Raymond H. Oppenheimer wrote: 
1. Remember that the animals you select for breeding today will have an impact on the breed for many years to come. Keep that thought firmly in mind when you choose breeding stock. 

2. You can choose only two individuals per generation. Choose only the best, because you will have to wait for another generation to improve what you start with. Breed only if you expect the progeny to be better than both parents. 

3. You cannot expect statistical predictions to hold true in a small number of animals (as in one litter of puppies). Statistics only apply to large populations. 

4. A pedigree is a tool to help you learn the good and bad attributes that your dog is likely to exhibit or reproduce. A pedigree is only as good as the dog it represents. 

5. Breed for a total dog, not just one or two characteristics. Don't follow fads in your breed, because they are usually meant to emphasize one or two features of the dog at the expense of the soundness and function of the whole. 

6. Quality does not mean quantity. Quality is produced by careful study, having a good mental picture of what you are trying to achieve, having patience to wait until the right breeding stock is available and to evaluate what you have already produced, and above all, having a breeding plan that is at least three generations ahead of the breeding you do today. 

7. Don't bother with a good dog that cannot produce well. Enjoy him (or her) for the beauty that he represents but don't use him in a breeding program. 

8. Use out-crosses sparingly. For each desirable characteristic you acquire, you will get many bad traits that you will have to eliminate in succeeding generations. 

9. Inbreeding is a valuable tool, being the fastest method to set good characteristics and type. It brings to light hidden traits that need to be eliminated from the breed. 

10. Breeding does not "create" anything. What you get is what was there to begin with. It may have been hidden for many generations, but it was there. 

11. Discard the old cliché about the littermate of that great producer being just as good to breed to. Littermates seldom have the same genetic make-up. 

12. Be honest with yourself. There are no perfect dogs (or bitches) nor are there perfect producers. You cannot do a competent job of breeding if you cannot recognise the faults and virtues of the dogs you plan to breed. 

14. Hereditary traits are inherited equally from both parents. Do not expect to solve all of your problems in one generation. 

15. If the worst puppy in your last litter is no better than the worst puppy in your first litter, you are not making progress. Your last litter should be your last litter. 

16. If the best puppy in your last litter is no better than the best puppy in your first litter, you are not making progress. Your last litter should be your last litter. 

17. Do not choose a breeding animal by either the best or the worst that he (or she) has produced. Evaluate the total get by the attributes of the majority. 

18. Keep in mind that quality is a combination of soundness and function. It is not merely the lack of faults, but the positive presence of virtues. It is the whole dog that counts. 

19. Don't allow personal feelings to influence your choice of breeding stock. The right dog for your breeding program is the right dog, whoever owns it. Don't ever decry a good dog; they are too rare and wonderful to be demeaned by pettiness. 

20. Don't be satisfied with anything but the best. The second best is never good enough.

Breed Standard is intended to be a guideline for breeders to help them strive for excellence, and as a benchmark for conformation judges. Absolute perfection in any living creature may be unattainable, but the existence of a standard which exemplies the ideal, enables breeders and judges to work together to improve and maintain the quality of dog breeds.

When a Breed Standard is written it is critically important that the author/s have a sound appreciation of certain principles including but not limited to, the following:
1. The purpose for which the dog breed was developed
2. An understanding of the different ways that conformation impacts on the health of the dog
3. The relationship between anatomy and the dynamics of movement
4. Form to function and the relationship between the purpose of the breed and its temperament
5. The importance of BALANCE and the absence of exaggerations. If the Breed Standard requires a ' long neck' for example, longer is not necessarily better! And if the croup is to be 'sloping' let's not breed the dog so that he looks as if he is sitting down when he is standing up! And words in a Breed Standard, such as 'moderately' are terms often used in the pursuit of 'balance'.
Without a working knowledge of such basics, mistakes can be made which may result the over emphasis of certain traits that may not be able to be erased in the future. Writing a Breed Standard is not something to be undertaken lightly.
SOME BRIEF EXAMPLES OF EXAGGERATED 'VIRTUES'
Let us suppose that 'someone' thinks that a breed would look nicer with an exaggeratedly flat face, combined with as deep a jaw as possible to create, big chunky shoulders, wide chests and narrower hips...the result may include bitches who need Caesarian Section to deliver their puppies and dogs who have dental issues and breathing problems .... i.e. the wonderful British Bulldog.

Toutes les photos : link