[thelist] Database design question

[Bob Haroche]

I'm building a content management system for an animal shelter to allow
staff to post info/pics of adoptable animals online. In designing the
database, I have a main "Animals" table that has several fields, two of
which are: "PrimaryBreed" and "SecondaryBreed". Each of those fields is
linked to the *same* lookup/validation table called "Breeds".

>From a db design standpoint, does this make sense? I realize the "data type"
for both fields appears the same at first blush (ie, both fields deal with
breed info) but in fact they are slightly different -- one field deals with
the *primary* (dominant) breed of an animal, the other with the *secondary*
breed.

>From a technical standpoint I think this will work okay, but to me (still
pretty new at db design) it looks a little funny. I'm wondering if I'm
missing something from a design/scalability/performance standpoint.

Note that it's not important, and in fact not desirable, to allow staff to
ever input more than 2 breeds for any particular animal, so that aspect of
scalability is not an issue.

TIA.

Regards,
Bob Haroche
O n P o i n t  S o l u t i o n s
www.OnPointSolutions.com