Many people claim to have a pedigree dog and are proud of this. Do you know what this means? Why have a pedigree? How do you get a pedigree dog?
Well, read on to find out! We at Animal Wised give you the ins and outs on the meaning of a pedigree dog.
Pedigree means that a dog has ancestors of its breed only; that it is a "pure blood" and does not have parents of any other breed, no matter how beautiful the other breed of dog may be. A pedigree has at least 3 generations without any cross-breeding.
How to get the pedigree certificate
The pedigree of a dog is registered in studbooks and to access them you must go to the association or society where its data is found.
If you do not have this information you can also go with a DNA sample of your dog for analysis. Once verified you will receive a certificate issued by the association certifying that your dog is a pedigree. The cost of this procedure is usually around 40€/£35.
Why some people want a pedigree certificate
Pedigree is important for those who want to enter their dogs into a beauty or canine morphology contests. This is certainly the only advantage.
However, did you know that having a pedigree dog has disadvantages?
Indeed, the majority of pedigree dogs are bred over and over by breeders who use dogs from the same family in order to achieve the desired appearance and anatomy. Although this process allows you to finely select the desired features, the truth is that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Inbreeding of this kind can lead to reduced life expectancy, degenerative diseases, genetic mutations and so on.
In addition to the previously mentioned downsides to pedigree breeding, these dogs are used in the pet trade industry, a murky albeit legal activity. There are many people who use dogs for breeding and for racing, all for their own financial gain. These activities do not hold any benefit for the animals; rather they can cause health problems (such as disease during pregnancy) and many of the dogs are abandoned after they have passed their peak.
We at Animal Wised recommend going to an animal shelter if you are looking for a pet dog. These shelters are full to the brim with dogs (even pedigree dogs) that are abandoned, for the meager price of 30€/£25, yet many people still prefer to buy.
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