THE VALUE OF PEDIGREES by NIGEL AUBREY-JONES
H ow many times have you hear dog owners say, “My dog has a wonderful pedi- gree”? This is more likely to come from a recent pet owner than a knowledgeable breeder, or indeed an experienced pet owner. Or how many times have you also read advertisements concerning dogs for sale or offered at stud, where phras- es like “excellent pedigree” or “cham- pion pedigree” are used to describe the dogs concerned? These descriptions are not as frequently seen in the canine press as they are in the domestic pet columns of newspapers. Potential owners of little or no expe- rience are easily impressed by these grandiose descriptions of a puppy they are interested in acquiring. The real- ization of having to pay a substantial amount of money is somewhat softened in the knowledge that the bundle of innocent joy they are about to acquire is royally blueblooded and has almost as many champions in its pedigree as dol- lars with which they are to part! This type of description of a dog’s ancestry means little or nothing and
without substantial qualification is almost as nonsensical as stating “It’s a show dog.” A pedigree is a genealogical table of recorded descent. Nothing more, nothing less. The word pedigree is often mistakenly used and quite often wrongly understood as to infer a degree of quality which it is neither intended nor capable of doing. It is only by experienced and intelligent analysis of a pedigree that it can reveal good, bad, or indifferent breeding. The merits of a puppy cannot be truly evaluated as simply as counting the number of Champions record in their table of recorded descent. What a pedigree does do clearly and simply is ensure the purity of the breeding. However, purity of breeding alone is not the final defining factor in producing high quality specimens— and this applies to all living creatures. Pekingese are no exception! How are we expected to assess the value of a pedigree? Thorough, intel- ligent analysis of its lineage and the system of breeding adopted with pre- vious breeding follows these three
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Still considered to be the greatest minds in the breed’s history, Nigel Aubrey-Jones and his partner R. Wil- liam Taylor, through their Bibliogra- phy of the Dog, their St. Aubrey-Elsdon bloodline, their insightful articles and their judging prowess gave us a great example to follow in our quest for the best Pekes. I once again tip my hat to these gentlemen, and say “Thanks!” –ed.
“THE REALIZATION OF HAVING TO PAY A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF MONEY IS SOMEWHAT SOFTENED IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE BUNDLE OF INNOCENT JOY THEY ARE ABOUT TO ACQUIRE IS ROYALLY BLUEBLOODED AND HAS ALMOST AS MANY CHAMPIONS IN ITS PEDIGREE AS DOLLARS WITH WHICH THEY ARE TO PART!”
134 • S how S ight M agazine , D ecember 2018
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