Studying pedigrees - Page 2

For me, as somewhat of a novice, the pedigree by itself is an incomplete picture.  I need something to pair it with.  It's more of a never ending process then an exercise with a start and finish.  I need to SEE the dogs - how do they behave? move? work? drive? clear in the head? nice conformation? size I like? etc. but even that has to be compared over and over again in various combinations before I can start to see patterns or use a pedigree to predict what I want.

One aide I have fun with in researching pedigrees is YouTube, when I find a dog that appears multiple times in a pedigree I start looking for videos. It's not as good as having been there, but it's better than nothing. I'm not currently breeding, & probably won't again, but I enjoy researching pedigrees just the same.
jackie harris

And as far as people not replying, this is such a busy time, I'm having a moment of guilty pleasure here, got a million other things I should be doing right now, I imagine most folks are the same, be patient! jackie harris

Ditto Jackie above; and can I add that you do have to start somewhere and why not start with our current dogs and their pedigrees, or your current dogs backgrounds;  Look at the dogs, look at their pedigrees and any visual attributes you like and dislike according to the current standard and go from there.  Everyone had to start somewhere and what you will hopefully NOT find is someone bringing up things about particular dogs that are not complimentary to that dog, or badmouthing some dog or bashing another dog.  If there is something significant to say about a particular dogs health, working temperament or working abilities someone might bring it forward but otherwise it is in their history file.  Hopefully you can understand what I am saying.  Start with your current dogs and go forward and you will be a wealth of information in ten years or so.  Great days,  Nan

I'll be honest, I'm not familiar with most of the dogs in the first 3 generations,  but the father's line seems to be well accomplished.  Once  you get to the 4th generation, things look up with more familiar names like Quax and Aly.  5th generation, you have Fero a couple of times and more familiar names.  Hard to say much about the pedigree other than it has potential.  Physically I like him although the picture is not the best to gauge him.  Nice head.

Charlie, what are you talking about?  I wasn't speaking about breeding any of my particular jobs in this instance, just studying peds in general :)

Take special note of the dogs the breeding pair is linebred/backmassed on. Research those dogs by talking to the owner, people who have bred to the dog, puppy buyers out of the dog - email and phone call. Look at progeny pictures, health, and working ability. It does not matter how nice the dog is, but if it cannot produce well, you should be careful when looking to breed to it. Look up ZW scores: http://www.schaeferhunde.de/site/index.php?id=688. This gives a bigger picture of the hips and how it produces. Online forums have given us greater freedom. Post and ask for info on different boards - you might get lucky with people giving you info on the dog. If you can, go see the dog work or visit trials/shows - that will give a bigger picture.

gsdeuro@yahoo.com is a group that discusses pedigrees....it's not for everyone but I'll say there are plenty of people who work, train, breed german shepherds....from all over the world!

At first everything seems difficult. 

I'm with Hans; the question is too broad and you are starting at the end of the equation and trying to work your way backwards.  I would recommend trying to find a copy of Malcolm B. Willis' book, The German Shepherd Dog: A Genetic History, to gain some insight into how the breed evolved.  I think it will help you understand a lot about the the lines and dogs now to know how we got here.