Thank you Pat.
I need to rephrase what I said. I should have said most people don't care about "perfect conformation", faults and recessive traits that relate to appearance only. My problem with the breed standard as defined in America by the AKC and the YTCA is that it says nothing at all about temperament and I feel that is the most important thing.
Of course, we want yorkies to look like yorkies, but I am opposed to the common practice of "culling" healthy puppies who have less than perfect conformation like being a different color for instance.
In addition, the ideal standard does seem to change periodically, not in print since it's been the same since the 1960s, but in the show ring. It used to be that judges wanted the shorter legs and now they are going for the longer legs. It used to be that a dog under 5 pounds wouldn't stand a chance in the show ring and now judges will consider smaller yorkies. We wouldn't even have the Biewer Yorkie if we followed the breed standard completely.
I am not advocating complete disregard for the standard, merely a more open minded approach to producing healthy, happy pets. There does seem to be an almost snobbish attitude which leads to hurt feelings and some feelings of one dog being "better in some way than another" based on outward appearance alone. This is what I don't like.
Am I wrong in my understanding that you cannot prevent "bad knees" and liver shunts by selective breeding? I know you wouldn't want to breed dogs with those condtions, but do reputable breeders when they learn of these conditions in their puppies no longer breed those parents? |