Discussing the Staffordshire Bull Terrier

What’s in a color?

Wed, 27 May 2015 08:44:05 -0400

Perhaps the time has come to revise the color section of our breed standard. Maybe it should read -

“All colors and patterns allowed”

What this would accomplish in my opinion is an allowance for breeders to place the focus on more important parts of the breed standard and stop all of the prejudice, bickering and hypocrisy we now have over blue or tan pointed Staffords.

After all, judges from all countries are placing marked Staffords highly at all levels of showing and nobody says one word - yet a blue is either ignored due to color, bad mouthed on color alone or stories are often told with gaping mouths about how the blue ones are affected with all sorts of health issues. Also when a good blue one does win something - in our case - attention and focus is on the color and not virtue.

“I cant believe I am awarding a blue” “She is really nice for a blue” “She is the best blue I have seen” “My first blue” - Even with all the winning this blue has done - and of course we are absolutely grateful for everything and really hope it was due to her VIRTUES and not her color - she doesnt quite make it to the top winnings.....never a BOB or BOS at a Specialty, not ranked, not placed in groups, not really taken seriously as that may be just a bit too much to handle for some. The focus is on color and not much else. I dont care how vehemently people will deny this - try living on my side of the glass and then tell me how you view it. I promise you will see things differently.

By removing all color focus those who are breeding supposed ‘rare’ colors and are asking astronomical prices for them will be immediately thwarted from doing so. All colors being allowed, all patterns being allowed means color is now reduced to a non issue and all the other ten paragraphs of our breed standard can be worked on.

By allowing all colors and patterns we are on equal footing. A paint job doesn’t affect original or current function.

Nobody ever says a negative word about breeders who only breed for red or those only breeding for black brindle. Comments are often made when photos are posted of litters where there are reds, brindles, whites, pieds, all in one litter - “What a lovely array of color she has given you” yet if a photo appears with a black and tan pup or a blue then all the whispering begins. Finger pointing, blame, tracing back - where did this come from?

Yet when we see ultra short muzzles, buggy eyes, wrinkled heads, rolling, cycling or flip flop movement, funky toplines, straight angles, weak rears, fly away ears, squirrel feet, gay tails, chippendale fronts - not one word. As long as its not a blue. For if it is a blue then all of those faults are mentioned and nary a word about any virtue is said. If its a marked one then all faults are forgiven and people become blind to the markings.

This is absurd. Its divisive. Its non productive - in fact its counter productive! I strongly feel the time has come to lift up all color and pattern references from the standard. We now have DNA testing available for those who wish to utilize it. Its time to grow up. Its time to be smarter.

Color and markings do not make the dog.

Illustrated Breed Standards

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 14:05:01 -0400

TSK Illustrated Breed Standard - AKC version

TSK Illustrated Breed Standard - KC version

If you have been reading this blog over the years and you
recently attended a seminar on the Stafford then you may have
thought something seems very familiar. Yes, some of the thoughts we have written here on our website as far back as from 2008 have been used verbatim in both the TSK and the SBTCA Illustrated Breed Standard projects.

We gave our permission for this information to be used. Some of the writing is actually ours exactly, our words, our thoughts, our ideas. Some of the writing came from other sources which are credited on the back page of the TSK project. The SBTCA version doesnt give any credit to the source material, artist or any contributors except their own judges education committee. They even went so far as to print that the material in their book is ‘copyrighted’ to them. Of course if you have read all three - this blog, TSK and SBTCA projects then of course you know that cant be so.

Instead of being angry, which we were initially, about our work being used with zero credit, we decided that as long as good information is out there and is being shared then it doesnt matter who gets the credit for writing it. It would have been a bonus to have been credited or thanked for our many years of hard work, but this is not why we do what we do. Our passion is this breed. Knowing in our hearts that our work was so valued that it is being used in other projects should be enough.

In fact the TSK project has been translated into many languages and has been used in breed seminars and judge education situations many many times all over the world. We are very proud to be a part of that effort.

Thank you to everyone who worked on, contributed to or enjoyed these projects!

Lessons Learned

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:32:45 -0400

At some point in a breeders lifetime they will experience losses. They will mate a bitch who misses conception, lose puppies, lose shows, lose friendships, lose your oldies, certainly lose money and sometimes - may even lose faith.

Loss is just part and parcel of the experience. The way one deals with loss and how one is prepared for loss is what is so important.

As for avoiding loss of trust when selling your puppies having a solid contract is a very good idea. Have separate contracts for different situations.

Pet puppy sales
Show puppy sales
Co-owned sales
Stud work
Leased bitch situations
Handler agreements

All of these situations are much easier to work with when all details are in writing and all parties are in agreement. Make sure everyone involved understands and accepts the terms in the contract. Keep it simple and you are more likely to have success with this.

Sometimes it is helpful to retain the services of an experienced canine attorney to assist you in preparing your contracts. They can make sure you have most loopholes closed and make sure that you are protected.
No matter how well prepared you think you may be, at some point if you are in dogs for long enough, you will experience some form of loss connected to your puppy sales in some way or another.

It is smart to remain calm and think about the best outcome and how to achieve that outcome. Getting angry and firing off helps nobody so avoid losing your control and temper.

If a contract has been broken, try to approach the person who broke the contract and see if you can amicably work out a way to repair the damage. If need be, use a trusted friend (or attorney) as a mediator. Usually things can be worked out for the best.

Remember, losing your reputation, a friend or money is one thing - but possibly losing a dog or a litter of puppies is another. Try to keep the focus on the dogs. That is why we do what we do after all, isnt it? The dogs are the important thing...always.

If you have done nothing wrong then your reputation will regain itself. If you lose a friend over a contract issue, then perhaps it can be worked out and if not move on. Money will be lost in dogs so dont fret over a dollar. Keep the focus on the future of the dogs themselves.

