K9 Data

I cropped this picture and used it as her K9data.com photo!

I’ve mentioned K9 Data in previous posts, often during my hunt for the right puppy or in reference to specific Golden Retrievers, but realized I’ve failed to really discuss the website and database as a whole. And what better time, than just days after I created Hush’s K9data.com page! As she obtains health clearances (both preliminary and final) as well as titles I will update the page to reflect that. Many people feature win photos or cute candids on their dogs’ pages. I don’t have any win photos, so I went with a recent picture of Hush retrieving in a river. I love her expression in the picture, and it really does a great job of capturing her head, which is one of her stronger features. As we accomplish more I will most likely change the picture.

K9 Data is an excellent user-created resource of pedigrees of thousands of Golden and Labrador Retrievers. The website enables users (you must register) to create pages on dogs, upload pictures, and link to pertinent health clearances. K9 Data is NOT a registry. Registries are organizations like the AKC, CKC, UKC, KC, etc. Many of the dogs on K9data.com are most likely registered with one or more of these registries. For example, Hush is AKC registered, and I have her registration number listed on her K9data page.

With so many Golden Retrievers in the database, it is very easy to use and just knowing the parents of a specific dog will usually generate a full five generation pedigree. Breeders and dog fanciers turn to the website as a way to link all relevant information about their dogs in one place – from clearances to recent titles won – and as a solid tool in creating test breedings. When I learned of Hush’s litter, I created a test breeding to compare this pedigree to the original litter I was supposed to get a puppy from (as you know, the first breeding only resulted in two puppies, neither show quality).

The database can do a lot, to say the least, from pulling up siblings on specific dogs, to running pedigree reports displaying longevity or hip information. If you are an owner of a Golden Retriever or Labrador Retriever, I encourage you to enter your dog’s information.