The Standard
For the most part, the ideal breed type is defined in the breed standard, a written list of attributes that defines the breed and separates the breed from other breeds based on the same ancestral type. The standard leaves room for interpretation; breeders may choose to select for emphasis some aspects of breed type over others, and, if conformation judges agree with that selection, the breed will change over time.
Each element of the standard is considered both independently and part of the whole of breed type. In writing about the Borzoi, Jon Titus Steel says, "The neck is a key element of breed type", affecting a dog's outline, balance, movement, and function.
Read more about this topic: Breed Type (dog)
Famous quotes containing the word standard:
“Any honest examination of the national life proves how far we are from the standard of human freedom with which we began. The recovery of this standard demands of everyone who loves this country a hard look at himself, for the greatest achievments must begin somewhere, and they always begin with the person. If we are not capable of this examination, we may yet become one of the most distinguished and monumental failures in the history of nations.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)
“I don’t have any problem with a reporter or a news person who says the President is uninformed on this issue or that issue. I don’t think any of us would challenge that. I do have a problem with the singular focus on this, as if that’s the only standard by which we ought to judge a president. What we learned in the last administration was how little having an encyclopedic grasp of all the facts has to do with governing.”
—David R. Gergen (b. 1942)