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:
“There is a certain standard of grace and beauty which consists in a certain relation between our nature, such as it is, weak or strong, and the thing which pleases us. Whatever is formed according to this standard pleases us, be it house, song, discourse, verse, prose, woman, birds, rivers, trees, room, dress, and so on. Whatever is not made according to this standard displeases those who have good taste.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
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—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)