Studying pedigrees - Page 1

When researching a pedigree, what kind of things do you ask yourself (aside from "what could this bring to the table")?

How do you most efficiently study pedigrees.  How do you best trace familial lines and production?  Do you just take shots in the dark and email certain owners of dogs to get information you want/need?

Obviously there is the need to know what is way behind the dog...but what about the more recent generations behind the dog you're wanting to breed to?  I find the thing I struggle with when it comes to studying is doing so effectively and efficiently (I have always been that way, so it goes beyond just researching dog pedigrees),

Really?  Nobody?

I could do a diagram :-)

From pictures, you may be able to trace common physical traits that certain dogs have/had and produced consistently.

^^That's something I'm going to start doing 

Seems like the best way to get certain info is talking to people. huh?

It's frustrating when people don't respond to posts.....public or private.

I often wished things weren't as they are.  With everybody so tight lipped, lest somebody else comes running, screaming like a loon that somebody is defaming them/their dog.  Some people just want honest information, lol

Maybe a lot of people don´t care...

Okay, let´s try.
I´m no breeder, I do my research, whenever I´m looking for a puppy.

First step for me (German rules)

Pink pedigrees
HD/ED health results of as much ancestors as possible
Did the ancestors live a long life or did they die early?
Any hearsay and is it true?

While looking for a certain dog I know what I´m looking for, this means

behavior/nerves
drives
temperament
conformation

and I try to find these things in the ancestors.

For me it´s quite easy to visit BSZSchau and/or BSPrüfung, breed surveys, clubs and trials.
There you can see most of the first or second generation dogs in real ( the older ones you need to remember...)

Today there is the possibility to use google search, pedigreedatabase, winSis, working dog, and so on.
You can find almost every dog in the cyberspace - good/bad - not everything is true, but it´s a help.

I am aware that people living "overseas" mostly don´t have the possibility to see at least the parents in real.
I never had to buy a dog "out of a catalogue" and I often asked myself, how people decide about a dog without knowing something about it.

Sounds difficult, and I wouldn´t like to do it.

The question is too broad.   You are actually asking . How do you breed dogs?  How do you answer that?
That is like how do you build an airplane or how do you drive a car. 
You can get a bumper sticker type superficial answer or you can start studying a topic for few years and then you will know. 
I am not saying that you should not ask questions, but be more specific. 
Prager Hans

But I don't know how to be more specific...that's the problem.  I want to know things about individual dogs, but as far as I have found, it is not so simple as just googling a dog, and many people are very closed mouthed about dogs these days.

I guess it is a problem when many dogs are just a memory.  The old dogs are always remembered better than they may have been, huh?  I can watch videos and what not, but they really don't tell me anything, because I don't have the experience to see anything