Kennel club breed standards shape the selection pressure on dog populations; reforming standards that select for harmful physical characteristics can improve welfare across entire breeds.
Breed standard reform is a systemic intervention that can improve welfare across entire populations of millions of dogs when successfully implemented. The difficulty is that breed standards reflect aesthetic preferences that have accumulated over generations of competitive showing; changing them requires overcoming resistance from exhibitors and breeders whose competitive success depends on the old criteria. The Kennel Club revisions to brachycephalic breed standards have had some effect but have not yet reversed the trend toward extreme features. Mandatory health testing and veterinary oversight of breeding decisions add a welfare-based counterweight to purely aesthetic selection.