Polish Lowland Sheepdog. Betty Augustowski

other dangerous invaders. For pet grooming, you should expect to spend several hours a week with your charge, keeping the undercoat combed out and clean. In other breeds with similar long, double coats, the dogs rescued by breed club rescue committees almost always show the effects of month of non-grooming. It appears an unwillingness to keep up the coat care is a primary cause of abandonment.

       Smile for the camera! Impas and her loving owner.

       YOU ARE UNWILLING TO SHARE YOUR HOME AND LIFE WITH YOUR DOG

      PONs were bred to share in the work of the farm family and to spend most of their waking hours being with the family. They thrive on companionship and want to be wherever you are. They are happiest living with you in your house and going with you when you go out. While they usually tolerate being left at home by themselves, they should not be relegated to the back yard or a kennel. A puppy exiled from the house is likely to grow up to be unsociable, noisy, unruly and unhappy. He may well develop pastimes such as digging or barking that will displease you and your neighbors. An adult so exiled will be miserable too. If you and your whole family don’t strongly prefer to have your dog’s companionship as much as possible, you should choose a breed less oriented to human companionship. Likewise, if a job or other family obligations prevent you and your family from spending much time with a dog.

       This is Tramperus Plast Lexus, “working” in the family yard. The working instinct in the PON is nearly irrepressible!

       The PON is no fair-weather friend; if you provide him with all that he requires and deserves, he will pay you back in love and companionship.

       YOU DON’T INTEND TO EDUCATE YOUR DOG

      Basic obedience and household rules training is not an option for a happy PON and his owner. As an absolute minimum, you must teach him to reliably respond to commands to come, to lie down, to stay and to walk at your side, on or off leash and regardless of temptations. You must also teach him to respect your household rules. Is he allowed on the furniture? Is he allowed to beg at the table? What you and your family members allow or forbid is up to you. But it is critical that you and your family, not the dog, make the rules consistent. PONs without training tend to take over and make their own rules. You must commit yourself to attending a series of weekly lessons at a local obedience club or with a professional trainer and to doing one or two short homework assignments each day.

      As commands are learned, they must be integrated into your daily life by being used whenever appropriate and enforced consistently. PON puppies and adults are easy to train. They are eager to please you, intelligent and calm natured with a fairly good attention span. Once a PON has learned something, he tends to retain it well. Your cute, sweet little PON puppy will grow up to be a dog with a highly assertive personality and the determination to get his way. If he has grown up respecting you and your rules, then all his physical and mental strength will work for you. But if he has grown up without rules and guidance from you, surely he will make his own rules and his physical and mental powers will often act in opposition to your needs and desires.

       Though nothing can replace time spent with the human family, the companionship of another dog will keep your PON entertained and happy.

      The training of your PON cannot be delegated to someone else, e.g., by sending the dog away to obedience school. The relationship and respect are personal between the dog and the individual who does the training. This is true of all dogs to greater or lesser degrees, but definitely to a very great degree in PON. While you may definitely want the help of an experienced trainer to teach you how to train your dog, you must actually train your PON. As each lesson is learned, then the rest of the household (except young children) must also learn the commands and work with the dog, insisting he obey them as well.

      If your goals in obedience training are oriented toward success at high-level obedience competition, please realize that the PON is not among the half dozen breeds best suited to such highly polished performance. PONs can certainly excel at such working competitions as agility, obedience, herding and flyball. As a herding dog, he must be able to think, to reason and to make some decisions independently. That decision may not be a long down for five minutes with their owner out of sight.

       YOU DON’T HAVE AN ASSERTIVE PERSONALITY

      Dogs do not believe in social equality. They live in a social hierarchy led by a pack-leader. The alpha dog is generally benevolent, affectionate and non-bullying toward his subordinates. There is never any doubt in his mind or in theirs that the alpha is the boss and makes the rules. Whatever the breed, if you do not assume the leadership, the dog will do so sooner or later and with more or less unpleasant consequences for the abdicating owner. Like the untrained dog, the pack-leader dog makes his own rules and enforces them against other members of the household by means of a dominant physical posture and a hard-eyed stare, followed by a snarl, then a knockdown blow or a bite.

      Breeds differ in tendencies toward social dominance, and individuals within a breed differ considerably as well. The PON as a breed tends to have a socially dominant personality. You cannot afford to let a PON become your boss. You do not need the personality of a Marine boot camp sergeant, but you do have to have the calm, quiet, self-assurance of a successful parent or a grade-school teacher. If you think you might have difficulty asserting yourself calmly and confidently in exercising leadership, then the PON is not for you.

       If you assert yourself in the role of boss, you will be surprised at how well behaved you can train your PON to be—even around the sworn enemy.

       YOU DON’T VALUE A CALM, LAIDBACK COMPANION

      A PON becomes deeply attached and devoted to his own family, but he doesn’t “wear his heart on his sleeve.” Some are noticeably reserved; others are more outgoing, but few adults are exuberantly demonstrative. They like to be near you, usually in the same room, preferably on a comfortable cushion in a corner or under a table, just “keeping you company.” They enjoy conversation, petting and cuddling when you offer it, but they are moderate and not overbearing in coming to you to demand much attention. They are emotionally sensitive to their favorite people: when you are joyful, proud, angry or sad, your PON will immediately perceive himself to be the cause. The relationship can be one of great depth and subtlety: it is a relationship on an adult-to-adult level, although certainly not one devoid of playfulness. As puppies, of course, they will be more dependent, more playful and more demonstrative. In summary, the PON tends to be sober and thoughtful, rather than giddy clowns or sycophants.

       If you do not think you can fill the role of pack leader, do not bring a pack of PONs into your life.

       YOU ARE A FASTIDIOUS HOUSEKEEPER

      The PON’s thick shaggy coat and his love of playing in water and mud combine to make him a highly efficient transporter of dirt into your home, depositing the same on your floors and rugs, and possibly also on your furniture and clothes. One PON coming in from a few minutes outdoors on a rainy day can turn an immaculate house into an instant disaster. Although it is technically true that PONs do not shed, you will find that the grooming process usually results in balls of pulled out hair tumbling their way about your house (unless you deposit the hair directly from the brush or comb into the trash basket). You do not need be a slob or slattern to live happily with a PON, but you do have to have the attitude that your dog’s company