providing unavailable information - Page 1

is the only way to find pedigree information where pedigreedatabase says that it is unavailable to purchase it from the akc?

its 12 dollars for each 5 generations for an online pedigree... but if the dog is old or dead by now, it is probably safe to assume nobody will be filling in the information, and i just wish there was a cheaper way to find the information.

is there one?

Gretsch, you can look up some things for free on the AKC website, but you must have the dog's name. I know, this isn't much help if the name is the main thing you're looking for. :-( It will give you the dog's AKC registration number, but not the names of its sire and dam. Here's the link for the lookup page: http://www.akc.org/store/free/

When filling in my bitch's pedigree, I did a lot of research online. I'd put in the kennel name, and could often find the ancestors that way, if they were well known.

Here's a good site for information for American lines of the GSD: http://www.angelfire.com/wi/gsdpedigrees/amgsdpeds.html

And another one: http://www.gsdca.org/GSDReviewed/

Other suggestions:

The OFA database gives the names of the parents of dogs listed, so try checking there.  http://www.offa.org/

Google the dog's kennel name, and if the kennel is still in existence, try e-mailing the owners.

FerrumGSD's specializing in researching pedigrees. She posts on this board now and then, so you might try asking her for help. She has a set of the AKC 'red books' that lists the names, registration numbers and colours of dogs born in a particular year. She also has registration information for some other countries as well.

If you hit a dead end, you may want to try an alternate spelling or punctuation for the name, especially if the name is long, hyphenated or difficult to spell. For instance there are several entries for VA1 Axel von der Deininghauser Heide in the database, under different spellings and punctuations. (There's one dog I'm suspicious of in your dog's pedigree: Tourtel Du Chenil Belge - Belge is Belgium, and Chenil could actually be spelled 'chenille', which means 'caterpillar' in French.) Okay, probably not a lot of help: if this dog is from Belgium, you're going to have a hard time finding her ancestors! The database will accept 'vom/von and all its variations without a hiccup, but if you get a hyphen or apostrophe in the wrong place, or accidentally reverse a couple of letters, it will not turn up the dog you're looking for, even if it is in the database.

Good luck! I know it's a tedious process, but it's a great feeling when you finally find that 'missing link' between your dog's ancestors and ancestors already in the data base!

yeah it is. i filled in the five generations for ben completely, then some of them linked to ones already in here. that was a good feeling.