Interpreting Breed Standards

by William Given
photos by Lisa Croft Elliott

I do not believe that I have ever attended a specialty club meeting, or engaged in a serious conversation with a group of similarly-minded breeders without someone, sooner or later, saying something about the breed standard. In some cases, the thought is that something should be added. In other instances, how the standard should be changed.

The belief that something needs to be done with a lot of standards is nothing new to many breeders and exhibitors. Established breeders and exhibitors of every breed have a mental picture of an ideal dog of their breed and to them this fits their standard, or the standard fits the ideal dog, put it whichever way you like.

If there is anything that will confuse someone trying to gain a good understanding of correct type in a dog breed, it is to hear about all the “different types” there are in the breed, for example, the bench type, the field type, or the working type. When we look to the breed standard, we find not a word about any of these “types.” It is what the breed standard says that makes a good individual dog of the breed and the things that make a not-so-good dog of the breed.

The ideal dog is one of correct type. Canine perfection, if you would call it that. I cannot possibly tell you how many times my mentor has assured me that the perfect dog (in any breed) does not exist. All will be either a bit course or fine, or maybe weaker fore or aft. Therefore, some degree of flexibility in interpreting the stan- dard is certainly justifiable.

This is not meant to support the premise that any person’s picture of the perfect dog as described by the breed standard can range as far as they need it to in order to fit their dogs. There can be measurable differences within dogs of the same breed without straying too far from the original blueprint of the breed (the breed standard). Dogs may very well be of different styles and still remain within the parameters of correct breed type.

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Posted by Alex on Apr 18 2018. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.