In order for dogs to appear as they do today, as diverse as the jobs they require, humans had to breed wolves together. Natural selection, also known as “survival of the fittest,” started the process by causing the most adaptable and social wolves to team up with humans. Artificial selection, a man-made concept, did the rest. Artificial selection is where one or two traits are selected and passed down. In the case of the Border Collie, intelligence was necessary. As a result, these animals are incredibly intelligent and can follow over a hundred different signals. Now, spanning 150 years, there are over 400 breeds to choose from. Currently there are some breeds that are more popular than others, for example the golden retriever, and as a result artificial selection is causing a serious decline in the health of these popular breeds. Breed standards need to be changed and the best way to do this is to start by getting public support and making health testing mandatory for all breeders. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There's more to artificial selection than meets the eye. By focusing on a single, or a couple of traits, the others gradually disappear. This can be seen not only in dogs, but in other animals bred for specific tasks. For example, pigs raised for slaughter have been bred to be so enormous that sows must be moved away from their piglets so they don't crush them. Why? Sows are unaware that rolling on top of piglets will kill them: intelligence has been reduced in exchange for large body mass (Bar-Yam). For dogs, exaggerated characteristics cause serious health problems. The pug is a perfect example. Its short snout serves no real purpose other than as a fashion statement for the people who own them. Owners look at their pug and think its short, stubby legs, curled tail and short muzzle are cute. What they don't see is that their short nose makes breathing and temperature regulation very difficult. The pug's curled tail also puts a lot of stress on the spine, causing future back problems. Since these health defects are silent killers, shortening the lifespan of the individual and the Pug breed, there is no reason to be alarmed. Breeders still sell their pets for top dollar because their puppies look like the dog that won the AKC (American Kennel Club) Dog Show. Pugs that don't match breed standards aren't sold for the same price, which makes switching difficult. This can be seen in all Thoroughbreds. The purpose of dog shows is to ensure that the breed remains true to its original form. Each dog has changed significantly over the years and judges and participants are aware of this. In an effort to combat health defects prevalent in individual breeds, breeders ensure that only quality dogs are shown (Conformation FAQ). What does quality mean? Nowadays, it means that each puppy's lineage is healthy and that any health defects have been eliminated. For labs, breeders are working to eradicate hip dysplasia. However, this type of change only impacts dogs exhibited at dog shows and people who purchase puppies. Dog show puppies are incredibly expensive and consumers will buy their Labs somewhere cheaper. Unless the seller is a dedicated breeder andyou breed to improve the bloodline, many sellers do not guarantee that their lab puppies do not have hip dysplasia in their genes. In this way the problem perpetuates itself and nothing changes. Those who participate in dog shows are working, for the most part, to change the future of purebred dogs. The real change, however, is in the general public. The public is a consumer, and consumers purchase their products – in this case their dogs – on the assumption that any problems, present or future, are in the hands of the seller. This is what Blair would call a fallacy as a false belief (Blair). A dog that comes from a “reputable breeder” or with a “good pedigree” is assumed to be completely healthy, even if evidence suggests otherwise. Consumers mistakenly believe that today's dogs are fine. As a result, there is complacency about dog health and no demand to change breed standards. The consumers, the owners, are simply not educated properly. Shafer-Landau states: “Any morality worth its salt will place some importance on justice, fairness, kindness, and reasonableness. How much importance and how to balance things in case of conflict: this is where true philosophy takes place” (Shafer-Landau). In other words, there is much debate about who is responsible for the decline of purebred dogs. Ultimately, however, both pet owners and dog show breeders want the same thing. By attacking the problem through education there is no need to become defensive. Owners don't want to be told that their pets are unhealthy or that they are making a problem worse. For the same reason, breeders don't either. This type of logic places the blame on the owner or breeder, who becomes defensive and tries to deflect it elsewhere. Instead, educating them about the process of creating a breed and introducing the dog's history doesn't blame anyone and opens up the conversation. Conversation is the best way to initiate more widespread change. The documentary, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, really kicked off the conversation between dog shows and owners, yet it used shock tactics to promote change. As a result, people have become defensive about their breed and their pets to the point that the issue is now ignored. Marginal change was achieved in the world of dog shows, but it was quickly overshadowed by the scorn the documentary earned from the public (Cuddy). The awareness gained through this incident is that education on this issue must be impartial. There is not a strong demand for today's dogs to have jobs. Dogs bred specifically for one job often can't do the job. A show German shepherd, for example, has too many health defects to work in a military or police environment. A German Shepherd taken from the pound, or without bloodlines related to those on display, is often seen on battlefields or following officers. This shows that working dogs are bred for function and often look nothing like the standards set out in show manuals. Since most dogs today are pets, the emphasis should not be placed on a dog's aesthetics, but rather on its quality of life. By placing value on a dog's personality rather than its appearance, exaggerated characteristics will slowly recede. Education is a great way to address the problem, but the health problem of purebred dogs requires a two-pronged attack. Making consumers aware of their personal impact on the breed requires.