All this being said, we are of course, only human and mistakes do and will happen no matter if you have a good contract in place or a simple old fashioned handshake agreement. People bend to whims, peer pressure, knee jerk decisions or sometimes a simple lack of common sense. Very rarely is a person who breaks your contract setting out to lose your trust or purposefully go against your wishes for your dog you sold them. It is usually some other distraction that leads them down the wrong path.

If you have done your job as a reputable breeder and screened your homes well, have a good contract in place and remain in contact with your pup owners - then thats usually all you can do. You cant become ‘Big Brother’ and you must have some level of trust in place.

If you have been burned, try not to allow it to affect future dealings with new people you meet. It wasnt their fault you had a negative experience. Try to do a deeper level of screening and go with your gut feelings. Listen to advice from others and just put in place safety nets. Learn from your experiences and move forward. Trust again. There are plenty of worthy, happy and trusting homes out there. Find them and enjoy sending joy to them by way of a Stafford.

Construction in Relationship to Movement

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 19:29:05 -0400

Construction in Relation to Movement
   This article is an attempt to give a shortened version about construction as it relates to movement of the dog. The whys and wherefores of the main points are discussed. Should you wish to pursue this further, there are several very good books that explain construction and movement in greater detail.
    Before we analyse the points of the dog, an overall view of the animal must first be obtained. How does the animal appear to you? Does it look like a representative of its breed? Is it balanced in its angulations front to rear? When moving, is your impression one of all parts flowing harmoniously, or three dogs trying to move at the one time?
    To assess soundness of construction and movement, it is important to understand the 'bits' that make up the dog. Every dog has the same type and number of bones (apart from length of tail) but the relative lengths of the bones give the great variation of appearance to the breeds. There are ideal proportions written down for each breed (the 'standard'), but the basic bone structure is similar. Ideal proportions for each breed usually relate to two main areas:- 1. height (at the wither) to length (from the point of the chest or prosternum to the rear edge of the pelvis or ischium) and 2. depth of chest (wither to the lower edge of the chest) to length of leg (usually measured from the point of the elbow to the ground). The proportions combined with the angulations that are ideal for the breed combine to produce the characteristic movement of the breed.
Think of the dog as a system of levers and pulleys. The back acts as a bridge connecting the front and rear assemblies. If the ratio of the lengths of the bones of the front and rear are even, then the dog is balanced for that breed. The ideal lengths vary between breeds, but the principle always holds.
When trying to justify why relative lengths of different bones give better movement than others, one can go quite insane if you try to fit all breeds of dog to the one ideal. Having bred German Shepherds, my idea of an ideal construction is very different to someone with a toy dog or a Greyhound. The best way to look at dog construction is through function. What is the function of the breed, what is the characteristic movement for that breed and so on.

Movement and construction by function
To try to group different construction and movement 'styles', I would divide dogs into three broad categories:-
1. The walking or strutting dog, e.g. Fox Terrier.
2. The trotting dog, e.g. the German Shepherd.
3. The galloping dog, e.g. the Greyhound.

    All the breeds range between these three types depending on size, function and individual breed selection characteristics eg. Such as the need to work in muddy conditions in the Belgian Shepherds, others are required to be exceptionally flexible and nimble eg the Kelpie.
Type 1 - the walking or strutting breeds. These breeds have a short bouncy action, where quite often the forequarter assembly is steep, they often have short backs with a reasonable turn of hindquarter for agility. The pasterns are often short and upright, usually asking for short tight feet. An example of this is the Fox Terrier.

Type 2 - the trotting breeds. These breeds are used where a tireless, and preferably economical trotting action is called for. Many of the working breeds fit into this category, with differences mostly in the forequarter where added nimbleness is asked for, eg. the Collie breeds, which are lighter boned and more open in angulation than the German Shepherd. The Shepherd is not being asked to be especially nimble, rather a tireless worker at its natural gait, the trot. The ideal German Shepherd dog is one that covers the maximum amount of ground with the minimum amount of effort, ie. fewer steps, translating to good reach and drive. Pasterns are longer and more sloping, giving better spring or flexibility, feet toe length medium to short, preferably with tight ligaments.

Type 3 - the galloping breeds. These breeds are used where great turns of speed are needed. This type is mostly found in the hunting dogs, particularly in the sight hounds e.g. Greyhounds. Here the maximum amount of thrust comes from longer, very powerful and well muscled hindquarters which push the dog up and stretch well forwards with very mobile, muscular shoulders, and very flexible pasterns. The feet have medium to long toes with “flatter” but still very flexible toes.

Forequarter Angulation and Movement
This is made up of several major components, being placement of shoulder, height at the wither, relative lengths of the shoulder blade, upper arm, foreleg and pastern – these all combine to determine the length of reach of the dog. The effectiveness of the reach will ultimately also be affected by the chest formation (which can alter with maturity), the strength and effectiveness of the hindquarter drive as it is transmitted up and forward along the back. With good balance of angulation, both reach and drive should be equally effective.

Reach
Length of reach of the forequarter assembly is determined by the lay of the shoulder blade, the relative lengths of the scapula (shoulder blade) and the humerus (upper arm), the length of foreleg, and the 'arc of movement' that the foreleg moves through.
Placement of Shoulder Blade
The definitions or terms used in this area are:
Well laid back - with the prosternum prominent (ie. visible in front of the point of shoulder when viewed from the side), which allows for maximum arc of movement from the top of the shoulder blade.
Upright (steep) - lacking prosternum – level with the point of shoulder or not visible when viewed from the side. The effect on movement at the trot is one of loose elbows (or lack of support by the chest) when seen coming towards one.

The wither is the area along the top of the shoulder blades, which obviously in turn relates to the placement of the shoulder. Most breeds call for a prominent or well developed wither - which can have a different meaning between breeds. When viewing the dog from the side, the withers should be higher than the middle of the back (in most breeds – lower in the OESD).

