[Buster Brown]

I am not against breed standards but I saw a fascinating BBC documentary on the breeding standards of pedigree dogs. I was fascinated to learn these facts. The Bulldog standard has evolved to a larger head which means most dogs have to be born via cesarian section. And the folds which originally were bred to channel the blood away from the face when it bit now are causing it breathing problems. The American German Sheperd's sloping back causes issues with hip dysplasia. The Rhodesian Ridgeback's ridge is a skin disorder that has serious health complications, The King Charles Cavalier has serious issues with the the shape/size of it's head and not enough room for it's brain. It seems like some accepted standards are actually creating health issues for the dogs. I have just found it fascinating that some standards traits deemed as desirable are in fact to the detriment of the dog. So it seems that some standards are in fact faults at least for the dog's health. Please understand I have nothing against the YTCA. And I truly believe the respected breeders here breed for conformity and for health.
In January 2009, after the BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed, The Kennel Club introduced revised breed standards for the British Bulldog, along with 209 other breeds, to address health concerns. Opposed by the British Bulldog Breed Council, it was speculated by the press that the changes would lead to a smaller head, less skin folds, a longer muzzle, and a taller thinner posture, in order to combat perceived problems with respiration and with breeding due to head size and width of shoulders.[9]
Good question, and a long answer goes with it. The American GSD is known for it’s great deviation from the S.V. standard. The S.V. (abbreviation for Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde) is the German Shepherd dog society, or breed club of Germany. The S.V. set forward the true GSD breed standards. Different ideas of what the breed should look like a be have lead to development of “types” in the breed. American lines, West German lines, and East German lines are just a few of the different lines. Many breeders in the US want to keep and breed only the European lines, so they are all still available in the US.
The American GSD is the weakest variation of the lines, it has a scrawny, feeble body, poor head, terrible hindquarters, and hocks that could be snapped like toothpicks. It is the picture of a weak and incorrect GSD.
The back half of the cavalier King Charles spaniel’s skull typically may be too small to accommodate all of the brain’s cerebellum, which may also be too large, and so it squeezes through the foramen magnum – the hole at the back of the skull – partially blocking the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) down the spinal cord. The variable pressure created by the abnormal flow of CSF is believed to create the SM cavities – called syrinx – in the spinal cord.
SM is rare in most breeds but has become very widespread in cavalier King Charles spaniels. The number of diagnosed cases in cavaliers has increased dramatically since 2000. Researchers estimate that up to 95% of CKCSs have Chiari-like malformation (CM or CLM) – also known as caudal occipital malformation syndrome (COMS) or occipital hypoplasia (OH), the skull bone malformation present in all cases and believed to be at least part of the cause of syringomyelia – and that more than 50% of cavaliers have SM. The severity and extent of syringomyelia also appear to get worse in each succeeding generation of cavaliers. It is worldwide in scope and not limited to any country, breeding line, or kennel, and experts report that it is believed to be inherited in the cavalier.