# can someone help me better understand my new puppy



## john3043 (Jun 12, 2018)

This is my first pure breed dog, and the first time i've heard of a pedigree.
I am super curious as to if he is a working line dog or a show line dog, and if he would prone to any common medical problems german shepherds face

I tried looking up his parents
Sire - Zeus brown IV
Dam- Zena Lopez Brown

But i couldnt find them on pedigree data base. Maybe theres another website i dont know about? I would greatly appreciate any information i can get regarding what line he's in and if he's prone to any medical problems, thanks!


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## Pytheis (Sep 23, 2016)

I do not read pedigrees, but your puppy is prone to common problems in German shepherds because, well, he's a German shepherd. Where did you get him from?

Others should come along and give you some insight into his specific background.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

I am certainly no expert but it looks like those dogs have American names. Maybe the dog is from american show lines. If you try typing the names of great grand sires and great great grandsires on your dogs fathers side into Pedigree Data base you might find some info on them. Because it looks to me those are actual German names. Pedigree database includes titles and hip and elbow information. The AKC does not.


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

Actually - there are some really nice dogs behind the initial backyard type names in the first 2 generations......

This is why people sell pups on limited


Zena Brown is sired by a dog with very well known dogs - a friend of mine owned Gerry Morfelderland - so that quarter of the pedigree is pretty much West German workng lines. Her dam...not particularly familiar....

Zeus Brown has some DDR (Iltis Wildsau) and Czech (Eqidus).....

The rest of the pedigree is pretty random, and does not appear to be anyone who has a plan or goal in breeding other than to sell pet puppies.....if the genetics from the above cited dogs are coming through, he may have some power and civil aggression....


I don't see anything jumping out at me other than a chance of monorchidism (does he have both testicles down)

Lee


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

You have to go back a couple of generations to find dogs that have been entered in the pedigree database. The pedigree database is 100% user entered, so not finding dogs is pretty common. It all depends if the the breeder or owners of any of the dogs in your pedigree entered the dog. 

The sire seems to be mainly from West German Working lines, the Dam of no particular lineage. What we call "pet lines", as they are neither specific American or German showlines, or working lines. Going back several generations you get the occasional West German show line (I saw only one), and the occasional working line, but that is back five generations or more.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Your puppy is a mash of lines. You have strong Czech and West German lined, and lines that are American. The American lines could show or backyard breeder lines.

Your puppy is a German Shepherd and prone to any diseases any German Shepherd is prone to. Mixing those lines didn't change anything. It did make the prediction of temperament and drives harder to predict with the addition of American lines that are typically weaker nerved..


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## Femfa (May 29, 2016)

I’m not an expert, but Lee certainly is. So I’d trust her judgement on this. But I agree with everyone else... your dog is merely a mash of dogs thrown together or bred just to breed. There is no purpose to the dog other than to be sold. Granted the parents have been rated for hips, elbows, and DM at minimum, you should have a general idea of health but no guarantee. 

Also... can we just take a moment to crown the genius who registered their dog as Lexi von Sexi?


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## john3043 (Jun 12, 2018)

wolfstraum said:


> Actually - there are some really nice dogs behind the initial backyard type names in the first 2 generations......
> 
> This is why people sell pups on limited
> 
> ...



I actually cant tell if they are both down.... it looks like one but i feel there prob just isnt loose skin so they are forced to sit close together. Thank you so much everyone for your input!


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Herretts Fire and Von Der Pfalz are 2 good breeders here in California, but I don't know anything about the specific dogs in the pedigrees. Welzbachtal is Heinz Balonier in Germany. We have a couple of dogs in common from there. Mischka vom Welzbachtal was a successful IPO dog and Police Dog. You can find some videos on Youtube, but for the most part all the generations between look to be like others posted. People bought some dogs, and here you are. It doesn't mean you don't have a great dog, only that he wasn't the product of a very educated combination of dogs.


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## john3043 (Jun 12, 2018)

Steve Strom said:


> Herretts Fire and Von Der Pfalz are 2 good breeders here in California, but I don't know anything about the specific dogs in the pedigrees. Welzbachtal is Heinz Balonier in Germany. We have a couple of dogs in common from there. Mischka vom Welzbachtal was a successful IPO dog and Police Dog. You can find some videos on Youtube, but for the most part all the generations between look to be like others posted. People bought some dogs, and here you are. It doesn't mean you don't have a great dog, only that he wasn't the product of a very educated combination of dogs.


thanks man, yeah the most i thought i could get out of the pedigree was an understanding of weather he is more working line or show line, and then i thought there would be medical history to see if his parents had the typical health issues with these dogs


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Did you see the parents of your pup? That's probably going to be more useful then the pedigree.


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## john3043 (Jun 12, 2018)

Steve Strom said:


> Did you see the parents of your pup? That's probably going to be more useful then the pedigree.


yeah they both looked healthy but they werent old so i feel like thats expected.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

john3043 said:


> Steve Strom said:
> 
> 
> > Did you see the parents of your pup? That's probably going to be more useful then the pedigree.
> ...


Ho was their temperament from what you could tell? What color ?


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## john3043 (Jun 12, 2018)

konathegsd said:


> Ho was their temperament from what you could tell? What color ?


Im not familiar with what to look for in temperment. They were both friendly. The only thing that stood out was the mom wasn't as protective as i thought she would be over her pups, anyone could freely pick them up. They were both black.


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## Aly (May 26, 2011)

Is there some reason why you can't/haven't asked the breeder about the health in his/her dogs (can't call them lines, apparently)? And, by his/her dogs, I mean going as far back as the breeder can go in identifying or ruling out any health issues. Similarly, I'd ask about any genetic testing/screening that was done, not only with the breeding pair but in prior generations. That's where I'd start, preferably as part of your basic research in finding a breeder and before bringing that adorable puppy home.

Aly


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Pretty much what Steve and Wolfstraum said,....the foundation lineage of your dog is working lines from Czech, DDR and Germany. I would think you have a sound confident pup.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Femfa said:


> I’m not an expert, but Lee certainly is. So I’d trust her judgement on this. But I agree with everyone else... your dog is merely a mash of dogs thrown together or bred just to breed. There is no purpose to the dog other than to be sold. Granted the parents have been rated for hips, elbows, and DM at minimum, you should have a general idea of health but no guarantee.
> 
> *Also... can we just take a moment to crown the genius who registered their dog as Lexi von Sexi?*


My black/bicolor females call name was Lexi. For her entire life she was my Sexy Lexi. I choked on my coffee when I read this pedigree the other day! I really can't believe some registered their dog with that name. I would like to meet this person!


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