@tonedog. Yes and no. Breed clubs are not the ones that make adjustment to the breed standard. It is the parent organization that make those changes. Then the breed club is supposed to enforce those changes. I used to believe it was all AKC, UKC, etc until I learned the process. You are correct we both are right. There are judges that make their on rules so to speak. I've had that done to me. It was a foreign judge. I had 2 dog in the same show. There were several other dogs in too. My 2 dogs were going to be one and two. Then the judge did something they are not supposed to do. He picked one dog over the other. They are supposed to pick the dog that closest meet the standard and they should have an Idea of what the standard looks like in their mind. He explained how they were very close. That was understandable since they were litter mates. He mentioned the strengths of both dogs and he was correct. He never mentioned the faults of the one dog he eventually chose, which was a strength of the other dog that he didn't mention. He said he has boxers and they are head dogs and that the presa are head dogs too. So he chose the one dog because her eyes were darker than the other dog's eyes. That is not listed in our breed standard. Our standard says they eyes has to be the same color. They have to be brown. Then somehow we had the same judge the next day and that is to supposed to happen. There were more dogs in the show the next day. Again my two were the top two. He made us run the course several more times like before. Even though I have a disability and can't run and he knew I was in pain trying to run. Then he blew me away when he said yesterday I chose that dog, but today I choosing this dog. The same two dogs being judged by the same judge and tow different winners on consecutive days. Nothing changed on the dogs. If dog A was the best on day one the conformation didn't change on day two. Therefore dog A should have won again, but didn't.

I've had judges that didn't know the breed. They have asked us if fawn was an acceptable color? I had a fawn dog. They've asked about the black mask be okay? My dog has a very good black mask. The absence of a mask is a disqualifying fault. On many occasions judges have pulled out the breed standard in the middle of judging to make a determination. With the rarer breeds and other Molosser dogs this is common.

I now a lady the has some newfoundland. She looks at who is judging and where to determine where to show her dogs. She has the written critiques on her dogs. She knows her dogs faults. The judges gave he high marks on the dog faults. So if that dog need a win she will take where that judge is because he/she views the faults as strengths.

My point was that people think that show dog are and have to be bigger, not well conditioned, etc. But judges do point out that bigger is not better in the show. Judge also inspect for well conditioned dogs.If you don't get a written critique you might not ever know this as the judges do not sit down and tell you the faults of your dog. But if you are in a show that give them you should listen to them go over your dog with you. Forget about the ribbons. Read the critiques. If they are not well conditioned make sure you get them more exercise.

Like you I don't want a dog too big as my protection dog. Sure they look impressive. But I want a dog that if needs be will go over the fence to protect me and my family. I want a dog that is agile enough to get there if there is danger around. One or two seconds can mean life or death. I don't want a dog too small that an intruder can easily throw over the fence. I have seen that in many cases that if a dog get over a certain weight it isn't as agile. I have seen exceptions to the rule too. This may also vary in different breeds. Off leash obedience will keep a dog close to you and have it come back no matter what prey is around.