Conformationally Correct

Conformationally correct is a term used to describe the structure of the animal.  All breeds have a standard in which breeders use as a guideline in producing offspring.  The goal is to get as close to the standard as possible.  No animal will be 100% perfectly Conformationally correct, and in order to be able to breed towards this, its important to have your animals evaluated by a variety of judges on a regular basis. 

The placements, wins or losses, should also be considered when pairing up two animals for a litter.  The judges comments are not something concrete, but something to always keep in the back of your mind.  Each  judge will see something different in the same animal.  On occasion each judge will see the same thing, and in that case you should keep that at the top of your list to breed out, or not breed that animal all together.  Things such as a narrow head, light bone, well breed to a larger boned animal.  All breedings should be made for improvements.

If a breeder is not showing their animals then there is no way to really learn the breed standards as they are subjective.  It is easy for a person to not notice a particular fault and focus on certain things such as shoulders.  It is easy to become "barn/Kennel Blind", which is why having your animals evaluated is important.  Watching all the animals being judged that day is also a huge learning experience for the owner/breeder as you can see how the winning animal exhibits and what you could be missing in your breeding program.  Showing is an extension of the knowledge of the breed.​