Does anyone really understand why there is a breed standard?

Question

Do you understand why the standard is set the way it is?
Have you ever looked up the standard for your breed before you bred your dogs? Does your dog fall within the standard?

When you go to purchase a puppy is the breed standards important to you at all?

Fill me in on what you think?

Answer 1

When looking to adopt a purebred dog the standard is very important to me. But also knowing the breed history as well as temperament, etc. Before I adopt a purebred dog I've pretty much read as much material as I can get my hands on, and then I'm ready to talk to breeders or others who know the breed extensively so they can fill in any blanks for me before I decide. Basically I want to know everything I can before I bring the puppy or dog home and I find the more homework I do the better off I am, and the dog.

Excellent question! :)

OOPS! Yes I understand why the standard is set and why it exists. To preserve all the qualities of the original breed. How would breeders know if what they are breeding is straying away from the ideal dog without the standard?

Answer 2

In my experience, most people looking for a pet do understand the breed standard, even if they do not know that is what it is called or that it is written down someplace.
Most all people contacting me looking for a Newf puppy, know that they do not want one that looks "like a Lab"..denoting the small boned,thin coated, hyper Newfs. Or "one of those that looks like a Flat-Coat"...denoting the kind with NO coat. Or "one with a Saint head"....denoting the Newfs with the overdone head.
Most people that are looking to spend REAL money and time getting a puppy of a certain breed know what they are looking for. Any breeder that has had people come to look at puppies and left out the "pick" pup realize that most people gravitate to that pup.
It seems to be more "spur-of-the-moment" puppy buyers that have no idea about what the breed really should look like!!
I have seen SOOO many people that bought a Lab on a whim, only to ask a year down the road why it doesn't look like the "Labs they see on the TV dog shows".
It is true however, that within a breed different breeder can interpret the standard in different ways, but the dog as a whole looks the same.
A dog that is bred to the standard also has better "function". Form always follow function. If a dog is bred correctly, it can do what it was bred to do!!

To correct the person below that has no idea....AKC does NOT set the breed standards. The PARENT CLUB does. In the case of my breed, the Newfoundland Club of America did. A breed needs a standard before it is an AKC breed.

Answer 3

The breed standard is very important....pure breds have a particular look and disposition that makes it important in order to do what it is bred for. If there wasn't a breed standard...purebreds would start not looking like thier breed because there wouldn't be guidelines in order to breed them to look and and act the same. For example...my breed, the cocker spaniel, works best in the field when it has a neck long enough for it to put it's nose to the ground. If the breed standard didn't have specifications on the lenghth of neck, there could possibly be many cockers out there with heads sitting on thier shoulders and how would they be able to perform the job they were bred for if they couldn't put thier nose to the ground? Now that's just an example to help understand what the standard does for a purebred....but if a pet person bought that short necked cocker...I'm sure they would love him whether or not he had a short or long neck...but this dog would probably be one that the breeder would not want to use for breeding due to the fault of the short neck. So, the breed standard is probably more important to the people who are breeding than to people who want a good companion. I would think, however, that the breed standard would be of some concern of pet owners. There is a reason why they wanted a pure bred dog. If you ask a pet owner...what do you like about a cocker spaniel? (for example) they would probably say...I like a medium sized dog, one with energy and a sweet disposition. I also love the cocker spaniels big eyes and soft expression, long ears and soft fluffy hair. If a person says these things, than the breed standard DOES mean something to them. There are too many times I see over-sized, long pointy nosed, hairless, small eyed, hyper cockers who bite. This is an example of a breed who did NOT follow the standard......if I were a person wanting a cocker spaniel for a pet....I would definatley want a pet from a breeder who followed the standard so I have a breed that looks and acts like the breed should.

Answer 4

I find the MOST "humorous" breed standard to be for the bully breeds. Look em up -then watch the news. Sorry folks, they may have a bully breed in them but 99% of those dogs are just mixes.

As all my dogs are rescued mutts, I enjoyed looking at the standards for the pure bred dogs from which they are composed, just to learn a little bit about all the pieces that came together to make my mutts what they are. But obviously they are outside all breed standards.

If I ever got a pure-bred dog I would indeed pay very close attention to breed standard. If I am going to spend that much money, I want a dog that looks exactly like it is supposed to. I want a dog with the temperment that is expected. But unless a pure bred falls in my lap, I will be forever rescueing other people's screw-ups from the shelter.

As they say - what is one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Answer 5

It's important to me! You bet your bippy I know what the standard is for every breed I have ever bred. (I also know the standards of almost every other breed as well.) I can sit at the Group rings (you pick the group) and pick out the top dogs in that group probably 95% of the time.

The "standard" gives breeders something to aim for in their breeding program. It is set up to describe the "ideal" of that breed, and what you should look for within the breed. The "judging" is set up to help breeders understand if their breeding program is actually doing the job of bettering the breed. Showing is not for the "thin skinned"; better be able to take and USE the criticism to the benefit of your breed.