The height of wither is determined by how high the top of the shoulder blades are relative to the top of the dorsal spines of the vertebrae of the back.
High withers - the tops of the shoulder blades are higher than the top of the dorsal spines - this obviously gives the tightest muscling over the top of the shoulder blades (as there are shorter muscles), in turn giving firmer movement throughout the forequarter. Seen from the side the wither is higher than the middle of the back

Level withers - where the top of the dorsal vertebrae are level with the top of the dorsal spines. This gives more room for movement over the withers, allowing the shoulder to drop slightly in movement. Viewed from the side the wither is level with the back.

Flat withers (low) - the top of the shoulder blades are lower than the top of the dorsal spines. This allows a large degree of laxity during movement, generally causing falling on the forequarter. Viewed from the side the wither is lower than the middle of the back.
   ** If there is balanced movement, the wither should remain slightly above the line of the back during movement, hence the term “maintained a good (or high) wither at all speeds while gaiting”
Forequarter angulation
Diagrams of the good and the ugly.
1. Very good forequarter angulation, with a maximum shoulder angle of 90’ ie. very good lay back of shoulder and very good length and lay of upper arm. This gives maximum length and reach.
2. Most commonly seen shoulder angulation of 105’, with reasonable lay of shoulder and good length of upper arm, but slightly steep in placement - typical of a trotting breed. Good to very good reach.
3. Good layback of shoulder blade, but short steep upper arm, giving a restricted reach. Angle 120’. With a short steep upper arm, one is more likely to see a rather hackneyed gait in front.
1. Steeper placement of shoulder, but good length of upper arm. 120’ angle is typical of galloping breeds, slightly restricted in reach during the walk, but at the trot or gallop, the shoulder blade top moves backwards allowing for greater reach.

**In summary, the longer the upper arm (humerus), the better the reach, regardless of the length and lay of the shoulder blade.

Length of foreleg – each breed usually a fairly definite ratio of the length of foreleg relative to the height at wither and the depth of chest. In the GSD, this should ideally be 45% chest to 55% leg, ie. more leg than chest. Adult bitches may approach 50/50 by full maturity. Too short in foreleg, and or too deep in chest, both conditions detract from the ideal and will restrict the length of reach. Where dogs are excessively deep in chest, they tend to tire more easily when gaited for any length of time.

Pasterns.
The pasterns act as the cushioning device for the load on the front legs during movement.
    Short, upright pasterns have a reduced flexibility, and are commonly seen in the terrier breeds and those where a short bouncy action is called for.
   Good medium length and angle of pastern (15’-20’) will allow great spring and flexibility of the pastern, reflected in a smoother gait as seen in the German Shepherd and the sight hounds.
   Too long in pastern or too great an angle in relation to the foreleg, will result in loss of spring, over extension of the ligaments and a looseness (paddling effect) when viewed from front-on during movement. If severe, the dog will fall on the forehand.
Length of body – this is made up of several sections, and if correctly measured, is done so from the front of the prosternum to the end of the pelvis (the ischium). It is made up of the rib cage, the loin and the width of the hindquarter.
   Rib cage – this area is from the prosternum in the front to the back of the ribs. It protects the heart and lungs, as well as the liver and stomach more caudally. Along the top of the rib cage is considered the true “back” and this extends from the wither to the loin. {*Many people when describing the back do so from the wither to the croup, or conversely, refer to the “backline or “topline” as a unit from the wither to the base of tail.}
   Good length of rib – is considered a virtue in most breeds, allowing for greater lung room and endurance. “Well ribbed back” is a term used to highlight a good length of rib. Too short a rib cage – is generally considered undesirable as is too excessive a tuck up (“herring gutted”)
Spring of rib Most breeds ask for a good spring of rib, so as to allow for maximum lung expansion when needed, but other breeds may deem it attractive to be barrel ribbed, eg. the British Bulldog, and some go for the deep narrow chest, eg. the Borzoi.
The spring of rib when viewed from the front will affect the stance of the dog (see diagrams below).
The chest- generally refers to the forward section of the rib cage and must be looked at both from the front to see spring of rib and the side to see the depth – generally it should reach to the elbows when viewed from the side. If the chest is too shallow (side view) or too narrow (when view from the front), both result with insufficient support for the elbows, and looseness of elbows will result. Forward placement of the shoulders will similarly result in insufficient support for the elbows during movement.
Chests will with maturity, “drop” and broaden, and the elbows will become firmer. Too much chest development can result in excessive depth of chest relative to height and this will start to cause restrictions in reach and reduction in endurance. This can be seen more commonly in bitches after one or two litters. Narrow deep chested dogs have a higher risk of being affected by bloat as they get older.
From the side, the placement of shoulder relative to the chest becomes more obvious. Well laid back shoulder blade will generally have a good (more prominent) prosternum. Forward placed or steep shoulder blades have very little or no prosternum visible from the side view.
Stance in front (average breeds) - Diagrams
1. Correct - the legs drop straight to the ground. Elbows close to the sides of the chest, should move with tight elbows.
2. Barrel ribbed - too wide - wide front movement - elbows out, feet in, paddling effect, 'loose at elbows' and/or “out at elbow”
3. Slab sided - stands too narrow, elbows in, feet out (“east west”), looseness of elbow. Shallow chested dogs are similarly affected.
Back
The back is an area which many people overlook as it seems to be so obvious that it connects the back end to the front. The back is, in effect, a bridge between the two halves of the dog, and the strongest bridge has a slight rise over its apex. The ideal back is firm in movement. Movement of the back will cause loss of forward drive.
The length of back can also affect movement. If it is too short, the movement is restricted, and the dog is unable to drive properly; if it is too long, there will be bounce and loss of drive (see section on coupling).
The overall “backline” or “topline” where one is referring to the outline from the wither to the tail base can be greatly affected by the strength of ligamentation as well as the relative lengths of the back, loin and croup.
Roached backs - **If the middle of the back is arching up higher than the wither during movement, this is termed a roached back and is incorrect in most breeds.
    Some breeds, notably GSD’s can be quite strongly ligamented over the back when young, and while standing may have a “roached” appearance. Additionally, many handlers unfortunately create this impression by setting puppies up in exaggerated stances. During movement, most of this rise should disappear. This effect should settle by 12-24 months, and while a firm back during movement is desirable, excessive roaching during movement even in the younger classes is not desirable.
As dogs age (particularly over 6 years of age), the ligaments stretch, loose some firmness, and the back transmission will suffer.
The loin. – this refers to the section from the end of the rib cage to the wing of the pelvis and consists of the lumber vertebrae. Most standards call for well developed muscling in this area, which generally should translate in movement to firm ligaments over this section of the backline.
There is considerable variation between breeds as to what is considered ideal length. The length of loin or “the coupling” is what creates most of the impression of length of body when considering the height to length proportions of a dog. Forward placed or steep shoulders can also give an impression of greater length of body.
Dogs which are too short in the coupling cannot extend properly while gaiting. Tall well angulated dogs that are short coupled cannot get their hindquarters under themselves sufficiently to drive effectively from their hocks. Most of the thrust of movement goes upwards, not forwards. Dogs which are too long in the coupling dissipate much of the forward drive along the back, particularly if the ligaments of the back are soft. The result is a back which bounces during movement.
1. Good length of coupling - the drive is transmitted with minimal loss along the back (providing the ligamentation is good).
2. Too short in coupling, can if well angulated result in a restriction of reach and drive, as much of the drive is transmitted up and over the back. If this is combined with a low or level wither, the effect seen is “falling on the forehand” – a desired trait in the OESD.
3. Too long in the coupling, where the drive is lost in the centre of the back due to the length, causing a bouncing movement. If combined with soft ligaments, the effect can produce a “swamp” or “dip back”.

