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Australian Shepherd Health & Genetics Institute

Australian Shepherd Health & Genetics Institute

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Pedigree Service FAQ

Pedigree Service FAQ

IDASH Pedigree Database: An Internet service provided by ASHGI.
This pedigree database was developed for ASHGI purposes from multiple sources. ASHGI has no official connection with any dog club, registry, or dog health registry with the exception of the International Partnership for Dogs (IPFD), though we do maintain cordial relationships with many national and local breed clubs and health registries. This is a for-fee service for Australian Shepherd fanciers. The accuracy of the database is subject to the honesty and integrity of the people providing the information and/or the accuracy of other data sources. It is not the “information source of record” for any pedigree information on any specific animal. That information may be found by contacting the registering organization for an official pedigree.

How long does it take for new info to get approved and posted?
It depends on the volume of incoming service requests. In most cases it shouldn’t be more than a couple of weeks. If you don’t see it within a month, feel free to contact us.

Where did your data come from?
A major portion came from Patrick MacRobert’s “Australian Shepherd Pedigree DB” previously hosted at TheAustralianShepherd.net. This has been augmented by user submissions, downloads of data from other health registries, and other sources. If you see an error, please report it. Error Reporting Form

So how do you know this stuff is accurate?
The vast majority of it is. A large portion comes from various kennel clubs and sources like OFA. For the most part it has been publicly available and subject to correction over the course of many years. However, in a database of this size and which allows many individuals to add data, errors are possible.

I found stuff I know is wrong. How do I get you to fix it?
Please use our error reporting form Error Reporting Form and we will review the entry.

How did my dog get in the database if I didn’t submit it?
1. Someone may have submitted their own dog and put in an extended pedigree that included your dog as an ancestor.
2. We periodically download data from OFA and other health registries.
3. If we have gaps in our data we will use studbook websites to fill them.

There’s no ancestry behind my dog – why don’t you have it?
Our sources didn’t include your dog’s ancestry. Please submit what you have through our pedigree submission form. Pedigree Submission Form

Will you remove a dog because I don’t want it on record?
No. If the information is accurate and we’ve already reviewed the data, it stays.

There are minis/other breeds in this database, why?
The Miniature American/Australian Shepherd has a lot of crossover to the Australian Shepherd breed. Their history, a large portion of their genetic heritage, and major branches of pedigrees are the same. Much of this data came into our database from other sources, MacRoberts and OFA being the major ones. We do not have the resources to purge them though we do not encourage new submissions.

NOTICE to Mini owners and breeders: ASHGI strongly encourages national breed clubs for Minis to set up their own pedigree and/or health programs. ASHGI will be glad to serve in an advisory capacity if so desired.

My dog is listed as his own sire with an F=100% and dam named “Dog Also Known As” (or her own dam with sire “Bitch Also Known As”). (or) What the heck is “# AKA” as a Registration Number?
In the early history of registered Aussies, every time a dog changed hands it changed names. Smith’s Shep became Jones’ Shep. Only the registration numbers remained the same. Nowadays, dogs may have multiple names if they are registered in multiple registries (i.e. ASCA/AKC). Dogs exported to other countries may have the names altered to fit local registry rules. To avoid the confusion and snarled data that results from duplicate entries we have adopted the system used by Patrick MacRoberts to identify alternate names. We designate one name as “primary” for a given dog. Other names are designated as “AKAs” and a pedigree for those names will show the dog as an AKA with the primary name shown as a parent (which parent depends on the dogs gender.)
For example, Heatherhill Paladin and Heatherhill NIdalap are different names (AKC and ASCA) for the same dog. The “primary” for this dog “Heatherhill Nidalap” and “Heatherhill Paladin” is the secondary name.
Which name is primary may be whichever one was primary in the MacRoberts database or the one that came into our database first. ASHGI does not give one registry priority over another when it comes to determining this status. All known registration numbers for the dog will be listed with the primary name.
The “AKA” in the registration number field merely indicates which registry that version of the name is listed with. Where names are substantially the same and unlikely to result in unsuccessful searches we may list only one version.

I want you to use a different version of the name as primary. Will you change it?
No. However, if you have an alternate name not already in our database we will be glad to list it as an AKA.

What’s that “F=” percentage thingy anyway?
Wright’s Coefficient of Inbreeding,or COI. Playing COI ASHGI computes these to 10 generations. Some facts about the DB and the COI calculations: UPDATE BEFORE GOING LIVE
• The highest COI in the DB is 61.5%.(as of February 2018.)
• The “DB Average” for dogs with a non-zero COI is 13.4%.
• The DB average for all dods born after 1/1/2000 (more-or-less current dogs) is ??.?%
• The “DB Average” over the whole DB, which includes dogs for whom we simply don’t have an existing pedigree, is 11.8%.
Some “Observations” about COI’s in general:
• 12.5% is equivalent to a half-sibling mating, and is a little higher than “ideal”; (39.8% of the DB is this or higher as of February 2018).
• 25% is equivalent to a parent/offspring mating, and is a “high” COI (5.8% of the DB is this or higher).
• 50% or more is an “astronomically high” COI (0.036% of the DB). Children, do not try this at home.
NOTE: “Trial Pedigrees” do not have a COI computed for them. COI computation is an intensive computing task, and we lack the resources to offer COI calculations on demand.

How can I update titles other information for dogs in the Database?
For titles go to the title update form Changes Reporting Form and for other changes or corrections use the error correction form. Error Reporting Form

I keep seeing a message “You have exceeded your quota”, what’s going on?
The database has a “limiter” built into it. This message is the “limiter” telling you that you have exceeded the daily, hourly, or per-minute limits on DB searches. The more times you hit the limit, the slower the DB will respond to your queries. We allow 50 searches per day which should be adequate for almost everyone.
To avoid the message, please take the following actions:
• Please limit the total number of requests for pedigrees, searches, and/or breeding or sibling reports to 50 per day. If you do, chances are good that you will never see the message from the “limiter”.
• Don’t request another pedigree for an hour or so. If you’ve used the DB a lot in the past 24 hours, wait a day or even two.
• Lower the rate at which you make requests of requests (don’t do 2 per minute).
Please keep in mind that this pedigree service is expected to have more than 1000 users which is projected to result in 2500 or more or more searches per day based on activity on the MacRoberts site when it was fully active. By choosing to place an “upper limit” on people using the DB, we are ensuring that the vast majority of the users–who will look at less than 10 pedigrees during their visit–continue to have this resource available to them.

What software do you use for the DB?
We use our own proprietary software. We use BreedMate to calculate COIs and for the design of most of the pedigree reports.

Will you share your data with me?
We share the data for academic research purposes provided the researcher agrees to our contract. We regret that we cannot provide full data downloads to individuals; there are far too many Aussie owners and we lack the resources to meet the demand or tailor the downloads to individual needs. We are investigating the possibility that we might be able to offer pre-selected focused subsets of the data for sale.

What is “UR” as a Registration Number?
It means the dog is not registered.