The Standard Poodle Database was started a number of years ago by Lynn Brucker from the pedigrees in Poodles in America and elsewhere. Lynn's objective was to have the pedigrees of all AKC Champions, but as others have become involved, it has expanded to include most English, Australian and Scandinavian Champions, and many from other countries. It also includes many obedience champions and others who are related to the champions, or have simply been contributed by their owner or breeder.This is not a health database. You will not find information on genetic or other health problems with the exception of an occasional OFA or CERF number. The interest that has motivated several of us to put countless hours into this effort has been primarily to gain a better understanding of the evolution of the Standard Poodle over the last century. We know where most of the founders of the modern North American SP came from, and when, and can also trace many of the prominent lines back to Germany or England in the early years of the 20th century.
As well, in all but the most obscure pedigrees, we are able to identify 95-100% of the ancestors for 10 generations. Such information can be an invaluable aid to breeders who wish to take an in-depth look at their dogs and potential mates. Furthermore, in conjunction with data collected on the incidence of various problems that may be of genetic origin, it can enable a research geneticist to determine family relationships and, hopefully, the mode of inheritance.
All AKC and CKC champions are automatically added when they are published. However, to have a better overall picture of the status of the breed, we would like to include SPs without titles, irrespective of whether they will ever be bred. Because all three varieties are registered simply as Poodles in North America, this data cannot be extracted from stud books, as we have no idea what size it may be. Therefore, you can help by contributing your pedigrees. A dog need not be living to be helpful to the database.
In return, we may be able to tell you something more about the heritage of your dog. Ideally, we would like to have pedigrees that include the registration number, color and date of birth, and callname. If a multi-generation pedigree is not available, but you have the Registration Certificate, please include the dates in parentheses (e.g. 3-93) after parents' registration numbers. These tell us which stud book to look in.
There is also a Miniature Poodle database under construction. At present it includes about 22,000 entries and should include the majority of AKC champions. For more information, contact Jan Gray.
Anyone who wants help with a SP pedigree can contact me at jbarm@uottawa.ca. You can send a pedigree by email, or by regular mail or fax (see below for address and fax number). The speed with which you get a response will depend on how busy I am and how easily the names you provide can be connected with the existing database. If a pedigree appears to be particularly challenging, I may ask for a contribution to genetic research in return for the time and effort expended.
Dr. John B. Armstrong
Department of Biology
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5
Canada
FAX: 613-562-5486