Croup
   The croup is the area from where the “wing” or front edge of the pelvis starts to the base of the tail. The length and angle of the croup affects the eventual width of thigh as seen from the side. While there are only small relative variations in the actual length of pelvis’ within a breed (bar a small variation for male versus female), the angle of the croup and the set of tail can very definitely visually alter the length seen when judging.
   The angle of the croup affects the angle at which the hindquarter functions. Some believe that the croup has little effect, but most agree that too short and steep a croup, results in loss of hindquarter drive through an upwards rather than forwards motion. Ideally, a croup should be of good length and laid at a gentle angle to the back so that the drive up through the hindquarter flows forwards along the back without a break. A croup that is too short and in particular, too steep will considerably reduce the arc of movement that is possible from the hindquarter, resulting in restrictions in drive.

1. At 40’- too steep, where the angle of drive is too high, causing the back to rise during movement. Restricted in rear swing of the hindquarter due to the steep croup.
2. At 22’- croup good, the angle of drive is not too steep, where the thrust is forwards along the back. Good swing of the hindquarter (both forwards and backwards) is allowed by the croup.
3. At 10’ - croup too flat, angle of drive is lower than the back, and considerable thrust is lost as it is not transmitted forwards. The forward reach of the hindquarter is slightly restricted.
  The angle of the croup should ideally flow in smooth line from the backline, allowing for maximum transmission of drive along the back. The ideal angle of the croup would be between 20’-30’ (from the line of the back). This variation is needed to allow for differences in lengths of backs and croups. The stronger back would probably tend to the 30’, whereas the longer back would tend to the 20’. The steeper the angle of the croup, the more it will affect the forward motion of the drive or hindquarter thrust.
The angle of the croup can change with age – young dogs with strong (dare we say slightly roached backs) may be rather steep in the croup, as the back settles down, so the angle of the croup may improve (seen around 12-24 months).

Hindquarter angulation and movement.
   As with the forequarter, the relative lengths and angles of the croup, upper and lower thigh and the length of hock with greatly affect the drive and its effectiveness.
   Correct hindquarter angulation must be seen relative to what is desired in the breed, relative to its characteristic movement. This is best be assessed from the side when the hind leg is positioned so that the hock is perpendicular to the ground.
    The ideal angulation is one where the length of the femur is equal to the length of tibia/fibula (lower thigh). The longer both the femur and tibia/fibula are, the greater the turn of stifle for that breed. A quick way to check for equal lengths of femur and tibia is to raise the hock (perpendicularly, of course) up to the end of the pelvis. If the point of the hock extends beyond the rear edge of the pelvis, then the tibia is too long in relation to the femur. Rarely if ever is the femur too long.

Over angulation. This occurs when the length of the lower thigh is too long in the relation to the length of femur or upper thigh. This results in the hock (when perpendicular) being placed considerably further behind a line dropped behind the pelvis than when the lengths are equal. (The term over angulation also occasionally applies to those breeds with well-turned stifles, eg. the German Shepherd.)
The longer the lower thigh is in relation to the length of femur, the greater the amount of turn of stifle. The longer the hock in combination with a longer lower thigh, the more unstable the hock during movement. Shorter hocks will give greater stability, particularly where there is a longer lower thigh.

1. Short femur, long lower thigh, long hock.
2. Short femur, long lower thigh, short hock.
3. Short femur, longer lower thigh, where the point of the hock is behind the end of the pelvis when raised perpendicular from the ground.
Insufficient angulation (straight stifled). This is desired in some breeds, excessively so in the Chow Chow. It is, however, not a good direction to follow due to the increasing instability of the knee as the leg becomes straighter, placing more and more stress on the knee during exercise.

