How to "read " pedigree

How often  do breeders hear, " My dog has Ch. Big Whoopy Do" in his pedigree--and upon examining said pedigree we may state that the previously mention dog has nothing to do with the dog produced.  What?  How is that possible?     Often, the old-time breeders will state that any kennel or bloodline is built in the strength of the females  (not the males) in that said line. Let's discuss  these two trains of thought and the genetics of pedigrees.

First, we need to review some basics genetics-- male is an XY and a female is an XX.  No need to get more complicated. Please remember,  a male will only inherit the Y gene from his sire, while his litter mate sister will only inherit the X gene from the sire's dam that the sire inherited. The litter Dam  has two (2) Xs--which each and every puppy will inherit one (1) X gene. This is one of the reason while litter brothers will look widely different--they both have the same Y gene from their sire , but received different X genes from their mother.  Same with litter sisters, they both receive the same X gene from their sire, but different X genes from their dam.

Sometimes one will hear, " Oh his sire was Ch.Big Whoopy Do's brother, so he's just as good."  No, Sorry, he's not. Most likely he carries very different genes.  Let's look at "black holes"  and the odds of inheritance in a pedigree.   Black holes in a pedigree are the dogs that have absolutely no influence on the overall dog produced.

Perhaps the easiest inheritance gene to understand is the Y gene in any male pedigree--the Y gene is directly linked and passed down all of the sires on the upper half of the pedigree--the sire,  grand sire, great-grand sire and great-great-grand sire, and so forth.  Thus for males, the Y gene path of inheritance is easily traced.

The X gene in the male pedigree is a bit trickier.  The X genes will come from one of the two genes the Male's dam carried.  One gene will be from the Dam's sire's maternal line (his dam), and one will be from her Dam--who would have inherited  one of two genes from her dam, and the maternal gene from her sire. So, we have  one of three possible genes!  Not so easy to trace!!

Let's  look at some pedigrees as  an illustration.  We will start with the male pedigree below of a litter I bred.  The direct Y line is highlighted in Red; The X line in highlighted in Blue.  The dogs not contributing to the pedigree are in Black--so one can see how it can happen that the well known dog in a pedigree is in a "black Hole" of the pedigree and has no contribution to the overall pedigree.

Male puppy

                                                                                +-- Ch. Iron Hills InTo The Night,

                                         Great-Great Grand Sire+-- Int.Am.Ch. Iron Hills Bar Open All Night,

                        |                                                       +-- Iron Hills One Drink Limit,

                                Great Grand sire+-- CH Caledonia Guilty As Charged,

                 |      |                                                       +-- Iron Hills Granite Irene,

                 |                                   +-- Ch. Caledonia Lion Sleeps Tonite,

                 |                                                             +-- Ch. Iron Hills Bet The Farm,

            Paternal Grand Sire+-- Champion Lazy D's Southern Gentleman,

          |      |                                                             +-- Ch. I Guards Lazy D Marvelous Marv,

          |      |                                     +-- Ch. Lazy D's Fortunate Son Of Marv

          |      |      |                                                      +-- Ch. Groppetti Dixie Of Lazy D,

          |                     +-- Ch. Lazy D's IroncladChantillyLace,

          |             |                                                     +-- CH Acorn Hill Uther Pendragon,

          |                                             +-- Ch. Ironclads Ironhill Ivana,

          |                                                                   +-- Iron Hills Ironclad Alibi,

   Sire+-- Champion Morrigan's Storm at Castlegate,

   |      |                                                                  +-- Int.Am.Ch. Iron Hills Bar Open All Night

   |      |                                               +-- CH Caledonia's Built to Last,

   |      |             |                                                    +-- Caledonia Night Moves,

   |      |                   +-- CH Morrigan's Hector,

   |      |      |      |                                                   +-- Running Bear's Thor's Rockytop,

   |      |      |                                         +-- CH HOF Clas Myrrdin's Morrigan,

   |      |      |                                                           +-- Rocky Top Little Ann,

   |           Paternal Grand Dam +-- Champion Morrigan's Roxi Gives A Lickin,

   |             |                                                            +-- Int.Am.Ch. Iron Hills Bar Open All Night,

   |             |                           +-- CH Caledonia's Built to Last,

   |             |      |                                                    +-- Caledonia Night Moves

   |                            +-- CH Caledonia Pursuit of Perfection

   |                    |                                                     +-- Running Bear's Thor's Rockytop,

   |                                            +-- CH HOF Clas Myrrdin's Morrigan,

   |                                                                           +-- Rocky Top Little Ann,

