Breeding reform for dogs with extreme conformations is progressing in some kennel clubs, with health testing requirements and revised breed standards beginning to improve welfare outcomes across multiple generations.
Breed health reform operates over generational timescales but produces lasting welfare improvements that benefit every future dog in reformed breeds. Each revision of breed standards toward healthier conformation, each new health testing requirement for registration, and each DNA test that removes a disease-causing variant from breeding populations represents a welfare improvement compounding across thousands of future dogs. The reform process is slow and contested but has demonstrably improved welfare in breeds where it has been rigorously applied.