When you want to check the database to see if a particular dog has already been entered, click on The Ultimate Pedigree Database Tab and then select the Search Bulldogs hyperlink from the Sub-Navigation menu:
After you click this hyperlink, you will then be taken to the Search Bulldogs Engine:
The bulldog_search.php page is the single most powerful canine search engine available anywhere. As this database grows over time, AND if you (the user) take the time to enter-in your FULL data precisely, the true power of this search engine will become readily apparent. There are basically two kinds of searches it can perform: 1) an instant search of a particular dog, or 2) a refined search really narrowing-down key criteria. Here is how it works:
1. Direct Search
2. Variable Search
1) The Direct Search is on the left side and is for exact identification, and its use is pretty basic. For example, if you know your dog’s ID #, or if you have the dog marked as a Favorite, just enter his # (or highlight the favorite), and click Go to Dog, and you are instantly there.
2) The Variable Search is multi-dimensional, and it really brings to bear the full uses of this Resource. It can be used by those who simply don’t know the dog's ID, but who just want to enter in the dog’s name, or it can be used by those who really want to execute a demanding search ... and find (for example) all brindle-colored bitches who were ROM. I will explain the full functionality of the Variable Search in more detail below, but essentially you have 3 different columns of options to use, either to narrow or widen your search parameters, after which you click on the Submit button.
Tips on Getting the Most out of Your Searches
1. ONLY search for The Dog’s name: One of the quickest ways to foul-up a database is with the careless or haphazard entry of data. Even if you try to do a search first, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can still make errors. For example, the world-famous Jeep is entered in our database as J. Crenshaw’s Jeep. But if you enter “Garrett’s Jeep” in your search, you will not find Jeep, and so you may then think you should “add” Jeep ... but all you will be doing is cluttering-up the database with another Jeep, which then becomes a cluster**** when you (and others) enter-in duplicate sons/daughters of Jeep under the new entry. However, if you instead just enter “Jeep,”, ALL dogs with the name Jeep will then display, and you will clearly see that Jeep is already in there. Therefore, when you search for a dog, make sure you do NOT include the human name unless absolutely necessary;
2. Do NOT add titles like Ch, ROM, etc.: The database does not record titles, etc., as part of the name (it records each title separately, in its own data table), so you should NOT put in “Ch Jeep ROM” in your search, you should simply put “Jeep”;
3. If your dog contains a widely-used name like “Red” DO NOT add that to your search: For example, if you are searching for Red Sonja, if you put in the name “Red,” you will pull-up every dog in the universe with “Red” in its name ... whereas if you just put in “Sonja,” that name is much less common, so “Red Sonja” will pull-up (even without the “Red” being added in the search field;
4. GENERAL SEARCH PRINCIPLE: The “less” you put in, the GREATER the search ... the “more” you put in, the NARROWER the search: For example, if I put in "Colby," the search engine will come back with every dog under the sun with the name Colby ... whereas if I ut;
5. If you see any duplicate dogs, LET ME KNOW: Please inform me of any duplicate dogs. Give me the ID #s of each dog in the database with the same name. [If you’re really nice, you can actually change the names of the duplicate dogs to something else, so long as it’s a real dog and NOT already in the database. For example, I change every duplicate dog into “Vise-Grip’s xxxx,” because I have dozens of dogs I haven’t yet entered into the system. Therefore, every time I come across a new duplicate dog, I just change its name (and its breeding) to one of my own dogs that I haven’t entered in yet. You can do the same thing and help me out :)];
In short, the Variable Search search can give you just about any answer you want, concerning as wide (or as narrow) a set of search parameters as you want! Sure, you can just punch-in the name “Poncho” and get every dog with the name Poncho, but you can also really narrow-down your searches to get some specific information. For example, if you wanted to find all red/rednose males, who were both Champions and ROM, all you would have to do is click the color red, get your sex to male, mark-off “Ch” from the Show dropdown menu, and check the ROM check box, and you would get a roster of all red/rednose males who were Champion performers as well as ROM producers. The variety of searches you can do is virtually limitless! This is why entering in ALL the data you can, and having everything be ACCURATE, is so critical! So please make sure you help by being very meticulous in both your searches as well as in your data entry.
Thank you for taking the time to read these instructions IN FULL. Your doing so will not only save me time (by not forcing me to spell-out for you what is already covered here), but it will save you time as well, simply because you will be able to fully-understand and enjoy the full benefits of this Resource right from the get-go. I thank you sincerely for joining today, and if you have any questions not covered here, please post them on this thread. Thanks again!
