Read pedigree - Page 1

Looking to buy GSD.  Want to understand how to read pedigree, especially to look for linebreeding and inbreeding.  Had wonderful white GSD for 11 years that died of tumor inside her heart.  This dog was chosen by my daughter 11 years ago from a breeder no longer in our area.  I read so many problems with hips, etc. due to poor breeding.  How can I learn to check info on pedigree?  Many thanks

Pedigrees are read left to right.  The sire of the litter is on the top and the dam is on the bottom.

Look at this pedigree of one of my dogs and I can walk you through.  www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/487615.html

The pedigree is for Buck.  His father is Ajax (on the top) and his mother is Enni (on the bottom)  Look behind Ajax and you will see his father Graf and his mother jenta.  Same thing on the bottom, look behind Enni and you will see her parents Garry and Yaska.  It follows this format all the way back.

  Line-breeding can be seen by looking for the same dog (or full siblings) to appear on both halves of the pedigree.  Inbreeding is the same it is just closer than line-breeding (the dog appears on both sides fewer generations back.)

  On an AKC pedigree OFA hip ratings and AKC titles will be shown, but not titles from other countries such as SchH. 

I hope this makes some sence, it is harder to explain on the computer than I thought it would be.

Hi Jean, sorry to hear abou the loss of your dog. Learning to read german line pedigrees on a flash is a tall order to fill. Lots to know about German GSD if you want to go by pedigree alone. 
If you had a white GSD before I would recommend that you do not take a pup from strong working lines as that may proove to much for you. There are certain working lines that produce very active and high drive dogs, even if they are not well suited for SchH sport their activity level may still be too much for a pet home. Such dogs need a very active owner if they do go to a pet home. Many show lines also produce very active dogs. So you need to find out what will suit your individual needs. Temperamentwise a middle of the road pup would probably be best. Whether its show lines or working lines or DDR lines does not really matter so much, its more about some of the individual dogs in the background of a pup you are looking at, the parents, and then the individual pup.
In terms of HD, pretty much all of the german line GSD that have been bred to the german standard will have every single dog HD certified for at least 5 generations of its pedigree and often more. When you look at the pedigrees on this site you will see things like a-normal, a-fast normal or a-noch zugelassen, which are all passing HD certifications. It means normal hips, nearly normal hips and still acceptable hips. That does not eliminate HD completely in the offspring but it reduces the ocurrance considerably. Also bad hip x-rays do not automatically mean that a dog is doomed. Many GSD with poor x-rays or poor HD certifications live a good life to a ripe old age. Environment also plays a role. That mean what the pup will be fed while growing up, how it is raised, is it kept too thin or too heavy, will be exposed to physical activity that could be potentially damaging to the growing joints, etc. So there is a lot you can do to ensure pup will grow up healthy and sound apart from genetics. 
The other option would be to consider a young adult that has already had the hips screened. It is quite common for GSDs of all ages to be re-homed and it is done very successfully. The dogs bond with their new owners within a couple of weeks usually and will be not that much different as if they had been there since a pup. 
Hope some of this helps. If you would like additional info, please feel free to contact me privately for pups or young adults available.

D>H>  It would be great if we could read pedigrees and know what the hips would be....glad you explained to Jean,,,,,a pedigree with all 'a" normal or fast normal   or ofa good or excel  sure let you down sometimes....not as often, but new people need to know, if a breeder guarantees you hips, they are saying there is not HD  they are guarenteeing their pup to a certain age, upon examination, and your explanation of how youve kept that pup till it showed an abnormality,,,,,,that they will replace pup or make arrangements with you.....I had a man and woman argue with me , and Im not the only one,this has happened to, that the last german shepherd they had, the breeder did indeed guarantee that there were absolutely no HD in her lines and never would be....so how did she do that.....?????and get by with it.....and she lives in Louisiana, I believe.....I explained I cant guarantee that.....funny they werent back over to that breeder,,,shes still there....saw her ads in our local paper....

and she may not have said that or implied that either,,,General public that have never had a shepherd , need it explained to them and read up on Hd    Iams sent me a 25 page (2) booklets of the subject...

Look at the post by Giggles.

A litter with both parents normal may still give 25% of the litter (per vet) HD (bad hips). Just like in children, there are no guarantees. It is the luck of the draw and you try and stack the odds in your favor. A good breeder is trying to limit the amount if not all but even the best have issuse with the dogs. Buyers need to be told the truth and they need to understand that, they balme the breeder when it happens. It is very sad to have it happen to you, do your research and try and stack the odds to your side of the table and you have done your best,

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/110706.html

Animules: I reread it    did I miss something...or did you want me to read between the lines,,,,,,,,,blondey???????D--------?????right?

I think I got you.......never owned a shepherd before and a good dog ending up who knows where and she hasnt got a clue.....????

allaboutthedawgs recommended she check out giggles post so I made it easy, that's all.  No lines to read between.