The knee is the major pivotal joint of the hindquarters and it takes all the strain of braking and twisting. Hock problems can be present as they become very upright, and will occasionally even bend forwards ('double jointed').
Hindquarter too steep, eg. the Chow Chow - In a hindquarter lacking angulation, the hock when perpendicular does not extend behind the end of the pelvis.
Stifle
   The knee (or stifle joint). This is (from side to side) not as stable as is the human knee which is a lot wider. Due to this narrowness and in conjunction with a straight stifle (lack of good turn at the knee), the knee cap (the patella) can become unstable, and patella luxation may occur. Patella luxation is when the knee cap 'jumps' out of its groove and the dog cannot bear proper weight on the leg. This condition is considered genetic in origin, particularly so in toy breeds, but can also develop after accidents involving the ligaments of the knee. If the patella groove is deep, then patella luxation is less likely to occur.
   The relative instability of a straighter stifle can cause the larger breeds to be more prone to damaging the anterior cruciate ligament - like a human football injury. This type of injury is not however, totally confined to those dogs with straighter stifles. It can occur in any hyperactive dog.
Due to the abnormal stance from a straight stifle, problems associated from excessive wear of the cartilages of both the hocks and knees can occur in the heavier breeds, particularly Rottweilers. This condition is often associated with overweight young dogs.
Hocks.
    Tightness and firmness of the hocks during movement is desirable. The stability of the hocks is related to the relative lengths of all three sections - the upper thigh (femur), lower thigh (tibia/fibula), and the hock. Too long a hock, particularly when accompanied by a long lower thigh, allows for considerable instability of the hindquarter drive. Some breeds may stand cow hocked due to more angulation of the hindquarter eg. German Shepherds, but during their natural gait (the trot), the hocks should be firm and remain upright.
   Length of hock relative to end size in puppies. Long hocks tend to go with increased size of the adult dog and a straighter hindquarter. Shorter hocks are more desirable in most breeds as they often go with better turn of stifle and greater firmness of hocks, therefore better transmission of drive. (*This is well worth noticing when purchasing a puppy, particularly in breeds with a top size limit of adults.)
Balance andTransmission
    Balance - With balanced angulation both front and rear, and moving with a firm back; a dog of moderately good construction can generally out move a dog with just a good front, or just a good rear end. Ideally both fore and hindquarter angulation and construction should be such that the reach and drive are of equal power and effectiveness – inbalance will result in restrictions and a failure to maintain an even flowing gait.
   Transmission is the force generated from the hindquarter thrust (or drive), which transmits along the back pushing the forequarter forward. The forequarter movement is more of a reaching, grabbing movement; and the hindquarter thrust allows maximum use of the forequarter construction.
    If the back and the croup are good, then the transmission of the drive from the hindquarter through the back into the forequarter, will be transmitted smoothly and without loss of power.
    If the back is too soft or too long and then the transmission forward is somewhat dissipated and the overall picture is one of a reduced 'flow', ie. the back will bounce around losing much of its power. Dogs with backs that are too short or too roached are similarly affected by a reduced transmission of power.
    If there is good hindquarter construction and poor forequarter construction, the hindquarter drive tends to overrun the forequarter and so create the impression of 'running down hill' or falling on the forehand. The transmission is up through the back, then down, ie. a pounding effect, as the drive is excessive in relation to what the front can achieve.
If there is good forequarter construction and poor hindquarter construction, the hindquarter drive is insufficient to move the forequarter properly and consequently movement is restricted both front and rear and the hocks do not reach under the dog to achieve a good drive.

With balanced fore and hindquarter angulation, with good proportions and firm ligaments, the well constructed dog should approach the ideal movement for that breed.

A well constructed dog that has balanced movement is a joy to watch, the reach and drive are equally effective, and the dog seems to flow effortlessly around the ring with minimal effort and maximum ground cover. Unfortunately, it can be a rare event as well!!!

Gait

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 16:44:13 -0400

The Stafford moves differently than the other Terrier breeds. To most all-rounder judges, the Stafford movement is quite misunderstood so oftentimes they tend to go with what is comfortable in the ring - whether that means bypass the Stafford due to lack of understanding it - or choosing a Stafford whose movement is more typical of a pretty show dog.

Stafford gait wouldn't be described as ‘pretty’ movement. They don’t ‘flow around the ring as if on air’ nor does the Stafford ‘hackney’ , ‘paddle’ or ‘trot’. The original Standard did not mention movement and still today is is very misunderstood. We read one description in a book that compared Stafford movement to that of ‘a drunken sailor’. While we don’t think it’s that quirky, it does at times seem a bit odd.

Legs moving parallel from front and rear - the dog shouldn't be tripping all over itself or crossing over. Nor should it appear ‘piston-like’ from the rear. No hackneyed front movement. The front and rear should be moving parallel to one another.

Now to us, parallel does not mean perpendicular to the earth, but lined up with one another when seen front to back and vice versa. The breed standard does not address convergence which changes depending upon the speed of the dogs gait. Some people interpret convergence/perpendicular movement as parallel. We don’t.

In order to move well, there must be balance. Picture the dog in motion and imagine how movement might be affected by a short leg, or a long body, or more weight than the animal should be carrying to be balanced. Staffords should not look hindered in movement at all. They should move easily, with purpose and confidence. There should not be a rolling gait, like in bulldogs. They should not be panting, wheezing and gasping around the show ring. You should see their topline being held level on the move as well as when standing. The head can drop to level when on the move and the tail carriage should be held low - level or slightly higher than level wouldn't be penalized from us. However, a gay tail is not correct. Nor is a tail tightly tucked between the rear legs.

Staffords should not ‘crawl on their belly’ around the ring, nor appear frightened in its movement at all. They should not crab and if the dog is trained it shouldn't be straining on its lead to pull the handler around the ring - but if it is doing so because of confidence and exuberance - and not out of fear or aggression - give it a chance to move again and see if you can detect correct movement.

Just a nice easy flow which is rear driven - looks to be ‘pushed’ from the rear with power, yet remaining parallel. Again - moving with purpose and ease. No struggling, no gasping for air, no rolling, crabbing or kicking.

