Quote:
Originally Posted by Ladymom  The breed club sets standards not as an arbitrary "beauty formula" to follow, but for very good reasons.
Number one, good structure is very important to overall soundness. A dog whose back is too long is prone to disc and other back problems. Conformation faults like knock knees or bow legs will cause a dog to overcompensate in other limbs and put abnormal stress on other joints. This can lead to arthritis, luxating patellas, etc.
The YTCA, like any other breed club, sets the standard as a blueprint for breeders to follow to ensure that Yorkies will continue to look and act like Yorkies are supposed to. It's like following a recipe for a cake. If you don't follow it exactly, your cake will not turn out the way its supposed to.
Just look at the the posts we get here from members asking if their dog is a purebred Yorkie. If you buy a Yorkie puppy, you are buying it because you expect it to grow up to look like a Yorkie, not a Chihuahua. |
My Sully has bow legs...DH noticed it after we got him his summer cut.
Is it really a prediction of arthritis etc? Gee that sucks.