Polish Hound

The Polish Hound originates from crosses between indigenous Polish hounds and the St. Hubert Dog. In the ancient Polish hunting language, the Polish Hound is called 'podzary,' which means burned, in reference to the color of its coat. This breed is very widespread in Poland but remains rare outside its country of origin.

The FCI standard does not describe a typical character or temperament of the breed. The breed is considered to have a balanced, docile temperament, attached to its master. Of very gentle character, even with children, it is never aggressive.

The Polish Hound is a tall-sized hound of strong and compact constitution with quite a massive appearance. The skeleton is powerful. The overall silhouette of the Polish Hound conveys more power and endurance than speed. Set fairly low, the large tail is covered with long coat on its lower part. Descending below the hock, it is carried slightly drooping and from half the length of the limb, the tail bends slightly. In normal movement, it is carried slightly raised and straightens during running, never rising above horizontal. Fairly heavy, the head is nobly sculptured and recalls a rectangle of medium length viewed in profile. The obliquely positioned eyes are dark brown in color; they are not set too deeply in the sockets. The ears are set low, quite long, and hang freely. Their extremity is slightly rounded. The coat is of medium length, coarse, with a thick undercoat. It is slightly longer on the spine, at the rear of the rear limbs, and on the lower part of the tail. The coat is black and tan. The limbs, sternum, thighs, head, and ears are tan in color with the ears slightly darker. The body is black or dark gray almost black and forms a blanket that extends to the head without reaching the foreface. The tan color varies from fawn to cinnamon, the latter shade being much appreciated. White hair is admissible in the form of a star, forming a blaze to the muzzle, on the chest, extremities of the limbs, and at the tip of the tail.