Profiling A Pedigree

When you look at an animals pedigree, it tells you what he ought to be. When you look at an animal performing in the ring or in some other event, it tells you what he seems to be. When you look at his offspring and producing record, it tells you what he is.

The Pedigree is the family tree of the animal. But it is not absolute proof that the bearer of the pedigree has the hopes for genetic makeup that his pedigree might promise, for it is impossible to know which of those greats in the pedigree are the ones whose genes actually end up in the final product. Perhaps the two or three weak areas in the pedigree are the ones with the most impact on a particular animal. Because an ancestor is present more than once does not mean you can depend on a particular trait of that ancestor's appearing in later generations. A trait is either present or it is not, depending on its dominance or recessiveness and what was copied from each side of the pedigree.

The study of a pedigree is an attempt to make order out of what could be called disorder. It recognizes the genetic fact that every living thing is the sum of all its collective ancestors-for better or for worse.

Here are some ways to

brainstorm a pedigree:

Prepare a synopsis of the qualities of the individual whose pedigree it is. Acknowledge both strengths and weaknesses.

Do the same thing with very close ancestors. The closer the ancestor, the more in-depth information you should try to get. Give more credit to an outstanding sire and dam than to an outstanding great grand sire.

Try to determine the heritability of traits with close ancestors. Make lists of pluses and minuses of the individuals.

Take a hard look at siblings of the individual to assess how they resemble him or her.

Try to get some producing records on the sire line and dams line.

Consider the degree of inbreeding, line breeding, and/or close breeding in the pedigree you are studying.

Study pedigree of prospective mates with the individual you have in mind.

Seek out progeny of other breedings that are similar to the one you would be making in the above step to see how they turned out. If a half-sister of your bitch was bred to the same dog, what were the progeny like?

Ask yourself, "Does the pedigree seem balanced and does it feel right?" Sometimes this balance is achieved by putting brothers or sisters into the same slot on both the topside and bottom side of the pedigree. Sometimes it is achieved by complementary proportions of inbreeding and line breeding; by complementary proportions of exotic, elegant type and sound honest animals; and sometimes the ultimate in balance is achieved when the great producers in the breed relate to each other in balanced genetic combinations they return to the progeny through both the sire and the dam. Such pedigree credentials would seem impeccable, but still your common sense will be your most valuable asset in reading a pedigree, just as it is with everything else associated with breeding.

When the best individuals in your pedigrees are getting further and further back in them, an infusion of new blood from outstanding gene pools is absolutely necessary. Do not allow a wasting away of your line just to keep "homebreds" in it.

Unfortunately, the unlimited number of potential genetic combinations that can result from the bringing together of two pedigrees means you do not know until the mating of the results will be favorable or unfavorable, or a combination of both. That is why profiling pedigrees can be such a valuable tool to you. It assists you in making the important decisions in weeding your genetic garden


	Profiling A Pedigree When you look at an animals pedigree, it tells you what he ought to be. When you look at an animal performing in the ring or in some other event, it tells you what he seems to be. When you look at his offspring and producing record, it tells you what he is. The Pedigree is the family tree of the animal. But it is not absolute proof that the bearer of the pedigree has the hopes for genetic makeup that his pedigree might promise, for it is impossible to know which of those greats in the pedigree are the ones whose genes actually end up in the final product. Perhaps the two or three weak areas in the pedigree are the ones with the most impact on a particular animal. Because an ancestor is present more than once does not mean you can depend on a particular trait of that ancestor's appearing in later generations. A trait is either present or it is not, depending on its dominance or recessiveness and what was copied from each side of the pedigree. The study of a pedigree is an attempt to make order out of what could be called disorder. It recognizes the genetic fact that every living thing is the sum of all its collective ancestors-for better or for worse. Here are some ways to brainstorm a pedigree: Prepare a synopsis of the qualities of the individual whose pedigree it is. Acknowledge both strengths and weaknesses. Do the same thing with very close ancestors. The closer the ancestor, the more in-depth information you should try to get. Give more credit to an outstanding sire and dam than to an outstanding great grand sire. Try to determine the heritability of traits with close ancestors. Make lists of pluses and minuses of the individuals. Take a hard look at siblings of the individual to assess how they resemble him or her. Try to get some producing records on the sire line and dams line. Consider the degree of inbreeding, line breeding, and/or close breeding in the pedigree you are studying. Study pedigree of prospective mates with the individual you have in mind. Seek out progeny of other breedings that are similar to the one you would be making in the above step to see how they turned out. If a half-sister of your bitch was bred to the same dog, what were the progeny like? Ask yourself, "Does the pedigree seem balanced and does it feel right?" Sometimes this balance is achieved by putting brothers or sisters into the same slot on both the topside and bottom side of the pedigree. Sometimes it is achieved by complementary proportions of inbreeding and line breeding; by complementary proportions of exotic, elegant type and sound honest animals; and sometimes the ultimate in balance is achieved when the great producers in the breed relate to each other in balanced genetic combinations they return to the progeny through both the sire and the dam. Such pedigree credentials would seem impeccable, but still your common sense will be your most valuable asset in reading a pedigree, just as it is with everything else associated with breeding. When the best individuals in your pedigrees are getting further and further back in them, an infusion of new blood from outstanding gene pools is absolutely necessary. Do not allow a wasting away of your line just to keep "homebreds" in it. Unfortunately, the unlimited number of potential genetic combinations that can result from the bringing together of two pedigrees means you do not know until the mating of the results will be favorable or unfavorable, or a combination of both. That is why profiling pedigrees can be such a valuable tool to you. It assists you in making the important decisions in weeding your genetic garden