# K9Data



## drloripalooza (Jan 7, 2012)

I am assuming that listing your dog in K9Data is at the breeder's discretion. If the breeder says that all health tests are done, and goes into detail, should I search OFA and CERF if the info is not on K9Data? Should I ask the breeder? (Of course, I don't want to lead off with this question.) I also like the ability on K9Data to see the longevity pedigree and the 5 generation hip pedigree.

I am sifting through about 24 breeders in the U.S. and Canada right now! Many of them look good. Wondering which ones I can rule out. I have heard nothing bad about any of them, and have read quite far back in these threads.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

You can search by kennel or breeder name on K9Data. And take the registration name or AKC# and search on OFFA.org to check clearances on whatever dogs whose litter you are interested in. 

If the clearances are not on offa.org, I would ask the breeder. Don't hand any money over until you've seen clearances.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Anyone can enter dogs into K9data.... it is an open database.

K9data is a good tool....but info there should be verified...especially clearances...and if the clearances are not listed there...that alone is not a red flag....just means more followup needs to be done.



drloripalooza said:


> *I am assuming that listing your dog in K9Data is at the breeder's discretion.* If the breeder says that all health tests are done, and goes into detail, should I search OFA and CERF if the info is not on K9Data? Should I ask the breeder? (Of course, I don't want to lead off with this question.) I also like the ability on K9Data to see the longevity pedigree and the 5 generation hip pedigree.
> 
> I am sifting through about 24 breeders in the U.S. and Canada right now! Many of them look good. Wondering which ones I can rule out. I have heard nothing bad about any of them, and have read quite far back in these threads.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

OFA is the database. If the dog's clearances don't appear there, RUN. However, golden enthusiasts will add other people's dogs to K9data. I often check the winner's of the week in conformation shows and am interested in their pedigrees. If the dog doesn't appear, I will add it so I can get a better look at it's lines. Sometimes if I have time, I will cross reference OFA and add the clearances. Even if you see clearances on K9data, you MUST verify them on OFA. Some less than reputable breeders will make up fake numbers.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

All of my dogs are on k9 data and verifiable on OFA.... I would not trust K9 data to verify longevity... Because not all breeders enter death dates and not all breeders enter cause of death. K9 data is an open data base. I have entered dogs for friends, and I correct entries with info from OFA (for example, can't call an eye clearance CERF if it isn't on the website). I have also entered dogs from greeders so it is there in black and white for everyone to see.


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## rhondas (Sep 10, 2010)

K9Data is an open database that owners and breeders populate.

Having gone through the process of talking to breeders and determining which litters were the right ones for me and narrowing it down, I alway checked OFA and CERF for test results because not all breeders keep K9Data up to date.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

As others have said, k9data is an open, voluntary database. A breeder or owner would have to add any clearance data that's there. If you don't see it, look for it on CERF and OFA. And if you do see, check it on CERF and OFA anyway. Some unethical breeders are not above lying or fudging their k9data information. If they're caught, the dogs are locked and the users are banned, but you can't rely on their getting caught.

K9data is an extraordinary resource that we're lucky to have. As long as it's getting discussed, I'd like to make a plug for people to donate if they can. There's a paypal button right on the front page. You don't need a paypal account to donate. Just click the button and use your credit card.

It's not really free! Somebody has to pay the bills over there, and they rely on donations.


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## GoldensInRI (Jan 25, 2012)

Good luck on your puppy search. The k9data.com database is a nice resource to look at the lineages behind many of the dogs who have been entered into it. As others have said, it is an open database and sometimes mistakes or omissions can happen. Not all who enter a dog's pedigree into the database revisit that entry later on to put in clearance information, date of death, or cause. Look at the 5 generation feature as well as the vertical pedigree feature to see siblings listed in a pedigree. There is even a feature adding in hip clearance info to the vertical pedigree. The OFA databases (www.offa.org) can help verify things on your search. A reputable breeder should gladly furnish you with copies of all pertinent clearances on the parents of a litter and in most cases notate that information on ancesters behind the parents on an extended pedigree for the breeding.

Good idea to do your research first and not go visit puppies unprepared (hard to resist those furrballs!


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## GoldensInRI (Jan 25, 2012)

DrLori - if the breeders you are checking out are all equal, then it might be time to narrow your search a bit in selecting the looks, style, activity level, and other traits you prefer in your golden. Performance events, conformation showing, hunt tests, hiking soulmate & bedwarmer?


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## hvgoldens4 (Nov 25, 2009)

CarolinaCasey said:


> OFA is the database. If the dog's clearances don't appear there, RUN. However, golden enthusiasts will add other people's dogs to K9data. I often check the winner's of the week in conformation shows and am interested in their pedigrees. If the dog doesn't appear, I will add it so I can get a better look at it's lines. Sometimes if I have time, I will cross reference OFA and add the clearances. Even if you see clearances on K9data, you MUST verify them on OFA. Some less than reputable breeders will make up fake numbers.


