| Look at the example pedigree (below)of our dog SHINE. Notice that there are color coded columns. (the words in black are only for the purpose of explanation and will not appear on an actual pedigree). Shine (in maroon) is the only dog in the column farthest to the left. The second column has two dogs, her parents (in red). The third column has 4 dogs SHINE'S grand parents (in green). The fourth column has 8 dogs, SHINE'S great grand parents (in blue). The sire, or male dog, will always appear on the top. The dam, or female dog, will always appear on the bottom. For instance, if you looked at her great grand parents on her mother's side you would know that NAFC FC CNFC CNAFC Piper's Pacer was a male and that HRCH Irondale's Shotgun was a male also. Pipers Pacer was bred to ALL STAR'S JUMPING JOY they produced HRCH NIGHT DOCTOR , a male, that was bred to GRHRCH SKY'S AVONDALE ROUX. "Night Dr." and "Roux" produced GRHRCH ROUX' NIGHT DR. VEDGE , mother of "Shine". |
 |
| Something to
keep in mind as you go over any pedigree is that the closer the relationship the stronger the influence of a particular dog will be. The parents have the strongest influence over what you can expect from the puppies. The puppies are genetically 50% of each parent, 25% of each grand parent and only 12.5% of the great grand parents, so
a pedigree with only one or two FC's or AFC's in the 4th generation isn't very strong. What you want to look for is a balanced pedigree that is strong on both sides. When you are buying a puppy the pedigree and the reputation of the breeder is all you really have to go on. So finding a reputable breeder and understanding a pedigree is very important. If you are looking for a puppy that will become a good hunting dog and you find a puppy with numerous CH titles in it's pedigree you may be surprised to learn that CH is a SHOW title and has nothing to do with retrieving at all. Some people may say that they don't care about TITLES. That may be because they don't realize the significance of FIELD AND HUNTING TITLES when looking for a hunting dog. One thing you can be sure of is that the dogs that have earned the field and hunting titles love to get ducks, pigeons, pheasants, and bumpers, are not gun shy, and do not have an aversion to water. So from that point of view titles are important, they tell you it is quite likely the puppies will have the same characteristics as their parents. A CH title alone doesn't tell you that. It is a conformation title. When you are thinking of purchasing a Started or an Advanced level gun dog you can see the dog itself. The pedigree is not as important as the performance of the dog you are considering. Since performance can only be demonstrated with a trained hunting dog many people prefer to purchase a dog that has been trained. You can see exactly what you are getting.  Back to Poplar Ridge PuppiesBack to Poplar Ridge Trained Hunting Dogs |