Quote:
Originally Posted by KazzyK810  True! Man has definitely done a great diservice to some breeds. I remember watching a show, I think it was on BBC, about dogs at Crufts. Dogs deliberately bred in such a way that it severely hampered their quality of life; dogs with snouts that affected their breathing, heads so big natural birth was a rarity, and the one that stuck with me was the King Charles Caveleir spaniel with a skull too small for its brain. And then there was a dog that had been used as a stud repeatedly, for years, that had a genetic condition.
Truly sad what humans have done to some animals to achieve a certain look. |
I agree, but you know for the most part those standards have not changed in any significant way, but the interpretation of that standard that the breeders were responsible for safeguarding, took it to shall I say extremes. In my mind it is a direct arrow to the Breed Clubs, the breeders and the Judges who started to award ribbons to extreme presentation of the breed.
They the BBC never showed the breeds that improved over the past 50 or 70 or 100 years. Improved in conformation or structure or temperament.
Now in my judging seminars for the BRT - I am very clear about its structure - and there are lots of judging details to that structure which is contained with in our standard. But still some breeders are breeding not to a square dog with a balanced powerfull hindquarters and chest, but playing to a more rectangular dog. Why ? One reason is you get a much more showey trot! You get visually better reach and drive - ergo more showey. They were never meant to be showey dogs - but quite frankly from a seated position to leap up to the throat of a 6ft tall person. Powerfull hindquarters and chest is needed for this. They are one of the few breeds that were bred to guard and protect Man/Woman. They are to have dense bones - and we had been seeing some more lighter boned dogs out there. Thankfully that has changed - due to judges education, breeders education and breeders not getting a blue ribbon award.
Like any complex organization there are many avenues of inquiry and solutions are somewhat complicated. But it starts for sure with a strong National Breed Club - that upholds the standard and is very very leery of changing it in anyway. The exception would be for health issues. And even then - that is a multi-faceted decision, that takes time to fully understand the impact. What condition do we require CHIC numbers for, what condition if any do we strongly aver as part of a breeding pair?