In response to a question asked earlier...?

You are quite right about there being a smaller gene pool. That is how we got the breeds today, by selective breeding, but it has also given us dogs with genetic problems known well to those within the breed. It isn't just specific to dogs but is also found in those we think of as "food animals". How many holstein cows can be bred to the same bull by artificial insemination because he has been shown to produce daughters with superior milking? A good breeder strives to take 2 dogs with superior characteristics and produce get better than the parents. Sometimes one parent excels in something, like for instance gait. The other dog has more ideal conformation. Hopefully the yield would be the perfect puppies. But we know this is not always what you get. If you cannot get perfection from 2 seemingly perfect dogs, what do you get by breeding 2 mediocre dogs? All puppies will be mediocre by breed standards. But that does not mean they are not cute,lovable, and make nice neutered and spayed pets to homes who love them. They just don't have the breeding potential to produce the perfect show specimen.