Conformation Corner by....Vivian Klinck, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

THE STANDARD

Nature and common sense should yield the answer as to what is correct type and bone structure to keep a dog afield or ayard which ever the case may be. Standards, often written in vague terms and always elastic, can be likened to a "house plan" and the breeder likened to a "builder". No matter how flexiable a standard may seem, any change in the "blueprint" can and often does bring about changes that were not forseen.

The Irish Setter was originally a red and white dog. The very act of writing a standard requiring a predominately red coat, created a pattern for breeders to follow that set a trend in establishing coat color. It is rare today to find an Irish in the ring with any profound amount of white in the coat.

Nature would never ask that ears be pendulous.

Survival requires ears erect, free from infection and able to hear signals of danger. Man has decided that the look of a drooped ear was attractive. This was written in the standard and firmly established as part of Irish Setter breed type. Whether the originators of the standard foresaw the implications these requirements would have on the breed, will probably never be known. One can only realize the far reaching affect it eventually had on the Irish Setter.

Cliques form among the fanciers, which if not restrained, can affect the breed. The dog that wins becomes the "new fashion" of the day, and with blind faith in the "successful breeder", grave changes m ay occur. It is not fair to say that the standard must never be changed when conditions call for a deviation from the old. The breeders that originally drafted the standard were people well versed in the features that seemed to do the best job afield. The conditions under which the dog performed were responsible for the foundation upon which the breed was developed. Often we must go back to the origin of the breed to find the reason for certain characteristics. It is an awesome responsibility to change the standard, and must be undertaken only by those well versed in breed type and the functional principles of the dog's structure.

Originally printed in the April 1985 issue of the ICSA Memo to Members