What seems a little weird to me is that these standards appear more important than the actual FUNCTION of the breed. Function should drive the standard and it doesn;t seem to do so any more.
Some breed fanciers, like people with Coonhounds actually don;t want their breed, i.e. plotts, redbones, blue ticks, treeing walkers, etc, brought into the A.K.C. arena as they feel function will be subordinated to appearance.
I had an Irish Terrier once - a great dog - fearless, game and a neat companion.