Color & Disqualifications

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 08:17:41 -0400

First let me state that we are not geneticists so in order to write this bit we have consulted a couple of Stafford folks who happen to also be experts in the field of genetics. The following information is what we gleaned from them. Thank you to Norman Berry (Rendorn) and Sian Hammond (Hammystaff).
(NOTE*** ONLY in America is B&T and Liver a DQ - in ALL other countries they are simply HIGHLY UNDESIRABLE)
The colors allowable section seems quite straight forward except when you get into the colors considered to be a disqualification there is some confusion. Since ‘Black and Tan” actually refers to a genetic pattern, and not a coat color, it can be confusing. The dogs coat can indeed appear to be a black brindle with tan points (above eyes, cheeks, feet and lower legs, rear end, etc such as on a Rottweiler) but can also appear as black brindle with brindle points, red with fawn points, blue with fawn points, pied with tan points, tri-color - black brindle with white markings and tan points and any number of combinations such as these - if the dog has points it has the genetic marker called ‘Black and Tan” and should be disqualified according to the written breed standard. They should be identified based upon their markings, rather than their colorings.

Recessive genes are very unpredictable. The color of the parents is irrelevant, b&t or tri is not caused by the mixing of any two specific coat colors - which means both parents must pass the tan point gene on to that specific puppy. It's got nothing to do with mating red to brindle - black and tan, or, black and tan with white is NOT caused by color genes. The color of the parents is irrelevant as the black and tan coat is caused by one of the genes which dictates the pattern that the colors appear in on the coat.

The brindle gene creates stripes, the tan point gene creates the pattern as seen in Dobes, Rotts, Manch Terriers and so on.
Therefore, you could mate any two colors together and get the tan point pattern, IF both of them carry a tan point pattern gene. Makes no difference what color they are as B & T is not a color, it is a pattern.

The parents colors, will only affect the colors that the pattern appears in. ie, if the parents pass on red with black (ie masking etc) then black and tan pups will appear in the standard Rottie type coat. If one of the parents also passes on a brindle pattern gene, then then tan points will be brindled, not just tan. A dog can be what is classed as black and tan, but its colors can be red and cream, blue and fawn whatever. If one of the parents also passes on a brindle pattern gene, then then tan points may be brindled not jut tan.

The gene will only affect WHERE the colors go, not what they are.

For a B & T with brindle covered points to occur the brindle would have to carry two copies for brindle. For it not to happen would be for the brindle to carry one copy of red and one copy of brindle.

More specifically, a brindle carrying red, mated it to a red as described above (who like any other red, cannot have any brindle in it’s make up what so ever), there is a possibility that a red puppy could be the result. If the brindle parent it is not carrying red then a brindle puppy will be the result.

Now back to the B & T and summarize: should the above parents carry B+T the same formula will apply.

Red /red + B & T will guarantee a true B & T like the Doberman. A brindle/red + B & T MAY be like a Doberman, or, MAY have brindling covering tan points. A brindle to brindle will guarantee brindling covered tan points.

The argument made is that when the standard was written they didnt know about genetic markers so some take the term ‘Black and Tan’ literally and do not include the other variations in disqualification. That would be incorrect, however.

*Interesting fact - there is no such thing, genetically speaking, as a black Stafford. All black looking Staffords are considered to be black brindle.

Liver is also to be disqualified. Again, genetically speaking the term liver refers to a dilute, not simply the actual color of a liver. Check for a black nose. If the nose (foot pads also) appears brown or red the dog is more than likely a liver, a dilute.

The confusion begins when you look at a blue Stafford. Since blue is also a dilute it would be impossible for a blue Stafford to have a true black nose no matter how dark it appears - however - blue is an allowable color according to the Breed Standard. The founding fathers of this breed certainly had no intentions of a dog that was blue to start off with a disqualifying fault - to them - the nose appeared black and that was good enough. A Blue should have good pigment, just like other colors, but it will not be a true black - it shouldnt appear washed out, however.

It does keep you on your toes, doesn’t it?! We produced a Blue and a Blue Brindle mating a Brindle to a Black Brindle - both carried the dilute gene even though we had not seen evidence of this behind the dam for 9 generations. It is best not to mate Blue to Blue. Blues produced from dark pigmented Brindle or Black Brindle should keep the dark pigment. The offspring should be mated back to Black Brindle or Brindle that doesnt carry the dilute gene or not mated at all. To breed for color and not for virtue will only weaken your qualities in other areas.

Blues, fawns and blue brindles arise from the action of the ‘d’ gene on the colors red, black brindle and brindle.

There are now DNA marker tests available to determine whether or not your Stafford carries the dilute gene responsible fro producing blue - also available is a test for Black & Tan patterning. VetGen offers both a test for Dilute (d) and also B&T (at)

*Note - The UK version of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Breed Standard states that Black & Tan and Liver are ‘highly undesirable’ but the AKC version states they are to be disqualified.

Coat

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:14:45 -0400

The easiest way to determine correct coat on a Staffordshire Bull Terrier is to put your hands on them. Run your hand along the coat from shoulder to croup. The coat should feel hard and smooth and sit close to the skin. The hairs themselves should be short and lie flat. When you rub your hand along in the opposite direction, the hairs should feel spiky.

The hairs should not be soft, wirelike, silky or long. They should be short and straight. The Stafford should have equal covering of coat, not appear balding on the underside of the neck or chest.

We have observed that Staffords of different colors have different coat textures and types. Even in pied animals the coat may appear a different texture in the white areas than in the brindle or red areas. We can offer no explanation for this, just noting here.

There is no need to trim the Stafford, however, many people do trim the underside of the tail. The Stafford is to be shown with full whiskers.

