Dog & Puppy Pedigrees
Although the worth of a dog or puppy should always be based on love and companionship, if you need to read a dog or puppies
pedigree, the following information should help you feel more knowledgeable and comfortable when reading a pedigree.
Just as your family has a lineage, so does your dog. If you are looking to purchase a new puppy and a pedigree is offered, you
should first learn the about the information provided in the pedigree. Your dog’s pedigree is something to be proud of.
Some dogs can be worth gold to an owner due to their lineage.
How to acquire a pedigree:
- If purchasing from a breeder, you should be able to request the records they have in relation to the puppy's pedigree. Again, some breeders do not offer pedigrees and you should not perceive this in a negative light.
- You can order a pedigree from a pedigree service. Many can be found online and may take up to a month to research and produce a pedigree.
How a pedigree can be useful:
- When starting a breeding program. (Extensive pedigree research should be done before breeding any two dogs to determine how closely they are related and the probability of the breeding to result in puppies that follow the breed standard.)
- Looking for defects in the pedigree is a must before breeding. Any health conditions found by cause of death on the pedigree can give you clues to possible defects or health concerns when breeding.
Tips when reading a pedigree:
- Males are always listed on the top and the females on the bottom.
- The chart starts with the progeny (puppy/dog of interest).
- Following the branch from the progeny upward you will be looking at the puppies sire (father). If you follow the chart down, your will be looking at the puppies dam (mother). This same procedure is used throughout the chart.
- The chart is always read from left to right.
- Most pedigrees are 5 generations deep, but depending on the amount of information accessible to be obtained, the pedigree may be shorter in detail.
About Registries:
- There are many different registries that can be displayed on one pedigree or on multiple pedigrees.
- A registry is mostly concerned with breed standards and quality.
- In recent times, some registries acknowledge the designer breeds.
- You can look up most registries online and review their guidelines for registration.
- Much like in America, other countries have their own registries.
* Please refer to our information section on dog registries
About Titles:
- Breed clubs can also give titles to dogs belonging to their clubs.
- Titles are recognized only by the individual breed club and are non-competitive titles.
- Titles from the dog breed clubs will appear after the puppy's name.
Here are a few titles and their meanings:
- BIS - Best in Show
- BISS - Best in Specialty Show
- BPIS - Best Puppy in Show
- CAN.CH - Canadian Champion
- CDX - Companion Dog Excellent
- UD - Utility Dog
- UDX - Utility Dog Excellent
- TD - Tracking Dog
- TDX - Tracking Dog Excellent
- VST - Variable Surface Tracking
- UDTD (UDT) - Utility Dog Tracking Dog
- UDTDX - Utility Dog Tracking Dog Excellent
- UDXTDX - Utility Dog Excellent Tracking Dog Excellent
- UDVST - Utility Dog Variable Surface Tracking
- UDXVST - Utility Dog Excellent Variable Surface Tracking
- CGC - Canine Good Citizen
- Ch. - Conformation Champion
- FC - Field Champion
- AFC - Amateur Field Champion
- NAFC - National Amateur Field Champion
- NFC - National Field Champion
- OTCH - Obedience Trial Champion
- CT - Champion Tracker (TD, TDX, VST)
- HC - Herding Champion
- DC - Dual Champion (CH & FC)
- TC - Triple Champion (CH, FC, & OTCH)
- CD - Companion Dog
- CQN - Certificate required by some nations prior to Ch. (protection)
- FH - Advanced SchH tracking title (protection)
- IPO - International successor to SchH (protection)
- JH - Junior Hunter
- SH - Senior Hunter
- MH - Master Hunter
- HT - Herding Tested
- PT - Pre-Trial Tested
- HS - Herding Started
- HI - Herding Intermediate
- HX - Herding Excellent
- JC - Junior Courser
- SC - Senior Courser
- MC - Master Courser
- NA - Novice Agility
- OA - Open Agility
- AX - Agility Excellent
- MX - Master Agility Excellent
- JE - Junior Earthdog
- SE - Senior Earthdog
- ME - Master Earthdog
- NC - Nite Champion
- GNC - Grand Nite Champion
- SGNC - Senior Grand Nite Champion
- Kamp. - Champion of record in Holland
- KNPV - Dutch Police Dog Association (protection)
- OTCh - Obedience Trial Champion
- SCH I, II, III - Schutzhund Titles (protection)
- Specialty Select - Merit Selection at a Specialty
- TDI - Therapy Dog
- TT/TC - Temperament Tested/ Temperament Certified
- V or VA - Highly ranked German dog
About Health Certifications:
- Symbols are awarded clearing that particular dog of certain hereditary health detects.
- The symbols will be listed in front, behind, or below that dog's name.
- Other distinguishing characteristics or notes about a particular dog might also be shown above, below, or behind a dog's name.
- A dog's health clearance can also be found on the pedigree.
- Clearances are given for hip dysplasia used for determining future possible hip problems, elbow dysplasia, hearing problems and eye diseases.
Here are some clearances you might encounter on your dog's pedigree.
- OFA - Orthopedic Foundation for Animals
- Ex - Excellent evaluation for hips
- G - Good evaluation for hips
- F - Fair evaluation for hips
- HD - Dutch designations for hip radiological status
- (HD-) Negative evaluation, totally clear
- (HD/Tc) Intermediate evaluation
- (HD+/-) Light positive
- (HD+) Positive evaluation for dysplasia
- CERF - Eyes are normal
- BAER - Hearing Test
- VWD Negative - Does not have von Willebrand's Disease
If you are still having trouble reading your puppy's pedigree, your breeder or veterinarian should be happy to help you interpret
the pedigree so you can fully understand its importance.
The lineage of your new puppy or adult dog is important and can be a fascinating thing to research and discover. Although every
puppy for sale does not have an impressive pedigree, this should not tell you that the puppy is bad. Determine what is important
for you before searching for a new puppy and certainly before buying a puppy for sale.
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