[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by joyziegirl

Any good breeder of any breed tries to breed up to create a carbon copy for their particular breed. By following the so called breed standard many breeds today have been reduced to a figment of the ordinal creators imagination. We are seeing more and more purebreds with more health problems than ever before. Who's to blame? The show people, the over zealous breeder that claims only to breed for the betterment of the breed? Whatever the case maybe, purebred dogs and their owners are the ones suffering today for the misguidedness of many.

Pedigree Dogs Exposed (BBC Documentary) - YouTube


United Kennel Club: United Kennel Club, Inc. Announces Major Revisions To Its Breed Standards

It's certainly not the breeders who breed for the betterment. Betterment includes many things, but it doesn't include more variety and more extreme examples of the breed. There are definitely problems with some breeds and these problems can relate to the written standard, but this is not the case with the Yorkshire terrier, they have no problems associated with the written standard, achieving the standard, doesn't mean sacrificing health. There are about 5 breeds that are in trouble, and their mother club has not been successful in protecting them, either for lack of knowledge, or they just got caught up in "what the public wanted." That's why I've been against breeding more variety into the lines, for example, the parti trait, until it has been thoroughly studied. The general public also doesn't understand that a carbon copy is the ideal, they want "different". Bigger, smaller, different colors, they want their pet to be unique, and there nothing wrong with that, but please go to the shelter to find unique dogs, don't support breeders who breed for differences.