(* Authors note - We have here a bitch who has an obsession with whiskers, whether on other dogs or on the face of men. She is constantly trying to chew them off, bite them and pull them. We have no idea why she does this but in her 6 years we have been unable to get her to stop. As a result, we often find ourselves showing dogs with short, stubby whiskers and have had to explain to judges how they got that way, thru no fault of our own. This bitch has been spayed, as part of the reasoning behind it was obsessive, neurological behaviors which we did not wish to pass along. One line of thinking behind this type of behavior in dogs goes back to vaccinosis - not of this particular animal perhaps - but the over vaccination of those behind her. There are various articles on this theory on the internet. We are currently treating this bitch with homeopathic remedies in an attempt to curb her obsessive behaviors.)

Hindquarters

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:45:39 -0400

Not much can be said about the hindquarters bit of the standard as it is fairly clear and concise. When you are looking at a dog's rear assembly, their are multiple points to look at. BUT, they cannot be viewed as separate points. They have to be viewed as one assembly and how it fits together.

Well muscled means hard and distinct but shouldn't mean bunched and bulging, although the upper thigh should have strength to it. The appearance of power should balance the forequarters so that the dog doesn’t look like a ‘tadpole’ or look too overdone in the rear. The muscling should be long and lean and well defined.

The hocks should be ‘well let down’. They should be straight and not overly long or too short. From the side view look at the imaginary line drawn from the point of the hock down towards the inner most curve on the stifle. That line should be at a downward angle. Keep in mind that the musculature of the stifle extends itself beyond the point of the hock. This slight difference will enable the dog to achieve greater drive off his rear.

The 'bend of stifle' includes the entire front portion of the rear leg. When you look at the stifle in profile, you have to look at the entire front of the leg. This should be a nice, deep curve that does not stop until it is beyond the point of the hock. Let your eye travel from the beginning of the front of the leg all the way to the top of the toe. You want to see a nice long curve.

When you view a dog from the rear, you should see well-developed musculature on both the inside and outside of the leg. The hocks should be perpendicular with no turning in or out. The foot should be well padded. Take a close look at the toe pads from this angle. What you do not want to see is a lack of muscles on either the inside or the outside of the leg from the rear.

Again, you want to see a nice tight, well padded foot in the rear same as in the front feet . Nails trimmed.

Forequarters

Thu, 6 Aug 2009 15:12:22 -0400

Most everyone will agree on this portion of the breed standard but they may not interpret it the same way. Looking at the Stafford from the front you should see pretty much exactly what you see in the above photo. This dog has an excellent front in our opinions. He is well boned, but not course or bull doggy in any way. The bone is substantial and round, but not heavy or bulky. The legs are straight, the pasterns upright and the feet should turn out slightly. In fact, the dog above may have been ‘stacked’ as I have seen him stand on his own in person and his feet usually do turn out a little bit more than in this photo. Handlers tend to straighten Stafford feet making them appear to point forward, when our standard clearly states they should turn out a little. The legs are set ‘rather’ far apart - wait - there’s that word again - ‘rather’. And who is to say what degree determines the feet turning out ‘a little’....well, the standard has its vague points. We discussed this in the first entry here.

Check to see if the elbows bow outward or seem tight. Check for any looseness in the shoulder. In puppies and young dogs a little looseness will correct itself, hopefully. Check length of upper arm. Length of upper arm should be equal to the length of scapula. Use your hand to measure, dont rely on your eyes, especially with marked or brindle dogs. Your eye could very well deceive you. There should be some daylight under the dog - remember this is a square breed, not a low to the ground ‘squatty’ breed (even though we were told by one judge that they are to be ‘low and squatty’. He obviously didn't know the breed standard at all). Check that the feet are well padded, tight, strong and not too large or too small. Poor feet are one of our pet peeves. Toes should not be splayed, flat or cat like. Toes should touch each other and the pads thick. Nails should be neatly trimmed. Some say that in a Stafford with an ideal foot the nails rarely need trimming, especially if they are kept fit by regular roadwork. One other thing we want to mention - it isn't necessarily a fault in our standard, however, given the history of this breed it could prove dangerous to the dog - a short outer toe. You see this every now and then and it isn't correct. A short outer toe could get caught on something or get pulled out, broken or off completely in a scrap.

A Stafford needs a good spring of rib. They shouldn't be slab-sided nor barrel chested. You will see a barrel ribbed Stafford usually with more Bull Dog traits such as a rolling gait. It has been described to us as having the greatest radius in the center of the ribcage whereas a correct well sprung ribbed Stafford has the greatest radius about a third of the way down when viewed from the top. Slab sided Staffords are more difficult to asses as they may not fill out before 3 years old. We saw a handsome black brindle male at a Specialty one year. We noticed him right away but he seemed a bit slab-sided. We recently saw this same dog again a couple years later and he was no longer slab-sided. He had excellent rib spring at 3-4 years old.

A Staffords shoulders should be well laid back. This can easily be measured using your hands on the scapula and upper arm - and also evident when the Stafford is viewed from the front position in that upright shoulders may be indicated by shallow brisket. With proper layback, the brisket will appear to be deep and have width to it. A good way to measure is to place your hand on the brisket from the front and measure. An average four finger width is about right.

From the side view, the elbow should line up to the bottom of the brisket. Sometimes the brisket falls just below the elbow but shouldnt be significantly above or below that point. There have been many arguments as to what percentage of layback is correct. It is generally said that that the scapula should lie someplace between 30-45 degrees to the earth - or at a slightly greater than 90 degree angle to the humerus. If the angle is too upright it can result in a stilted gait and a dip in the topline behind the withers (quite evident on the move - but can be hidden in Staffords carrying excessive weight) and looseness in construction of the forequarters. Another issue that can crop up is overloaded shoulders which is not only unattractive, but will alter movement. This is very evident when the Stafford is viewed from the front.

