Double standards

There has been a much-needed overhaul of breed standards, says David Tomlinson, although show and working animals are often still worlds apart. A Slumber spaniel, anyone?

- David Tomlinson

WHICH came first, the breed standard or the breed? It’s a bit like the conundrum of the chicken and the egg, but the truth is that certain breeds evolved long before anyone had ever thought of a breed standard for them – the Saluki is a good example – while others were bred selectively to conform to their breeder’s written vision of what they were trying to produce. The classic example is the Korthals griffon, a Continental pointing dog.

Edward Karel Korthals, the breed’s creator, wanted a versatile hunting dog. He regarded the existing British breeds as too fast, the Continentals too slow, so sought to combine the two in a tough, adaptable animal. Thirty years of rigorous selective breeding, culling any animals that didn’t reach his expectations, led to a breed standard that hasn’t been changed since he wrote it. Today, there’s no such thing as a show or working strain of Korthals griffon: all the dogs bred are expected to be able to work, just as they have to conform to the breed standard before being allowed to enter competitions. As a result, the modern Korthals griffon looks almost identical to the dogs pictured alongside Edward Korthals more than 100 years ago.