The term pedigree is an old word derived from the French "pie de grue", meaning crane's foot. After more than six centuries, the tradition of using the pedigree continues to be the primary breeding tool of breeders based on the logic that when the frequency of a trait or disease occurs among several the ancestors it signals that something is likely to be heritable.

OFA serves as a central source of information for breeders and owners based on the standards for evaluation. See two useful tables for risk.

This articles focuses on the risk factors and things owners can do should their dogs bloat. The Bloat Survey and Report was the joint effort of Dr. Carmen Battaglia PhD of the AKC and Dr. Cindy Otto DVM, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary.

Backing into a pedigree by extrapolating from what is observed in the pups is one of the best ways to understand the carrier status of the ancestors.

Mendel discovered the gene. An explanation of the recessive genes and how he discovered them in pedigrees.