History
14th century
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Bohemian Shepherd is known as the Chodsky Pes in its homeland, Czechia. In the 1300’s the breed developed in the heavily forested southwestern portion of the Kingdom of Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). Although it is unclear if they developed the breed themselves or acquired it from others, the breed first enters the written record as the companions of the Chodove, a unique subset of the Czech people who have lived in the region since the 14th Century. The Kings of Bohemia constantly needed to protect their lands, especially the border regions. In order to do so, they recruited the Chodove, which translates in English to, “Rangers”, “Patrollers”, or “Walkers.” The relationship between the Chodove and the Bohemian nobility was formally codified in 1325, when the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg granted significant unique rights and freedoms to the Chodove in exchange for their continuing service. Included in these unique rights was special permission to keep large guard dogs, which were otherwise illegal for commoners to own. These special ownership rights were one of the first formal historical mentions of the Chodsky pes.
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Working dog
- then and now
Over the centuries the Chodove began to use the Chodsky pes for other purposes besides border patrol and war. Because the breed proved equally effective in guarding against wolves as it did against people, it began to protect and herd the sheep kept by the Chodove and neighboring peoples, becoming a very highly regarded sheepdog in the process.
The Chodsky pes served as the region’s primary working dog until the early 20th century. This historically documented breed was almost forgotten, like many breeds in the post-war era. In 1984 Dr. Vilem Kurz and Mr. Jan Findejs launched the renewal of this beloved breed and sought to find remaining Chodsky Pes (Bohemian Shepherds) to re-establish the Czech breed. The breed standard was approved and from this resulted the first litter born in 1985.
