Why is Pedigree important for dog breeds?
In short: It’s the dogs documentation of who it is and what it is. But it has many purposes as can be seen below.It’s a tool for breeders to keep track of lines. Breeding dogs the right way include more than just health testing of every dog, test the mentality, show results and other titles of the dogs that should be breed.Look at the German Shepherd Dog. The breed is (not officially but kind of any way) divided into show lines and working lines. It’s still the same breed but breeders usually never breed show lines to working lines and vise verse. Dogs from show lines and dogs from working lines usually look slightly different from each other but if there was no way of telling, then the pedigree would.The pedigree is a dog’s identification papers. A person can adopt a dog that looks like a pure breed Labrador retriever. And will most likely call it a pure breed Labrador retriever. Even if it may not have 1% of Labrador retriever in it. The pedigree tell you what breed you have and you can prove it if you ever had to show documentation of the dog’s breed (for example if you live in an area that have banned some breeds, and you dog look like one of those even if it’s for sure not one of them).Sometimes only dogs with a pedigree are allowed to compete in some dog shows. So the person with the “Labrador retriever” from the shelter in the example above may not be able to show what it can do in an official competition just because it doesn’t have any papers. Silly reason you may think, but for people who has dog training and showing as their passion in life, getting a dog that could not be used for that purpose would be like throwing money, time and effort in the ocean. (Also the competitions are usually linked to the main kennel club of the country, so they gain from only letting pure breeds with pedigrees compete in their competitions).
Explain the difference between Pedigree and Purebred?
A pedigree is a listing of ancestors on both the sire's and dam's side, going back some number of generations. A five generation pediree is very common. The function of a registry, such as that provided the AKC, is to keep these records, and certify to their accuracy. So if you have a puppy born to registered parents, when the puppy is registered, the registry will look in their records and provide a certified copy of its pedigree. If all of those ancestors are of the same breed, you have a purebred dog. If they are of different breeds, then you have a mixed breed. AKC will not register mixed breed dogs, but an individual could keep a pedigree regardless of the different breeds that were involved. If a group is trying to establish a new breed, they would probably establish their own registry to keep track of pedigrees. In summary, a pedigree is a listing of ancestors, a purebred is a pedigreed dog whose ancestors back some number of generations are all the same breed.
Can you breed to dogs from the same parents but different litters?
you can but is not safe breeding the any litter with the parent's or any litter with any litter that comes from those parent's its cross breeding puppy mills do this and you get dogs with more behavior problems some with defects and some that will get sick or cancer. the more you interbreed like that the more chances of a bad litter. if you want puppies and you have a female rent a stud dog. but if its a male you have you might be able to rent a female.
Is it safe to breed dogs that have the same mother but different fathers?
Some breeders who do this call it “Line Breeding”. Others call it incest.Safe depends on your interpretation.If fertile, any male of a species can impregnate any female and that female can go onto bear live offspring in a natural fashion. So physically its safe but that’s ignoring the genetic issues associated with any incestuous impregnation.The list of genetic diseases now known in dogs is vast and each breed has their collection. The primary source of these issues is almost always a result from some incestuous situation at the early development of a breed allowing double recessive genes to combine into some unfortunate health issue.The list includes Degenerative Mylopathy in German Shephards, Hip Dysplasia in many breeds, familial Epilepsy, familial Atopic Dermatitis (Allergies) in Labrador Retrievers, 23 (!!!) genetic eye diseases in Cocker Spaniels, Von Willebrand Disease in Dobermans, Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Boxers and Dobermans, Urate Crystals in kidneys of Dalmations and so on…So while it is physically safe to breed half-siblings it’s really setting up offspring to have very unhealthy lifelong genetic issues.At a practical level this breeding is extremely inadvisable unless you like frequent and expensive visits to my office. If so I’ll send you my office number and you can setup the first of many (!!) appointments.
Is it safe to breed dogs with different mothers but the same father?
Pups with different dams but the same sires are half-siblings. They carry DNA in the same manner as you and a half-sibling would. There is a reason why humans with this sort of close consanguinity cannot legally marry. It's because it is an incestual relationship and often the children will have birth defects or are carriers of genetic diseases.The same is true with animals. That is why professional breeders maintain pedigrees for each pup they breed and now use DNA information to select breeding pairs. Generations ago (circa 19th and 20th centuries), breeders didn’t have the same amount of genetic information available and bred show lines too closely - often incestually. This caused several breeds to become breeding grounds (pun intended) for genetic defects. This allowed defects carried on recessive genes to become problematic due to proliferation in the gene pool. Chihuahuas tend to have eye problems. German Shepherds are known to have hip problems. Bulldogs often have respiratory problems.While pups from a single litter may or may not display birth defects, they will have a greater chance of carrying recessive genes. Those are the problematic genes which could cause defects in the pups' litters or those of the grand pups. It is not a good idea to do this.
How did the the pedigree dog start?
It started with people taking dogs of a particular type and keeping good records: which dog was bred to which dog; what their accomplishments were (starting with performance - herding, scenting game, rat killing, etc.) and went from there. The types have existed for centuries, but (usually) wealthy fanciers of their breeds would create a breed club directed at improving their breed by competition and socializing with other fanciers. The fanciers also created the larger National clubs (AKC, etc.) to have multi-breed shows. This became a very popular pastime in Victorian times, along with horse shows. Some people have created breeds - most notably Herr Dobermann and his famous Doberman pinschers - for specific purposes, but most breeds are the result of hundreds or years of isolation of type and careful breeding.
United all breed registry and pedigree service?
My Grandmother registered her new dog with them (also AKC) If she likes them enough to use them, they must be good. She's very particular about her babies and wouldn't use a service without checking it out first. Here's their website, if you don't already have it. http://www.unitedregistry.com/index.asp
What does it means when a dog is not a pedigree dog?
WHAT DOES A PEDIGREE MEAN PRACTICALLY?If you are not planning to breed your dog or compete in any official activities with it or use it for work which is instinct based (tracking, hunting, herding…), then it doesn’t mean much whether your dog is so called “pedigree” or not.If you buy a puppy: take a lot of time, find out as much about the (dominant) breed as you can, from the breeder and others, meet both parents and make sure they are healthy and friendly and have a personality you like and needs that suit your life style.If you adopt: often won’t be able to meet the parents, but still take the time to make an informed choice of a breed (or type) and an individual dog that suits your expectations, temperament and life style.WHAT DOES A PEDIGREE MEAN LITERALLY?The pedigree of a dog is its family tree, i.e. a chart of its parents, their parents and grand-parents, etc.This is the 5-generation pedigree of one of my dogs:If this pedigree has been confirmed to be true and is registered by an official dog registry, like for example a national kennel club, then the dog what is often called “a pedigree dog”. This is sometimes also referred to as a “pure bred” dog, but technically “pure bred” only means that both parents were of the same breed, even if the breeder never bothered to register the dog.So usually what people mean when they a bit sloppily refer to a “pedigree dog” or a “pure bred dog” is actually a “registered dog”; i.e. a dog where both parents were of the same breed and its ancestors are known and the breeder made the effort and paid the fee to have the dog registered in an official dog registry, giving their dog an official registered pedigree like for example this one:If you buy a dog that the breeder claims is pedigree or pure-bred, than you should get an official registration like this one with the dog.If the dog is not registered, it is still worth trying to find out as much as possible about the pedigree (ancestors) of your dog, also if it’s a mixed breed. It will help you prevent or diagnose possible health issues and also predict and deal with different behaviours and temperaments.