The Value of Pedigrees

Parents, the animals' appearance, mentality and health are only part of the picture when planning a litter and if you just look at the appearance and health, you are fooling yourself.

All living individuals have genes, which may not be visible on the individual, but which can be inherited by children or grandchildren. Therefore, as a good breeder, one have to know something about the sire and the dam of the litter, but definitely also quite a bit about the grandparents and at a minimum also about their great-grandparents. And I would also like to know something about the siblings of the sire and the dam of my planned litter, and as minimum also about the siblings of the grandparents.

Does it sound complicated? In principle, it is no more complicated than one needs 2 pedigrees (one for the sire and one for the dam) with 5 generations and some extra paper for writing down the findings about health issues etc. But yes, it takes quite a bit of time to analyze pedigrees. But I promise, you learn quite a bit. 

Coefficient of inbreeding (COI)
Pedigrees are also important to ensure that the dogs mated are relatively unrelated to each other or, as it is said, the COI for a planned litter must not be too high. To assure this is not the case, I will use the 5 generation pedigree for the male and the bitch. 

Matings where the litters COI seen over 5 generations is higher than 5% is not recommended. I personally want the inbreeding rate to be much lower and preferable 0% within 5 generations. 

When you have 2 such pedigrees in front of you, you often see a certain dog appear 2 or maybe even 3 times on the pedigree. It is usually the case if a breeder has wanted to double up upon the quality of a particular dog. But the dog must not appear too many times in the pedigree on both the mother's and father's side, as it increases the risk of diseases and less viable puppies. If you have a pedigree with a certain dog in the pedigree a number of times, select a sire/dam, which have not the dog in its pedigree unless you are a very, very experienced breeder and have a specific reason to make a close linebreeding. And even then, please consider one more time. What new will a close linebreeding add to the breed as such?

Also check how often an individual is found in the population, i.e. take into account the number of children and grandchildren the individual has. By using statistics on children and grandchildren, you get a clearer picture of how much a dog affects the breed's population. If, for example, the same sire has been used a lot both in our country and abroad, he may not add anything special to the breed that does not already exist. Maybe a brother to the male you think could be the perfect choice for your bitch might be a better choice, at least seen in the aspect of gene pole as such.

Where do you find a 5 generation pedigree, and how do you calculate an COI for the litter you are planning? 

Depending on where you live, you might have access to information in databases about dogs being used for breeding and can make a trial pedigree with an COI. In my country - Sweden - as well as in Norway and Denmark, we are lucky to be able to find this information in our kennel clubs databases and to make trial matings, too. This is, however, unfortunately not the case in all countries. But, on this site, you can make a COI of your own. A little more difficult, but it can be done, one just has to be very careful about spelling the names correct.

Several trial matings are recommended
When I have a female I want to breed, I typically do 4-5 trial matings to see what the pedigree and COI looks like with different sires I think may be suitable for my bitch. If I think the COI is too high. Not because the male wouldn't be a good partner for my bitch, but simply because I think the mother and father of my coming litter are too closely related. Now I have maybe only 3-4 trial matings left.

Health information
I now make a print of the 5 generation trial matings and start looking for health information about the dogs. I check as far as I can find the data of the dogs, for example, if they are DNA tested or if they have given any or at least not many cases of HD. HD is only mentioned as an example! 

To find this information, one can search information on this site to find as much information as possible. Not all diseases are registered, but for example DNA tests and HD is registered by most kennel clubs and TT clubs. Your dog network will also often be able to tell you if a certain dog has developed or left diseases you have to look out for.

The diseases could be hereditary eye diseases, for which it is not possible to DNA test for, it can be epilepsy, cryptorcism or allergy. Or if, for example, if there have been temperament problems after a particular dog. It is impossible to get information about everything, but one can do one's best! 

If you ask your dog network, be a little careful. Not everyone likes if you ask too much, and sometimes you may receive information from the network, which you have to check one more time. Then ask the breeder or the owner of the sire directly and use a little diplomacy. My experience is that most people are happy to talk about their dogs, that they are a little proud that you show interest. And if you ask direct questions in a diplomatic way, in my experience, you get answers (make a list of what you want to ask about).

Mentality
Are the dam and sire mentally tested? Are their parents? Is there something there, you have to be observant of. 

Appearance
Having dealt with COI, health and mentality, I have now sorted down my trial matings to let us say 3 trial matings.

Now I look seriously at the appearance of the males. But first, I look at my own bitch! What weaknesses does she have? What strengths does she have? Are the weaknesses some I can also find in her parents, her grandparents or great-grandparents. Or on her siblings? I probably don't know all the dogs, but I can almost always find a photo of her relatives and at least judge based on that. 

Let's say my bitch has a head that is not quite perfect. Maybe her muzzle is a little too long or too narrow. (It's not the case with my bitches, I'm just using it as an example.) Have her parents also a long muzzle, her grandparents, her great-grandparents? Then I'll have to look for a male that doesn't have the same problem and doesn't have dogs in his pedigree with the problem either. Set up a bit simplified, but in principle this is how you have to proceed if you want to have some concrete things you want to minimize the risk for in your planned litter. But of course one also has to compromise. Nobody - and I mean NOBODY - has a dog without faults, and nature also has its say. And you usually don't get everything you want, but being honest to yourself about the faults on the bitch is the first step on the way to breed according to the standard for the breed. The more you analyze, the better overview and the better you can judge which male would be a good choice for your bitch. 

Finally...
Now I might have only 2 males left, which I think are both perfect for my bitch. Great, then I have one in reserve, which I can use if something goes wrong. Or which I might love to use next time she should be bred.

Having a stud male at home
Some uses their own male on their bitch/bitches. I could do that too, but no matter how handsome, cute and healthy my lovely male is, he might not be the one that fits my bitch perfectly and if I have more bitches it would be amazing, if he would be the perfect choice for all of them. 

Maybe the COI will be too high, maybe I prefer to add new blood to the breed, maybe I've used him before. The reason why my beautiful male is not used on my bitch can be many, and says nothing about his value to other bitches. But it's me who decides what I think is best for the breed, not that I have a male on hand.

Appearance of the pedigree/certificate of registration

All purebred dogs have a certified pedigree with a registration number. The pedigree is issued to the breeder of the dog and is handed over/transferred to the new owner. If sold outside the country where the dog was born, it will be sold with an export pedigree.

At the pedigree you will find the registration number, date of birth, parents, grand- and grand-grand grandparents. If a dog doesn't have a certified pedigree, don't breed the dog!! We want purebred Tibetan Terriers with pedigrees! 

Examples of different certified pedigrees - click on the images to zoom

A certified pedigree is issued either by the country's kennel club, but in some cases it is instead issued by a special club under the kennel club. 

A certified pedigree states the dog's official name, the name of the breed, sex, color and markings, who has bred the dog, the dog's registration number in the club that has issued the pedigree, the dog's ID/Chip number and the date of birth. In addition, the names and titles, registration numbers and registered health information 3 generations backwards is given. The sire of the dog is always at the top of the pedigree and the mother at the bottom. 

Pedigrees with 5 generations might be available from the breeder or different pedigree databases. Or at least you will be able to create a 5 generation pedigree via the information in the databases. The databases could be Worldpedigrees.com and Ingus.net (now pedigreeDEX.com) and pedigreeonline.com. On these sites, you can create an account for free and get access to over 60,000 pedigrees and often also see photos. 

If I'm a nerd - maybe just a little.....