dwarfing

Dwarfing is a process in which a breed or cultivar of plants and animals is changed to become significantly smaller than standard members of their species. The effect can be induced through human intervention or non-human processes, and can include genetic, nutritional or hormonal means. Used most specifically, dwarfing includes pathogenic changes in the structure of an organism (for example, the bulldog, a genetically achondroplastic dog breed), in contrast to non-pathogenic proportional reduction in stature (such as the whippet, a small greyhound dog breed).