Poland – The Unsung Hero Of Purebred Dogs

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310 – May, 2023

By Amy Fernandez

Aside from Britain, we generally forget about the many countries responsible for to our eclectic and ever growing canine gene pool. We can blame that narrow focus on tradition, which doesn’t make it good. We tend to overlook the multicultural contributions that led to the rise of purebred culture–both directly and otherwise–as well as the importance of ongoing genetic interchange. In fact, Britain never had a monopoly on this business model. Just check out our current top ten AKC breeds. Even the venerated Labrador Retriever is not strictly an English product.

I’ve been giving this some thought thanks to a lovely surprise that recently landed in my mailbox. One Hundred Years of Dog Fancy in Independent Poland is a breathtakingly beautiful, commemorative book published by the Polish Kennel Club. To quote from the introduction, “A little over 100 years have passed since Poland regained its independence and over 80 years since the establishment of one central kennel organization–the Polish Kennel Club. However, the history of Polish fascination with dogs goes much further back.” That’s a serious understatement. Poland’s purebred traditions go way, way back and if anything, centuries of tyranny and suffering only intensified that national dedication to preserve and protect their native breeds. This book provides a timely reminder.

Geographically, Poland has served as a genetic ground zero for that crucial intersection of Asian and European breed development. Planned or otherwise, when two canines meet…. Long before recorded history, successive waves of Celtic, Scythian Germanic, Slavic and Baltic tribes settled this region and by the early 10th century Polish tribes emerged as the dominant influence. It wasn’t like everyone woke up one day and voted for that outcome. It’s safe to say that centuries of cultural and genetic crosscurrents eventually coalesced into that national identity.

Click here to read the complete article
310 – May, 2023

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Posted by AnthonyA on May 17 2023. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.