I obtained my first Irish Water Spaniel in 1973 and soon became interested in the history and development of this fascinating breed. For nearly 30 years, I have built up records of pedigrees starting with Irish Water Spaniels, where I researched the breeding of every CC and reserve CC winner and every Field Trial award winner back as far as I could trace. Initially I used 5”x3” record cards, keeping them in little plastic boxes and writing out pedigrees by hand. I was also interested in other breeds, particularly German Shorthaired Pointers, which had been in my family since 1961 and Field Spaniels, which I have never owned but have liked, since I first met them in the mid 1970’s. The bug then spread to other minor spaniels, flat coated retrievers and even outside the gundog group to deerhounds, one of which I owned in the early 1980’s.

The development of computer programmes for pedigrees made life a lot easier for researchers and after trying a number of early programmes, settled on Breedmate. I still maintain my data in Breedmate today but have expanded my horizons beyond UK Champions to Champions anywhere in the world.

As a service to pedigree enthusiasts and breeders, Breedmate started to put up searchable pedigree databases for several breeds on  www.worldpedigrees.com On this site you will find the following data bases that I have compiled:-

Bloodhounds, Bracci Italiani, Bull Terriers, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Clumber Spaniels, Curly Coated Retrievers, Deerhounds, English Setters, Flat Coated Retrievers, Field Spaniels, German Shorthaired Pointers, German Wirehaired Pointers, Gordon Setters, Hungarian Vizslas, Irish Red & White Setters, Irish Setters, Irish Water Spaniels, Irish Wolfhounds, Large Munsterlanders, Mastiffs, Pointers, Sussex Spaniels, Weimaraners, and Welsh Springer Spaniels.
 

Several other breed databases are on the site provided by other researchers. They include Australian Terriers, Beagles, Boxers, Border Terriers, Borzois, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Dalmatians, Labrador Retrievers, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, Papillons/Phalenes, Shetland Sheepdogs, Tibetan Spaniels and Whippets. Any queries on these should be addressed to the individual breed moderators shown on the World Pedigrees site.

The most recent additions are the Large Munsterlander and Mastiff bases.

The amount of interest in pedigree research is far larger than most people would think. In the period May 2003-Oct 2004, over 680,000 pedigree searches were made on the world pedigrees site

Initially, my databases are based on UK titleholder, followed back as far as I can find in Kennel Club Stud Books, Gazettes and Breed Record Supplements. Additional information has been gathered from books, kennel records and breed publications. The overseas information has been gained mainly from web sources, such as pedigrees put up by individual breeders, breed clubs but most importantly by people who have helped me by sending me information. So many people have helped that I am unable to name them all but particular thanks are due to Robert Check of Von Enzstrand Kennels in the USA for his work on the German breeding of GSP's, Lyn Topinka for help on Pointers, and many others.

There is no charge for use of the site. Copies of all my databases are freely available, provided they are not to be used for commercial purposes, to any Kennel Club, breed club, veterinary research establishment or to any enthusiast for the breeds concerned. However, if someone finds my work useful, a donation to an appropriate breed club’s rescue or health scheme would be appreciated.

If you find any errors or omissions in my databases on the site or if you have achieved a Champion title in any country, please let me have details official name, title, date of birth, sire, dam, Stud Book or registration number and, if appropriate, colour. I can be contacted on pedigrees@mike-herwin.com 

Following Pages

UK Dog Research

An explanation of the Kennel Club system for recording awards and breeding in Stud Books and Breed Record Supplements

DB Guidelines

Guidelines on the on-line searchable databases