The value of Pedigree in breeding is widely misunderstood

Pedigrees published by breeders are nothing more than a list of names with nothing else to indicate the quality or success of the animals, unless they have won the title of “Champion”. On the contrary, to have value as a guide in breeding, the Pedigree should clearly indicate the defects and virtues of each subject, in addition to the information available about the quality of the offspring. This type of information in the Pedigree requires a substantial database and not a useless piece of paper. In practice the breeders would be content to keep the information by heart, and the new ones will have little knowledge of the founding animals and serious difficulties even in obtaining information, and here “hearsay” comes to the fore. The long family trees are of more historical than practical interest: a subject of the fifth generation (great-great-great grandfather) contributes only about 3.125% to the puppy’s inheritance and only in very particular and notable cases (qualitative character) a very distant ancestor it could become important. Once you have established which are the most important characteristics in the selection, or those to be eliminated, you should also compare them with the ancestor’s sisters or brothers and with his children and write down all this information, also because this information is certainly more lasting than memory of the breeder who fills his mouth with “blood is not water”!! Another difficulty in ordinary breeding operations lies in establishing the criterion of success, while a good trainer can be asked to develop and reveal their qualities; the same cannot usually be done by the ordinary breeder with his subjects and this is even more true when the objective is to produce dogs capable of winning at shows. Victories depend on many factors, such as the quality of the competitors, the whim of the judges, the skill in preparing the performance. Every breed has had poor specimens championed by luck or influence, and brilliant specimens who never achieved great fame. The objective of every breeder should be to establish a higher average, however commercial aspects do not encourage this type of attitude; it is more profitable to produce a sample than half a dozen excellent subjects, who just miss the class of the sample. A good dog whose small defect makes it unpresentable at shows is destroyed more than a completely poor one. the practice of buying a completely substandard foundress bitch and sending her to be covered by the champion is often justified, although not from the genetic aspect: if an exceptional puppy results, the reputation of the breeder and even of the bitch will be established forever , even if all the other puppies were hopeless. This is the great flaw of “dog breeding consumerism” which will continue until the victory is more important than the breed itself. In fact, the WDF with its worldwide database aims to insert fundamental data into the Pedigree so as to be able to provide a tool suitable for its intended use.

font A. Fiorelli