 +--  Male puppy 

   |                                                                           +-- Am.Can.Ch. Iron Hills Under The Influence,

   |                                            +-- Ch. Oaklane's This Bud's For Us,

   |                    |                                                    +-- Ch. Oak Lane's Image Of Dale,

   |                           +-- CH Celtic's Fearghus Mac Roich,

   |             |      |                                                    +-- CH Acorn Hill Uther Pendragon,

   |             |                           +-- Ch. Ironclads Turrean Of Celtics,

   |             |                                                           +-- Iron Hills Ironclad Alibi,

   |      Maternal Grand Sire+-- Champion Celtic's Aonghas Mac Ogma

   |      |      |                                                           +-- Am.Can.Ch. Iron Hills Under The Influence,

   |      |      |                           +-- Ch. Oaklane's This Bud's For Us,

   |      |      |      |                                                   +-- Ch. Oak Lane's Image Of Dale,

   |      |                   +-- CH Celtic's Ragin Cajun

   |      |             |                                                    +-- Ch. Iron Hills Storm' in Norman,

   |      |                                  +-- Ch. Celtic's Starstruck Sabrina,

   |      |                                                                   +-- Ch. Maximillion's Walkabout Tess,

   Dam+-- KIOKEE AGAINST ALL ODDS,

          |                                                                    +-- Ch. Iron Hills InTo The Night,

          |                                                     +-- Int.Am.Ch. Iron Hills Bar Open All Night,

          |             |                                                     +-- Iron Hills One Drink Limit,

          |                                    +-- CH. HOF  Caledonia's Built to Last,

          |      |      |                                                     +-- Iron Hills Goodnite Irene,

          |      |                                           +-- Caledonia Night Moves,

          |      |                                                           +-- Ch. Iron Hills Bet The Farm,

                Maternal Grand Dam+-- Champion Morrigan's Celtic Queen of Kiokee,

                 |                                                             +-- Run'n Bear's Divine Thunder,

                 |                                             +-- Running Bear's Thor's Rockytop,

                 |      |                                                    +-- Misty Magic Of An April Day,

                                                 +-- CH HOF Clas Myrrdin's Morrigan,

                        |                                                      +-- Rocky Top Flaming Gambit,

                                                                +-- Rocky Top Little Ann,

                                                                                 +-- Ch. Matics Lady Madolin Of Kiokee,

Now Females are very different and a bit more complex to understand.  There is no Y gene to inherit,  so the upper 1/4th of the pedigree (the direct Y line) has no influence on the female--only  the x genes from both  the sire and dam sides of the pedigree!!  So for females in any litter--it's not the males who contribute, but the females!! For each contributing female in the pedigree, one must look at her sire's dam, and her Dam's Paternal dam and her Maternal dam and grand-dams!!  Once again I have high lighted the contributing females in blue and left the non-contributing dogs in black.

 Female puppy

                                                                         +-- Ch. Iron Hills InTo The Night,

                                                   +-- Int.Am.Ch. Iron Hills Bar Open All Night,

                        |                                                +-- Iron Hills One Drink Limit,

                                +-- CH Caledonia Guilty As Charged,

                 |      |                                                +-- Iron Hills Goodnite Irene,

                 |                                  +-- Ch. Caledonia Lion Sleeps Tonite,

                 |                                                       +-- Ch. Iron Hills Bet The Farm,

                  Paternal Grand Sire-- Champion Lazy D's Southern Gentleman,

          |      |                                                       +-- Ch. I Guards Lazy D Marvelous Marv,

          |      |                                    +-- Ch. Lazy D's Fortunate Son Of Marv

          |      |      |                                                +-- Ch. Groppetti Dixie Of Lazy D,

          |                     +-- Ch. Lazy D's IroncladChantillyLace,

          |             |                                                +-- CH Acorn Hill Uther Pendragon,

          |                                            +-- Ch. Ironclads Ironhill Ivana,

          |                                                              +-- Iron Hills Ironclad Alibi,