 
This is not neccessarily true. There are many breeders who are very reputable that do not enter information on their dogs on K9data. I have a number of friends who would fall into that category but I can assure you that if you checked the OFA database, you would find the clearance information on the dogs. 

Yes, we live in an information era but there are also a lot of older established breeders that do not have websites or input data for K9data. If I have time, I will sometimes enter information for them, but I also try to keep up with my own dogs and the dogs that my boys have sired so I don't always get around to doing it.

There are quite a few people who are administartors for K9data that will go thru show results and add dogs that are not in the database but a lot of those dogs then do not have clearance information added to them.

If you find that someone has "wrong" information about clearances on k9data, you should contact one of the admins. It is an open database and you can get a password to enter data, but if you input incorrect data, that priveledge can also be taken away.

Absolutely, you should check the OFA website to check for clearance information when none is listed on k9data and even when it is listed, to double check for accuracy and to see when the last eye report was done because many people will list the CERF number on K9data but don't update the data every year when a new eye exam is done because once a dog is given a CERF number, their number will stay the same for life. The only thing that changes is the end where the date is given.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> This is not neccessarily true. There are many breeders who are very reputable that do not enter information on their dogs on K9data. I have a number of friends who would fall into that category but I can assure you that if you checked the OFA database, you would find the clearance information on the dogs.


I know somebody (a breeder) who always got ticked off (putting it mildly) when people added her dogs to K9Data. This was a reputable breeder who didn't have anything to hide, but she really didn't like K9Data. I think it was a control issue for her. This was years ago, so maybe there were more bugs back then. 

I guess I agree with her in that it would really bother me if somebody else entered my dog in a database without talking to me first. I feel like that should be my choice and privilege or something?


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I generally wouldn't add other people's dogs, just dogs I know and dogs whose owners' permission I have to add. I have linked pictures to a couple of dogs who didn't have pictures because their owners weren't as tech savvy and the pictures were really nice.


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## hvgoldens4 (Nov 25, 2009)

Megora said:


> I know somebody (a breeder) who always got ticked off (putting it mildly) when people added her dogs to K9Data. This was a reputable breeder who didn't have anything to hide, but she really didn't like K9Data. I think it was a control issue for her. This was years ago, so maybe there were more bugs back then.
> 
> I guess I agree with her in that it would really bother me if somebody else entered my dog in a database without talking to me first. I feel like that should be my choice and privilege or something?


 
When K9data first came into fruition, there were some problems. There was incorrect data being input-not purposely, but people didn't seem to understand at the time that if a dog's regsitered had U instead of the word YOU in it, it would result in multiple entries being made for the same dog. There were also some problems with people changing other breeders information that they had actually input, or people changing photos that the breeders/owners had added and there was even another case where the pedigree information was basically being hijacked and sold as a breeder's software pedigree program. So, yes, there were breeders who were against their dogs information being there, in the beginning.

One other thing that is extremely personal is a dog's DOD. There have been many issues about an owner posting on an email list, etc that their dog had passed away and then people would rush to add that info on the DOD on K9data. I think that is a very personal thing that owners like to do themselves for closure and it was disturbing to them when they went to put the data in there, that someone else who they didn't even really know had added the information.

So, I guess you could say that simple simple rules of ettiquette needed to be worked out before the database was really accepted by everyone.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

K9 data makes it very clear that you do not enter COD or death date of a dog unless it is yours or you are connected in some way. I think it allows for you to enter historical dog info like that. Anyway, adding dogs is within the realm of what k9data allows you to do. I personally love to study pedigrees... and if OFA info isn't there, I can always look it up on OFA. I have had to add dogs at the very least to enter one of my own dogs. And a local breeder added one of her dogs incorrectly, when she added her male, a male with a much more stellar pedigree came up, and I noticed it and fixed it. Of course, the admins are always on top of that and when big changes are made, they check it for accuracy. And because of the ability to do things like test breedings, sometimes dogs have to be entered...


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## Door (Apr 2, 2010)

When did K9Data come into fruition?


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## hvgoldens4 (Nov 25, 2009)

Door said:


> When did K9Data come into fruition?


 
It came into fruition around the year 2000. However, there have been a lot of changes made over the years and rules have been added. There wasn't always a COD and the rules that Sally's mom is talking about when entering a DOD were also added after many problems. 

It is an invaluble tool and we should all be thankful for the amount of work that Amy does to provide it for us all.

I don't think that anyone is saying that histotical dogs shouldn't be added or even dogs that are living now. I was talking about when K9dta was firt operational and the kinks needed to be worked out.


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