The diversity of dog breeds is a remarkable product of human selection, but maintaining this diversity must be balanced against the health costs imposed by extreme conformation.
Breed diversity in dogs represents an extraordinary range of form and function shaped by millennia of human selection. The challenge is that some directions of selection have imposed significant health costs that compromise welfare across an entire breed. The solution is not to eliminate breed diversity but to redirect selection toward health alongside the traits that define each breed. This requires collaboration between kennel clubs, breed societies, breeders, veterinarians, and researchers to identify high-priority health problems, develop validated tests, mandate testing before breeding, and track population-level health trends over time. Success stories exist: several breeds have shown measurable improvements in heritable condition prevalence following concerted programmes. Scaling these successes requires sustained commitment from all stakeholders.