Not Covered By Breed Standards
Breed standards only cover externally observable characteristics of the dog, and even there breed clubs can be very contentious about the exact definition of details. The breed club for each breed may set additional requirements, ones covering qualities not covered by the breed standard, such as rules and guidelines for health testing and work testing. However, since breeders are free to leave and join (or form) another club if the breed club's requirements for breeding become too troublesome to them, there is no effective control over health and working qualities that are not described in the breed standard. Breed club members have no control over the quality, health, or fitness for work of dogs being bred by non-members. Even when breed clubs require health testing before breeding their dogs, and raise funds for research on specific disorders, such as syringomyelia in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels or dermoid sinus in Rhodesian Ridgebacks, volume puppy producers and breeders who are not members of the breed club cannot be compelled to contribute to research or to perform the tests. Breed standards can only be used to determine by appearance whether or not volume puppy producers and breeders who are not members of the breed club are breeding dogs that appear to be of the advertised breed.
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