Who decides what the breed standard is for each dog breed?

Question

Could the standard ever be changed, and under what circumstances?

Answer 1

New breed standards are usually drawn up by the breed club, following a standard format and are then approved by the Kennel Club to whom all breed standards belong. For breeds which are recent imports, standards are usually adopted from that of the country of origin. Breed standards have been changed quite a lot over the last 20yrs, firstly to bring about standardisation in layout and also a number of breed standards were altered to encourage breeders not to breed in potentially damaging (health wise) points. For example, some breeds whose standards called for "small" eyes had their standards changed to "medium" eyes when it was realised that breeding for small eyes could produce entropion & other eye problems. Colours are also added when it is proved that these colours are genetically possible from purebred dogs - brindle in the Basenji was added relatively recently.
It is rightly, not easy to change breed standards or it would be all too easy to change the standard to fit the dog, rather than the other way around.

Answer 2

The national parent club decides this and then needs approval from the AKC or the main club of the country they reside in. And yes, standards can and are changed. But this normally causes huge turmoil within the fancy. One reason for this is about every decade the look of the breed changes. The reason for this is fashion. You have a top winning sire that is bred to almost everything in the country and his semen is widely used in other countries as well. Some feel that after their breed has become an AKC (or whatever) breed that they now have so many good dogs that fit the standard that they can now remove some of the old standard that they feel was adopted only to make it lenient enough so there would be enough dogs to gain their championship.
Size and weight is one of the arguments in some breeds.
In my own breed and various others with docked tails there is a push to ban the cropping of tails since some view this as cruel. In some countries the docking of both ears and tails has already been accomplished. Therefore, the standard would change or eventually change as well.

Answer 3

The parent breed club for each breed sets the standard for their breed only.
Standards can be changed however, it is ONLY done by the parent dog club and NOT by Vegan animal rights activists seeking to make breeds less recognizable. Further such people have an agenda which is to eliminate dogs. BUT most important they do Not have any real knowledge of dogs or each breed. Therefore the parent breed club made up of people in each breed are the best choice for creating standards, and the people that do it now.

Answer 4

This is normally determined by the breeders in the country of the origin of the breed. For breeds native to the UK, breed standards would have been developed by UK breeders. When Kennel Club's accept a new breed, they then accept the breed standard of the country of origin. www.thekennelclub.org.uk

Answer 5

The American Kennel Club (AKC) determines breed standards. They can change, but usually only on things like acceptable colors. Standards for height, weight, etc. are usually pretty much set and don't change.

Answer 6

The Kennel Club make the final decision. They have ruined many breeds over the years by exaggerating physical features which were detrimental to the animal's function. Examples include the wire-haired fox terrier with its long thin necl. deep chest and long legs all useless in a terrier, the manchester terrier whose skin is so fine it can rip and the bull dog which cannot breathe!! Fashion rather than function has dictated this meaningless and cruel practice.

Answer 7

The national breed club does for each breed. They can also submit an amended breed standard any time they would like.

Answer 8

The breed's parent club decides the standards, then submits them to AKC...if there is ever a need for a change, it takes many months, many letters, many meetings, to change it.

Answer 9

the kennel club in conjunction with the breed parent club

Answer 10

Idiots do. A dog a living individual and as such has the right to be individual, to look individual and to develop an individual character.

I find it as sick to develop standards for dogs as I would find it sick to develop standards for people.