Bohemian Shepherd Dog Names

The Bohemian Shepherd is not a well-known breed of dog except in the Czech Republic. They have not yet been accepted by the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) or American Kennel Club (AKC). There is only a small population of Bohemian Shepherds that can have their lineage traced back to prove they are indeed purebred. Nera is one of these Bohemian Shepherds that has had her lineage traced and has been proven to be a purebred. The Bohemian Shepherd breed is an ancient breed dating back to around 1325 when they were depicted as living with the Chodsky people from the region of Chodsko in South Bohemia during the reign of King John of Luxemburg. The Chodsky were free people and they defended the former Czech-Bavarian borders using weaponry and the Bohemian Shepherd. By 1576, the Chodsky people were using the Bohemian Shepherd to hunt and guard their lands under the rule of Emperor Rudolph II. All of the dogs of this breed came from the villages in South Bohemia. Breeders began selling Bohemian Shepherds into Bavaria. The Bohemian Shepherd was one of the best-kept secrets along the Czech borders until 1984 when an article was published requesting owners of the Bohemian Shepherd to come forward and participate in a research project. The Klub Pratel Chodskeho PSA or the Association of Friends of the Chodsky Dog was started and the breed was accepted by the Czech Kennel Club that same year. The Bohemian Shepherd became a popular breed throughout the Netherlands and the Chodsky Pes Club Netherlands was formed.

As breeding of the Bohemian Shepherd intensified, it soon became apparent there was a problem. There was a small gene pool due to the small number of Bohemian Shepherds within the Netherlands; therefore, inbreeding began to occur resulting in additional health problems within the breed. The Dutch breeders reached out to the Czech breeders and began developing a database of dogs with pure Bohemian Shepherd lineage. There were initially twelve dogs listed, however, only six dogs could be found within the pedigrees of the dogs being bred in the Netherlands. Information on the other six dogs had been misplaced. Therefore, the breeding program within the Netherlands was based only on six dogs: Nera, Fox, Blesk, Dixi, Karus, and Celina. The Dutch began importing dogs that had at least part Bohemian Shepherd for use in their breeding programs, causing a rift between the Czech breeders and Dutch breeders.