Polish Hound

Polish Hound

The Polish Hound, commonly known as Ogar Polski, is a breed of hunting dog indigenous to Poland. Like many other ancient breeds, the origin of the Polish Hound is quite unknown. It may be related to the Austrian and German hunting breeds. The Polish Hound is more famously known for its keen sense of smell. This heightened sense combined with the endurance needed to hunt in harsh environments is what makes it so popular to hunters, while its noble stature made it just as popular with Polish nobility. However, this breed remained more or less unknown until the early 18th century when it was identified and differentiated by Jan Szytier into two types, the Polish scent hound and the Polish Brach. Due to the harsh environments that these animals were subjected to, however, the population of Polish Hounds remained low. Several Polish generals bred these dogs with others to increase this population, which led to the emergence of two new breeds, Gonczy Polski (bred by Colonel Josef Pawuslewicz) and Ogar Polski (bred by Colonel Piotr Kartwik). Despite these efforts, both types were given the general classification of Polish Hound by the English due to their relatively unknown status outside of their country of origin. The Polish Hound was not recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale until November of 1966.