• PONs belong to the numerous family of herding dogs.   They exhibit certain characteristics of the smaller sheepdog - a tendency for a squarely built body; a smooth, efficient trot; a strong, long protective coat; a loyal personality with strong herding instincts; a suspicion of strangers; a highly developed sense of territory; and a strong sense of independence.  

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  Temperament:  The PON is clever and perceptive, with an excellent memory.  It is important to realize that the PON needs a dominant master and good consistent training from the time it is very young.  If this is not provided, the PON will tend to dominate its master.

• The PON needs close contact with people and loves to have a job.  They are most eager to please in any task you can provide them to accomplish.

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  It is very easy to train a PON for good behavior.  They are so intelligent that a little bit of work by its master will go a long way and benefit the entire family.  PONs have no problem accepting the needs of an entire family.

• Coat:  The standard requires that the dog be double coated with a soft, dense undercoat, well covered by a long, dense, thick, shaggy, and reasonably straight coat.  Dogs exhibited in the show ring are required to be shown in their natural state.  This means that dogs must not be trimmed.  All coat colors are acceptable.  The most common coat colors are white with black, gray or sandy patches, and gray with white or chocolate.  Very rarely are they all white, all black, or black and tan.  Most PONs carry a dominant "fading" factor genetically, which results in puppies being born darker in coat color than they will appear as adults, with the exception of those puppies born white. 

• If you want your PON to look nice all the time, you must be prepared to brush his hair thoroughly a few times a week and keep him clean.  Use a good flexible pin brush, not a slicker brush, which will remove the undercoat.    It is important to get the PON accustomed to grooming at an early age. Brushing your puppy for a few minutes everyday will get him acquainted with grooming.   As the puppy gets older, his undercoat will start to come in and if not routinely brushed, serious mats will develop.  It will be more difficult to get these mats out if your puppy is not familiar with being brushed, lying on his side and back.  

◆ Following some simple guidelines in training and grooming will provide you with the joy of owning one these fabulous shaggy dogs.