I make no apologies for posting a link to this very interesting article - could well be a subject for debate!

The link is :- http://www.thedogplace.org/GENETICS/Reading-Pedigrees_BJA-133.asp

Merry Christmas everyone xxx

This article is spot on.   And yes, even in the UK the average for many people in a breed could be said to be 5 years, unless they really manage to be successful, in which case, they may last longer.    Right now in my breed, where there has been a top winning stud dog who still holds the Breed Record for CCs in the UK, and is likely to for decades to come, everybody seemed to flock to use him.   Further, he hit at a time when many, if not all the long-standing experienced breeders had either retired, or actually died.   So the newcomers, who apparently were only interested in winning, just went to him.   Well he had a proven track record eh.    Which is where one dog, over-used can do so much potential harm to any breed.    And where not being selective about who uses a stud dog, can be so dangerous.   

When we were out in Canada, with our foundation bitch and starting out, I looked at Canadian and American pedigrees - and was lucky enough to find an American line back to a common ancestor of our UK-bred foundation bitch via an bitch who had been sent out to America years before.    I liked this male in any case, but was more than pleased when I looked, to find this common link.   It worked.   Coming back some generations on, to the UK, I set about finding the same root line back here - with the valuable help of the breeder of my foundation bitch who yes, did know first-hand most of the dogs around when she was showing (she'd retired by then).

Fact is people want to win, and to win, they hope, will go to the current popular stud dog these days.  Which is such a pity!! 

Very good link Lokis mum, would be a good source to be highlighted with the should I breed link. :-)

It is why it is so important to be in the dog world in some way, when thinking of breeding, as you get to know the previous generations and actually see the dogs and hear from others about them, a pedigree is only as good as the person who understands it and unfortunately 90% of todays breeding is done by people who know and understand nothing, and a mentor is a foreign word. :-(

Links like this should be on every site which allows pups to be sold and placed on all those pet sites on facebook/twitter etc, most people would stare at it blankly of course. :-D

Fact is people want to win, and to win, they hope, will go to the current popular stud dog these days.  Which is such a pity!!

And I hope that with all the flak that even these types of people will concur to looking at healthy genetic matches rather than the current winner also, the KC are at least even trying to match % wise........ sort of... ;-)

I sometime browse through Champdogs at my own breed and snigger when I read "excellent pedigree" when I have never heard of a single dog in the 5 generation pedigree.....not one.
Many rejoicing in such names as 'Special boy'...'Tiny Lady'...all the way back, loads of Welsh names thrown in for good luck.
But they are ALL excellent apparently.

As MamaBas has pointed out. There has been alot of long-standing experienced breeders stopped showing/breeding for one reason and an other in many breeds. I would be lucky if more then 5 can read a pedigree and understand it in my old breed. That's mainly because new people never stay in a breed for longer then 3/4 years. And the experienced breeders are not forth coming with info they have.

>And the experienced breeders are not forth coming with info they have.

often because the new ones don't seek the info, or think they know it all, and they find they are often casting pearls before swine, LOL

I have found that if you really want to learn the older established breeders (not the current winners, but those whose stock they come from) are more than happy to impart their knowledge, as they want to leave something for the future, (especially if they have dedicated many decades to the breed) knowing their time in the breeds future is limited.

Slightly off topic, but I cringe every time I see an ad proclaiming that the sire/dam of a litter "Has 5 generation pedigree" as if it was something special or extra!  You can point out ot them till you are blue in the face that EVERY dog has a 5 generation pedigree (or 10/20 if it comes to that :) ) but it does not sink in, as that is how they were sold their own dog, with the 5 gen thing as part of the add.    HAve pointed out that is they mean the pups come with a KC 5 gen. pedigree that is one thing, but it only means a more costly form of print out, not that the pups are parents are in any way "more" pedigree than a dog with a 3 or 4 gen pedigree!

I have tried really hard to find a stud who complements my girl but also avoids the popular dogs of the last few years, and its proven to be much harder then I expected - popular sires really make the job harder!!