Ch. Europa Casmir z Elzbie-
ta, CD in 1988. His photo was presented
to the Polish Kennel Club on behalf of
the first champion PON in the U.S. She
also showed in ARBA where several of her
PONS and their offspring became champi-
ons and were eventually to become part of
the foundation stock in AKC.
Loana travelled extensively to intro-
duce the breed across the Eastern United
States and spent time mentoring under
various judges to absorb all she could. She
joined a local all-breed club and learned
to steward, most often requesting the herd-
ing breeds. In 1987, she had recommended
to Betty Augustowski, person credited for
establishing the breed in the U.S., that a
parent club should be started to both pro-
mote and protect the PON, hoping to keep
it from exploitation as was happening to
many other rare breeds. From the begin-
ning because of her love of the breed, she
promised herself she would always work in
any ethical manner possible to promote the
breed and help maintain its health, integ-
rity, and standard, putting the breed’s
needs first.
Loana Shields was instrumental in
starting the parent club along with her
then time partner, Tom Wason, Betty and
Kaz Augustowski, Dorene and Herb Zalis,
and Larry and Jane Brown. She became its
first secretary. For many years thereafter,
she served on the Board, most often as Vice
President. For several years she also pro-
duced and edited the club newsletter, for
which she was nominated as ARBA editor
of the year. Her dream was to show her
kennel, Shaggi PONS, SKC and ARBA
Champion Shaggi PONS Duzy Bozolski
in AKC, but before that could happen her
health and other circumstances forced her
to stop showing. However, her knowledge
and will to protect the breed and take part
in its welfare continues to this day.
In 2004, Loana established a yahoo
website called PON Behavior to help other
PON owners, particularly those who were
having problems with their dogs. That site
is still active today. Most recently she has
developed two informational sites, her
goal being to let all people know about the
breed and how to go about finding a good
breeder and puppy. To learn more, plus the
benefit of seeing many pictures, visit the
two websites and learn for yourself.
The sites are
www.ponpuppybuyers
-
guide.com and
www.polishlowland
-
sheepdoginfo.com In the future Loana
J. Shields will continue to work for the
breed in any way she can. She presently
lives in western New York where she lives
with her pet, Legacy’s Shadow of Shaggi
Pons. She found it ironic that Shadow,
her current PON, after all her work, was
from a kennel named Legacy and that he
“
shadows” all her other PONS that have
since passed.
276 •
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how
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ight
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agazine
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ovember
2012