How to start a new database
The normal procedure for starting a database is to find about 1-3 people willing to work entering pedigrees. If it is a very small breed, it is possible that there is not more work than what one person can handle, but it is always better to be at least two people working on a database, so that there is a back up if one of the maintainers get ill or for other reasons can't enter pedigrees for a longer period of time. It is also beneficial to have maintainers from different countries, because we usually see more pedigrees from the countries where our maintainers live than from countries far away from any maintainer. So preferably we would like to have 2-3 volunteers to start with, but if it is a small breed and you really can't find anyone who can help, we could also start with just one maintainer. If that is the situation, however, please consider if there is really an interest among the breeders to use the planned database at all. It will be pointless to set up a database if only one or two people want to use it.
When you are looking for volunteers, please consider that they will need to have some knowledge about pedigrees and registration rules, and they also should know the basic colour genetics for the colours of the breed in question so that they will react if an offspring has genetically impossible colour. The maintainers will have to be able to interpret a pedigree, with colour codes, cattery prefixes or suffixes, titles and registration numbers.
Then we need the following info for them:
- name
- ordinary address (if the maintainer will accept that people send pedigrees on paper)
- email address (which they want people to send pedigrees to)
- cattery name and website, if they have any
Then a database can be set up. Contact the database coordinator at