Selective breeding of dogs, plants, etc has historically been a try and see approach (a best guess) by discarding the undesirable offspring and only breeding the desirables. That is not the same thing as targeted gene modification.

Having sex with a partner who looks good with the hope of having a pretty baby is selective breeding. That's not a new idea.

Editing the genes directly is totally different.

https://royalsociety.org/news-resources/projects/gm-plants/how-does-gm-differ-from-conventional-plant-breeding/