MenuClose
KNOWLEDGE · BREEDING
Breeding approval for the Gończy Polski
A Gończy Polski does not become a breeding dog simply because it looks attractive or I like its hunting work. Before breeding, health, behaviour and breed type must be assessed in a documented way. For a working hunting dog, I consider something else essential too: it should demonstrate its abilities in practice.
The VDH generally bases breeding approval on three pillars: health, behavioural assessment and phenotype/conformation assessment. The detailed requirements are breed-specific. For the Gończy Polski, the currently published VGPD documents include additional hunting requirements.
Health · temperament · conformation · hunting performance · responsible mating
The Gończy Polski route – step by step
- Clarify responsibility and paperwork: check the pedigree, microchip details and current regulations.
- Have the hips examined: the published Gończy guide requires an official hip dysplasia assessment; for this procedure, the radiograph must not be taken before the dog has reached 15 months of age.
- Obtain a DNA fingerprint: a DNA profile, which can also be used to verify parentage, is required before breeding approval.
- Provide conformation results: the published Gończy guide specifies two pedigree dog shows from 15 months of age, each with at least a “Very Good” grading from two different breed judges.
- Document giving tongue and steadiness to gunfire: the currently published provisional VGPD breeding regulations specify the natural ability test under the scent-hound test regulations for this purpose.
- Demonstrate hunting performance: those regulations also specify at least one successfully completed VStP, VSwP or VFsP.
- Pass the behavioural assessment: the dog is assessed for confident, appropriate responses in several everyday situations.
- Have phenotype/conformation assessed: a judge approved for the breed examines the dog in detail against the FCI standard.
- Submit all the documentation: only then can the responsible body grant, restrict, defer or refuse breeding approval.
Why I always check the current requirements
The contents of the VGPD guide “Mein Weg zum Zuchthund” are still dated January 2020. At the same time, the association publishes provisional breeding regulations with additional hunting requirements. Before planning breeding approval, it is therefore important to confirm the current requirements directly with the VDH or the responsible breed body, rather than relying on old contacts or procedures.
HEALTH · TEMPERAMENT · CONFORMATION
Health, temperament and conformation explained in detail
01 · HEALTH
Hip dysplasia in the Gończy Polski
The hip dysplasia examination is one of the central health checks. What matters is the designated official assessment, rather than a preliminary opinion from your own vet. The dog’s identity, form and link to its pedigree must all be correct.
PUBLISHED GOŃCZY GUIDE
Dogs with HD-A and HD-B may receive breeding approval without this HD-related mating restriction; HD-C is described there only in combination with an HD-A or HD-B partner.
PROVISIONAL VGPD BREEDING REGULATIONS
The standard categories listed are HD-A and HD-B. A mating of HD-A × HD-C is provided for only as an exception requiring permission and monitoring of the offspring.
02 · BEHAVIOUR
What happens in the temperament test?
The temperament test is not intended to show how perfectly obedient a dog is. The published Gończy guide describes, among other things, greeting, walking and running on a loose lead, moving through a group of people, showing the bite, touching and examining the dog, brief crowding, meeting a second dog and a short period of being tied up.
The focus is on confident, appropriate responses. Clearly problematic examples include extreme avoidance, severe aggression, extreme excitability, poor ability to settle and other behavioural disorders. This is exactly why temperament is an integral part of responsible breeding for me.
03 · CONFORMATION
Phenotype and conformation – more than appearance
For breeding approval, the dog is examined in detail against the FCI standard. This includes body proportions, bone, head, eyes, ears, dentition, limbs, back, tail, coat, pigmentation and movement. In the Gończy Polski, construction should always be considered in functional terms too: agile and strong, without being heavy.
The FCI standard requires a scissor bite and describes complete dentition as preferred. In my own dogs‘ profiles, I therefore explicitly record a confirmed finding such as “complete scissor bite”, without presenting it as a universal requirement that the standard does not state.
MY BREEDING DECISION
For me, breeding approval is only the beginning
Passing breeding approval means that a dog meets the specified requirements. It does not automatically mean that every possible mating makes sense.
For me, actual hunting work, health and resilience, temperament, giving tongue, willingness to find game, connection to the handler, pedigree and the relatedness of a proposed pairing must also be considered together. A dog can look very good on paper, yet the combination as a whole still needs to fit. That is why I look at my dogs‘ offspring as well as the parents.
MY PRINCIPLE
Formal breeding approval is the entry requirement. Whether I actually use a dog for breeding depends on the overall picture: health, temperament, practical hunting experience, pedigree and a suitable pairing.
The breeding dog and the breeding premises are two different matters
THE DOG
Breeding approval for the dog
For the dog, health, behaviour, breed type and the hunting performance qualifications required or selected for the Gończy are assessed.
BREEDER & KENNEL
Requirements for the breeding premises
For the breeder and breeding premises, separate considerations include expertise, kennel-name protection, suitable facilities, inspection of the premises, litter inspections and the breeder’s organisational duties.
What this journey looks like for my dogs
Caya is from my own breeding. Her records make it particularly easy to follow the route from training through health and hunting work to breeding approval. In the profiles of breeding-approved males from my offspring, I also openly show the underlying health, conformation and test information.
Caya vom Pauelsgraben
My own bitch and, for me, the most personal journey from homebred puppy to breeding dog.
Ajax vom Pauelsgraben
A male from my A litter with unrestricted breeding approval and documented hip, conformation and performance results.
Bruno vom Pauelsgraben
A male from my B litter with unrestricted breeding approval and documented hip, temperament, conformation and test results.
Official sources
- VDH – breeding approval
- VDH – principles of controlled breeding
- VDH – show dates
- VGPD – “Mein Weg zum Zuchthund” breeding guide
- VGPD – published provisional breeding regulations
This overview was last updated in September 2026. Breeding approval and mating requirements may change. For a specific breeding decision, the current rules confirmed by the responsible body therefore always apply.
Breeding Gończy Polski for hunting performance since 2019 – shaped by practical hunting experience, family life and a commitment to breeding healthy hunting dogs with sound temperaments.
Breeding within the VDH · Kennel name internationally protected through the FCI
© 2026 Gończy Polski vom Pauelsgraben
