Slightly And Moderately Speaking Of Breed Standards

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84 – September, 2026

By Wayne Cavanaugh

Why are there so many variations in the way we interpret breed standards? It’s not the nouns; that is, the names of each part of the dog. The nouns are definitive anatomical features and universally understood. A “loin” is a “loin”. We know what a loin is, (at least I hope so) but the adjectives that describe the loin are debatable. Adjectives are extremely important words, but unlike nouns, they leave lots of room for interpretation. You may have heard the expression; one man’s junk is another man’s treasure? Well, apparently, one man’s short loin is another man’s long loin. There are many adjectives that are used to describe the individual parts of a dog. But only two can be applied to all of them: moderate and slightly.

Semantics and Standards

One hundred eighty-four of the 205 AKC recognized breeds and their breed standards originated in places other than the USA. Some standards are translations originally written in languages other than English. Regardless of their origins, languages, and locations, the meaning of words evolve over time. Always have, always will. If not, we’d still be saying: “How art thou? Well, thank yee”! Some of those changes make perfect sense, others make me cringe; especially when words become the opposite of their definition. Leading the cringe today is the word “literally” which recently became its own opposite–literally now also means figuratively. “The comedian was so funny I literally died!” Oh my, that must have been messy! My sympathies. Anyway, the point is that words change often, but breed standards–well, not so much.

Considering the vast differences in the era, place of origin, and the languages in which they were originally written, breed standards are chock full of common adjectives. I asked ChatGPT to scan all 205 AKC breed standards and list the most often used modifiers. It created a list of the sixty most repeated adjectives used in AKC breed standards. It is important to note that fifty-eight of the sixty are limited in their use in that they are assigned to specific parts of a dog. At the bottom of the list, however, you’ll see that two words, “slightly and moderate,” can apply to any and all parts of the dog.

Slightly and moderate are used to describe and modify hundreds of bones, tendons, muscles, ears, eyes, noses, teeth, coats, and more. And as we see in the ring, their loose interpretation makes them the two most powerful words of all. The words slightly and moderate can be subtle hints for perfection, or the gateway to unbridled exaggeration.

Slightly Confusing

Click here to read the complete article
84 – September, 2026

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