The Breed Standard, common sense

Brian Sam 29 Aoû - 11:11

Breed Standard is intended to be a guideline for breeders to help them strive for excellence, and as a benchmark for conformation judges. Absolute perfection in any living creature may be unattainable, but the existence of a standard which exemplies the ideal, enables breeders and judges to work together to improve and maintain the quality of dog breeds.

When a Breed Standard is written it is critically important that the author/s have a sound appreciation of certain principles including but not limited to, the following:
1. The purpose for which the dog breed was developed
2. An understanding of the different ways that conformation impacts on the health of the dog
3. The relationship between anatomy and the dynamics of movement
4. Form to function and the relationship between the purpose of the breed and its temperament
5. The importance of BALANCE and the absence of exaggerations. If the Breed Standard requires a ' long neck' for example, longer is not necessarily better! And if the croup is to be 'sloping' let's not breed the dog so that he looks as if he is sitting down when he is standing up! And words in a Breed Standard, such as 'moderately' are terms often used in the pursuit of 'balance'.
Without a working knowledge of such basics, mistakes can be made which may result the over emphasis of certain traits that may not be able to be erased in the future. Writing a Breed Standard is not something to be undertaken lightly.
SOME BRIEF EXAMPLES OF EXAGGERATED 'VIRTUES'
Let us suppose that 'someone' thinks that a breed would look nicer with an exaggeratedly flat face, combined with as deep a jaw as possible to create, big chunky shoulders, wide chests and narrower hips...the result may include bitches who need Caesarian Section to deliver their puppies and dogs who have dental issues and breathing problems .... i.e. the wonderful British Bulldog.

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