I don't think it takes a ten-generation pedigree to get a good pet. It does help though if you want to be reasonably sure of a good performance dog for competition. Since that's what I do, I'm concerned about pedigrees. And if somebody wants a dog for a particular purpose, it's a good idea to do some research and talk to a lot of people in that discipline before making a choice. You can get lucky -- the USDAA allows people to run non-pedigreed dogs in competition. You just register them with USDAA as "All American" - they either do well, or they don't, but as long as the dog is enjoying it everybody has a lot of fun (at least until you get to the higher levels of competition, where everybody gets deadly serious.)
But even with the pet dogs, there is something to be said for paying attention to pedigrees with regard to genetic deformities and diseases as well as temperament issues. If you're going out to get a "purebred", you have to watch out for puppy mill dogs and careless breedings. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are fairly inbred and have some serious genetic defects in the bloodlines -- particularly mitral valve disease, serious eye defects causing blindness, dysplasia, deafness, spinal deformities, and something called hypertonic collapse. Up to 50 percent of all CKCS have spinal deformities.
A friend of mine bought a backyard-bred Golden and wound up spending over $6,000 for hip dysplasia surgery - which was unsuccessful. What a heartbreak for her family . . . if she had bought a dog from a breeder who tested for dysplasia her chances of a sound Golden would have been much better.
If you don't want to research the breeder and the pedigrees, you're probably better off with a chance-bred mutt with hybrid vigor than a poorly-bred pedigreed dog.
I can agree with that.
Purebred dog breeders have done as much harm as good, some breeds in particular. Many are short sighted, thinking of litters as income instead of investment in the future of a breed.
I got my cocker spaniel from a good breeder. He's going on 17 years old!
I'm really crabby tonight... sorry for snappin' at you.