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Location: Lincolnshire
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,218
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In the UK you will find that judges that award dogs that are too far out of the standard will not get people going under them, bearing in mind the fact that no dog is perfect it is up to the judge to choose the dog that fits the type the best, of course, some are better than others at this skill but then as dogs are dogs and people are people you would not expect either to perform like a machine.
Standards are produced by the breed clubs after consultation with their members, they aim in most cases to maintain the dogs health and conformation, it is something to be aimed for by breeders, and breeding outside this is inevitable but to continue to breed from stock that is outside the standard is just asking to loose the breed altogether. If a dog does not look like the breed it purports to be it is not of type and may as well be a crossbreed or a mongrel because it is not typical of 'the breed'. You only have to look at some of the photographs available on the internet to see the appalling conformation of some crossbreed, feel very worried if these poor specimens of the canine race are bred, the offspring will become progressively less able to function and some are already showing signs of not being able to carry there own weight.
Someone asked if
could a basset hound follow a hare over harsh land for many hours?
Could a scottie, westie, cairn or skye terrier cope with the harshenss of working in Scotland dealing with vermin?
Could a workie tackle stable rats?
well if I am judging I would hope so , your comment about yorkies made me laugh, vermin, they don't stop at vermin, bring in a horse
Think the trouble is we are used to seeing badly bred specimens that have been bred with no thought as to the standard and that I think is what worries people who care about the future of dogs. If you think that dogs would be better off just bred to the nearest partner regardless of any consideration then forget the standards but if you care about the diversity and the health of dogs you had better take note of it.
No one suggests that the standards are perfect but they are all we have to try and retain the type and health of the breeds that have been given to us by years of careful breeding.