Do my dogs fall within the standard? I think so. My Miniature Bull Terrier ***** won Best of Breed at the 2003 Eukanuba National Invitational. Actually she was the number one ***** in AKC all breed points in the nation for two years in a row; until her retirement to the whelping box.

I hope that answers all the questions. By the way, your questions are excellent! Wish a few more people would take breed standards (and their purpose) seriously. It would make for much nicer, healthier dogs all the way around.

Answer 6

I knew my breed's standard before getting involved with the breed. Standards are set because there is an optimal size and shape for what the dog was designed for.

(As with most anything along life's adventure, "standards" are set all around us)

Yes, all 5 of my dogs fall within breed standard.

If I were to go purchase a puppy, yes, the sire and dam being within breed standard are important as well as all dogs listed in the pedigree.

However, there is no guarantee that any given pup from standard sire & dam will not develop disqualifying faults. It is very important to know the lines you are considering buying into.

Personally, I feel health testing is just as important if not more. Knowing a litter was produced from general and breed specific health tested parents shows me the breeder is breeding healthier pups. With the breeding of dogs that have not been health tested, they have no idea what genetic issues they might be passing on.

Answer 7

When I am looking at a dog, one of the first things I look for is to make sure that it falls within the standard. There are no perfect dogs, even with show champions. The breed standard for a breed is very important. I also want to look at the pedigrees and research the ones that I am not familiar with . I will tell you with my breed the GSD, I get so many calls from people wanting a GSD that will be well over 100 pounds at adulthood!! I tell them that I breed within the standard and if they want a huge GSD, then they should look for a King Shepherd or Shiloh Shepherd. There are still a lot of people that do not know anything about HD or ED at all. When I start talking about it, they do not have a clue as to what I am saying. I tell people, I have produced a handfull of pups over the years that have ended up with HD and 1 with ED (bilateral FCP's). Out of 2 OFA'd parents, hips and elbows. I am very straight and honest about it and tell people that if they speak with a breeder that has been breeding for a number of years, and they ask if that breeder has ever produced a dog with HD, and the breeder's response is no, then they should hang up the phone and RUN!! With all of the testing that we do with our adults, things like this will happen. If a breeder can not be honest about this, then a person should not get a pup from that breeder. Breed standards are extremely important as well as researching the possible health problems with that breed.

Answer 8

Yes, I understand why the breed standard is the way it is. Its there to explain the proper conformation and temperment of any AKC recognized breed. Without this standard there would be no purebreds or any dogs with outstanding breeding and health tests. My mom breeds her boxer, which is a finished champion. Her dog does fall into the Boxer breed standard and her entire family is all finished champions. You can tell the difference between a show boxer with exceptional breeding and some backyard breeder's crappy pet looking dog. There is no comparison. Plus, my mom's female was tested for all genetic diseases, including the 24hr holter monitor test. Responsible breeders adhere to the breed standard to improve on the breed. Also, the breed standard is extemely important to me when buying a dog. I want a dog that represents its breed, not some weird looking , kinda sorta looking like the breed dog.

Answer 9

There's a breed standard for the same reason that we have definitions for words: so that when I say "Golden Retriever," you think of a dog with a beautiful coat and a friendly disposition. It's incredibly important!

If I were to purchase a purebred puppy, the standard would be incredibly important. After seeing some of the idiocy that goes on here, I'm very interested in a breeder's motives and understanding of the breed and the standards as a way to judge ethics and commitment, among other things. However, even if I were just to get a pet, the standard comes in handy, as Liz said. People don't get Goldens for protection, they get them for their friendly disposition. That's part of the standard. :)

Awesome question!

Answer 10

My understanding of the breed standards is to make sure the overall health, and appearance of your dog meets the guidelines of that particular breed. This is also important (moreso, in my opinion) of the dog's disposition, and temperment.

Dogs with certificates, or registered with kennel clubs, such as AKC and UKC, must have met the requirements that best represent their breed's history, and lineage.
this was created, to chart and record and to keep the breed as close to its origin as possible. This is because dogs come from many parts of the world, and were originally bred for one or more purposes. such as working class dogs, herding, or sporting.
However, many "breeders" do not choose to do this, and thus, have intentionally, or unintentionally altered or changed the dog from its original standards.
an example of involuntary results can be found in the bull terrier. in the last 45 years, due to poor breeding or gene pools, or perhaps even evolution the snout of the terrier has changed, and the angle is now lower, and not at all what the original standard had been set at.

also, you have designer breeders who have bred dogs to their own standard, and a lot have had bad, poor, or deadly outcomes for the dog, as well as owners....
dogs with poor temperments, genetic disorders that are hereditary, such as hip dysplasia, poor eyesight or blindness, or just not in the poor dog's best interest. some even have control issues. These are sometimes the results of in breeding, or poor breeding done by breeders with no idea of what they are doing, just wanting to make money.

I hope this helps you have some understanding of why there are standards.

in my opinion, I love all dogs, and I have owned or had different breeds, pure bred, and mutts. they were and are all great dogs! it's the breeders that sometimes need to be held accountable when they irresponsibly breed dogs for the wrong reasons or purpose.