FREE International Pedigree Database Now Available for Bolognese
www.bolognese.pedigreedatabaseonline.com
An international pedigree database has been a dream of mine for many years. When I just started to become involved in the breed in 2003 I already loved to study pedigrees. At that time, this wasn’t as easy as it is now. There was no Facebook. Breeders weren’t as well connected as they are now. I used to write to older breeders in the Czech Republic and Russia. I asked people who spoke Russian or Czech to help me. I wrote in many languages and most of the time I did not get any answers back. But sometimes I did, and I obtained pictures and pedigrees of dogs that were already old at that time. I loved it. It became my passion over the years. I used to remember details about specific dogs, their backgrounds, any characteristics like great pigmentation, big coats or carriers of the “brown” gene that led to Bolognese with blue/green eyes and brown noses. But I am getting older and my memory isn’t what it used to be. I felt the urge to move forward and create an international database. A database that would connect all the pieces of the puzzle. A database that could give specific information about a dog, not just date of birth, pedigree number and so on. I wanted a database that could calculate the Coefficient of Inbreeding (COI), the Ancestor Loss Coefficient (AVK) and in which you could go back many generations, preferably all the way back to the first generation dogs.
I created this database in September 2017. It includes dogs from all over the world: Europe, Asia and America. It is now easy to find related dogs, to compare several pedigrees at the same time (for instance to try to find a common ancestor), to look up health information and to save the pedigrees in a PDF file or make a pedigree chart. But the database offers more. It makes it easy to find a breeder anywhere in the world including details and contact form, and to find a stud dog of your liking, to review his pedigree, his picture, his size, weight and health information. The database is not just interesting for breeders, but also for breed enthusiasts looking for a puppy. Litters will be easy to find. The UK Kennel Club’s own data base has been very helpful but it is only part of the world picture.
In my journey I came across a great many interesting things. One of those things is the relatively close relatedness between dogs all over the world. I created the database in such a way that almost anyone who adds their dog to the database probably doesn’t need to add more than 4 to 5 generations before coming across a dog in the pedigree that is already in the database. Another interesting thing is the close interrelatedness with the Tsvetnaya Bolonka. In quite a few dogs that we have today, we will eventually find coloured dogs in their pedigrees; the same dogs that are also present in current Tsvetnaya Bolonka and also in current Havanese. I also found the first registered Bolognese litter in the Netherlands born on Christmas Day 1960. The parents were registered Bolognese imported from Germany and France. Their pedigrees go back to the early days of the Bichon Frisé breed. I put all this information in the database.
I created this database with assistance of a start-up company called “Pedigree Database Online”. I spent hours investigating, contacting breeders and reading books and websites. I made sure all data used are either directly from pedigrees, or found in a pedigree register. However, of course it is possible some of the found data are incorrect, but we have to go with what is available now. I hope anyone involved in the breed will help build the database, fill in missing details, and add pictures and other information of their own dogs.
Jessica Van Driel
www.bolognese.pedigreedatabaseonline.com
Little White Wonder Kennel – Netherlands
littlewhitewonder32@gmail.com