   Sire+-- Champion Morrigan's Storm at Castlegate,

   |      |                                                               +-- Int.Am.Ch. Iron Hills Bar Open All Night

   |      |                                             +-- CH Caledonia's Built to Last,

   |      |             |                                                 +-- Caledonia Night Moves,

   |      |                   +-- CH Morrigan's Hector,

   |      |      |      |                                                  +-- Running Bear's Thor's Rockytop,

   |      |      |                                       +-- CH HOF Clas Myrrdin's Morrigan,

   |      |      |                                                         +-- Rocky Top Little Ann,

   |           Paternal Grand Dam +-- Champion Morrigan's Roxi Gives A Lickin,

   |             |                                                         +-- Int.Am.Ch. Iron Hills Bar Open All Night,

   |             |                           +-- CH Caledonia's Built to Last,

   |             |      |                                                  +-- Caledonia Night Moves

   |                            +-- CH Caledonia Pursuit of Perfection

   |                    |                                                  +-- Running Bear's Thor's Rockytop,

   |                                            +-- CH HOF Clas Myrrdin's Morrigan,

   |                                                                       +-- Rocky Top Little Ann,

 +--  Female puppy

   |                                                                        +-- Am.Can.Ch. Iron Hills Under The Influence,

   |                                            +-- Ch. Oaklane's This Bud's For Us,

   |                    |                                                    +-- Ch. Oak Lane's Image Of Dale,

   |                           +-- CH Celtic's Fearghus Mac Roich,

   |             |      |                                                   +-- CH Acorn Hill Uther Pendragon,

   |             |                           +-- Ch. Ironclads Turrean Of Celtics,

   |             |                                                           +-- Iron Hills Ironclad Alibi,

   |      Maternal Grand Sire+-- Champion Celtic's Aonghas Mac Ogma

   |      |      |                                                           +-- Am.Can.Ch. Iron Hills Under The Influence,

   |      |      |                           +-- Ch. Oaklane's This Bud's For Us,

   |      |      |      |                                                     +-- Ch. Oak Lane's Image Of Dale,

   |      |                   +-- CH Celtic's Ragin Cajun

   |      |             |                                                    +-- Ch. Iron Hills Storm' in Norman,

   |      |                                  +-- Ch. Celtic's Starstruck Sabrina,

   |      |                                                                   +-- Ch. Maximillion's Walkabout Tess,

   Dam+-- KIOKEE AGAINST ALL ODDS,

          |                                                                    +-- Ch. Iron Hills InTo The Night,

          |                                                     +-- Int.Am.Ch. Iron Hills Bar Open All Night,

          |             |                                                     +-- Iron Hills One Drink Limit,

          |                                    +-- CH. HOF  Caledonia's Built to Last,

          |      |      |                                                     +-- Iron Hills Goodnite Irene,

          |      |                                           +-- Caledonia Night Moves,

          |      |                                                           +-- Ch. Iron Hills Bet The Farm,

                Maternal Grand Dam+-- Champion Morrigan's Celtic Queen of Kiokee,

                 |                                                           +-- Run'n Bear's Divine Thunder,

                 |                                             +-- Running Bear's Thor's Rockytop,

                 |      |                                                    +-- Misty Magic Of An April Day,

                                                 +-- CH HOF Clas Myrrdin's Morrigan,

                        |                                                     +-- Rocky Top Flaming Gambit,

                                                                +-- Rocky Top Little Ann,

                                                                              +-- Ch. Matics Lady Madolin Of Kiokee,

Now, I have kept this explanation very simple.  I hope one will be able to see and understand the following statement.  No matter how "good" a litter sire may be, It's the Dam's line that will have the most lasting influence  for the next oncoming generations in any given puppy.  Those who take and use  "pet quality" females in their breeding program, then stand  back and crow about the excellence of the Male they used really do not understand how inheritance works. No matter how outstanding a male may be, he will not be able to solely balance out the inferior qualities of a poorly bred female.

My advice to any puppy buyer--look carefully at the litter dam.  If the breeder bases his sales pitch on the quality of the sire only, if conformation is lacking and behavioral issues are demonstrated in the dam--go elsewhere to look for a puppy.   To aspiring Breeders--place your money and influence on obtaining the best possible females.  NEVER bred a "make do"  or pet quality female. Just because you love a dog is not a reason to breed it!! Start with an excellent foundation bitch, look for Sires with strong Maternal lines,  and build from there.  Thus, the dogs you breed in the future will continue to improve. JMO.

Cathy C. Arney
KioKee Mastiffs
Hickory, NC

Any comments or questions may be directed to me at kiokeemastiffs@embarqmail.com.