For years I've had dogs both with and without papers. Some of the best beagles I ever chased rabbits with cost me $25-$50 and had no pedigree. Of the two labs I've had one had papers, one not. Both trainable and hunt capable dogs. Training dogs, running them in trials and being a big waterfowl hunter isn't who I am. But when you start looking for a good dog, and pedigrees are put forth as proof of a dogs bloodline, what is one really looking at? Oh I know that it's supposed to back the purity of the dogs breeding and there are the master hunt/junior hunt endorsements to consider. But just because Joe got his dog through a master title doesn't mean the average hunter would have gotten that dog that refined if he wasn't into trials. If you don't know bloodlines and champions and such, does a pedigree really mean a whole lot more? I would rather know how the parents are. What there temperament and hunting characteristics they have and the pups they have produced in the past are. How does one find that in a pedigree?

As I look for a lab pup these are the questions I consider.

Those are good questions to ask, and a pedigree can help with that process. When I see a pedigree with a bunch of high level titles in it, it shows "trainability" in the lines/family.

I'm under the opinion that if you have first hand knowledge of the parents, and like what you see, you're ahead of the game.

The problem is when people advertise litters, they all say come from "hunting backgrounds" and they are "great dogs"

A pedigree with consistent titles are more proof than someone's opinion. There should be more to selecting a pup other than pedigree.

In the breed of dog I have They have to be inspected and than prove that they can do what their breed to do before able to breed Alot of German breeds are like this

Good question. A pedigree can tell you a lot or a little. It all depends on if you know what you're looking at. There a several high powered FT dogs that we're not only hard to train and run, but also had and threw health issues. For example NFC-AFC Clubmead's Road Warrior. He's produced 41 titled offspring. He himself had no elbows which ended his career at a very early age, and he threw bad elbows. Not good.

There's no replacement for doing good research when it comes to pedigrees. It gives a good starting point. Once you find a litter whose pedigree appeals to you, ask a lot of questions. Make sure all the health clearances were done. Find out what titles the parents have along with their littermates. Do amateurs run the parents in test/trials? We're the dogs amateur trained? Are they hunted? Are they good house dogs?

Good Luck!!

Angie

Thanx Angie. And that's my point. I don't know what to look for. I'm learning from y'all as much as I can.

https://www.akc.org/events/titles/
http://www.ukcdogs.com/Web.nsf/WebPages/DogEvents/TitleAbbreviations

for a Hunting Retriever you are generally look for:
AKC (Field Trails and Hunt Tests) = NFC, NAFC, FC, AFC, JH, SH, MH, MNH...There is also CFC, CNFC, CAFC, CNAFC for Canadian Field Trials
UKC (HRC Hunt Tests) = GRHRCH, HRCH, HR, SHR, UH, & Super Retriever Series (SRS)

The above means a pups parents, grandparents, etc can do the work and were trainable to do the work. Which translates that a pup is more likely to be able to do the work and be trainable to do so. There can be duds in any given litter but having a pedigree with the titles above gives you a less likely chance you will get a dud. Also as mentioned consider Health Clearances and the Temperament you are after.