How are breeds of dogs maintained?

Answer 1

Each dog breed has a 'breed standard' that all clubs (and good, reputable breeders) adhere to. The breed standard is a set of guidelines covering specific externally observable qualities such as appearance, movement, and temperament for that dog breed. For the most part, these standards were brought about when breeders bred a dog to do a specific job, such as hunting, fishing or guarding. In order to ensure that dogs could do these jobs they needed to have certain physical characteristics and the appropriate temperaments.

Today, these standards are judged in the show ring, and a winning dog is a dog who is deemed an excellent example of a breed. These dogs (often with the title of Champion) are often bred from in order to produce offspring that match or even improve these standards.

Unfortunately, many pet dogs are bred from with no regard for such standards or health or temperament, which result in offspring that are poor examples of a breed.