Quote:
Originally Posted by Nirvana
Breed standards can only be interpreted by the person that is reading them. They are not imposed by show dog breeders. It is the individual that can take a standard and use it to breed the extremes of a breed and certainly in the case of my breed Chihuahuas, I and most show breeders would rather die than breed teacups, blues, merles and over done heads, but they are the bread and butter of the back yard breeder.
Painting all with the same brush is never a good idea  |
Oh I don't paint all with the same brush at all. And it may be that this is more of a UK problem than US. 'Crufts' used to show on the BBC every year, couple of years ago the BBC pulled out, and so have some of the main sponsors, because of the way breed standard expectations were impacting on canine health within competitive show circles.
Now you're right that much of it is about interpretation of breed standards, but it's also the case that a lot of breed standards have had to alter in recent years, most particularly with regards things like tail docking, but also to try and ameliorate some of the extremes in certain breeds.