*Authors note - If you view Staffordshire Bull Terriers judged in show rings around the world you will notice that at the end of a class as the judge is making his final decisions he will ask the handlers to face the dogs forward, towards the center of the ring and facing the judge. Only in America do they skip this part of the assessment. By viewing the dogs from the profile position only, the judge cannot accurately see front and rear construction, but for some reason they don’t bother. Our guess is that American judges are unfamiliar with our breed and judges education in the country is severely lacking. It is for this reason we decided to add ‘our two cents worth’ to this website. Another bothersome habit we noticed in America is that judges rarely watch the dog the entire two minutes of judging. They do not usually watch all of the movement part of the judging and sometimes only perform a cursory exam. In other countries, after a thorough exam looking at and for specific things like we describe on these pages, the Stafford is asked to be moved two times up and back down the center diagonal mat - or at outdoor shows - from one imaginary corner along a line to the other. It is the judge who moves into position to look at forward, rear and side gait as he/she needs to view it. The handler is responsible for watching where the judge is and switching the lead thus keeping the Stafford on the judge side at all times. They may ask for one more ‘down and back’ if they are looking for something specific or if the dog wasn’t moving correctly for some reason. Usually it can be put down to either poor handling skills or poor training. In America they seem to rush onto the next dog and stay on a very tight schedule. In our opinions, this can be very irresponsible since judging outcome can be responsible for breeding results and should be taken more seriously. Also, each exhibit has paid the same entry fee and respectfully deserves equal time in front of the judge. We cant tell you how many times when showing under invited breed specialists from around the world we hear handlers exclaim how appreciative they are of getting the judges full attention and respect no matter who they are or what type of dog they bring into the ring. We also hear the flip side of that from some who will complain that the judging is ‘taking all day’. We have to laugh at that as it seems to say if they rush they will point to anyone - if they take their time they just may find the good ‘um.

Neck, Topline, Body

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:03:59 -0400

Please forgive the weeks passage since our last blog entry. We have been in mourning for the loss of our Champion male, Captain and our minds have been quite mushy. He is gone, but will never be forgotten! Thank you to so many people all over the world who have sent condolences. They are greatly appreciated and do help ease our pain.

Describing a correct Stafford neck by saying it is rather short can be interpreted in so many ways as the word rather means different things to different people. Most probably it will mean whatever length the dog one is currently showing has. In all seriousness, remembering that the Stafford was at one time bred to fight and must remain agile and able to turn easily - a too thick or too short neck would impair the dog. Since the standard does not say rather lengthy neck, it is quite obvious that a swan like appearance on a Stafford is a fault and should not be encouraged. One way to measure the proper length of neck, as told to us by Alan Mitchell (Hoplite) is to stack the dog into a show position and look from profile to see where the underjaw bottom line lines up. It should be level or perhaps slightly above the top of the withers. It should also widen as it reaches the shoulder and be very muscular. Once again, referencing the Staffords fighting past.

Not much to say about the body is close coupled except there are many Staffords out there with overly long backs. They are not balanced. We have heard in many breeds that a longer backed bitch is ‘ok with them’ - but if the standard says close coupled then it goes for both male and female in the breed - as in Staffords. One way to measure coupling using your hand is to hold your fingers together and place them behind the last rib of the dog. Hopefully you can see this rib and the Stafford isn’t too heavy to easily spot this place. See how many of your fingers it takes for your hand to reach the front of the hip. If your hands are not huge or tiny it usually takes about four fingers between the last rib and the front of the hip bone.

One word in our breed standard is more debated than any other - level, when used to describe the Stafford ideal topline. If a spine has no flexibility it would do a fighting dog no good at all. Some toplines appear quite flat because the dog is overweight. When there is extra padding on either side and above the spine this affects the look of the topline greatly. There are those who will add weight to a dog in order to help cover up a dip in a topline, but your hands wont lie to you and neither will this dogs progeny.

If you look at the skeletal and muscular anatomy of a dog you can easily see how the bones and muscles fit together. At the base of the neck the spine changes direction therefore there must appear a break in the line approaching the neck. Where the tail set begins there is a very slight downward curve in the spine allowing more flexibility and movement. Since the Stafford should have a ‘low set’ tail it should have this very slight downward slope just beginning where the tail is ‘set on’. (not a slope however). The above photo is not the best example of this as the dog in the photo has a high set on tail, but you can still see the slight downward curve just before the tailset begins. This dog does have a correct level topline. With proper forechest and correct angle of shoulder a level topline can be achieved.

One final word on what can affect an otherwise level topline is how ‘fit’ the dog is. The more ‘fit’ he is the more tight the muscles will be and the less fat covering the muscles will have. On very ‘fit’ Staffords the topline can and will appear more curved simply dure to the muscling on either side of the spine. You will see a line in the center of the dogs back along the spine in most Staffords unless they are overweight. One very important word - recently we viewed film from the Stafford ring at the 1986 and the 1987 Crufts dog show in England. One thing that stood out to us was that just about every dog entered, no matter what ‘style’ or ‘type’ of dog it was - had a level topline! Only 2-4 had roached or dipping or sloping toplines. This says to us that people are overlooking this part of the dog when making breeding choices. We must get back to this level topline. It is obviously a very important part of the breed.

Some Staffords are level all the way to the tail set and other may drop off slightly. The spine should not dip, nor should it roach, or drop off at the croup too far forward, but a slight drop off just before the tail set is acceptable in our opinions.

When it comes to the ‘wide front’ we still want to see balance - so no bull dog fronts please. The legs must still come straight down from the shoulders remember. When you view the Stafford from the front (and judges should view them this way in the ring) you should be able to draw a straight line down from the shoulder joint down to the pastern and then see a slight turnout of the foot. You should not see bulges at the shoulder nor should you see a line inward from shoulder to leg bone.

The Stafford should show no coarseness at all. The brisket should drop to the level of the elbow. The shoulders do not bow outward, the elbows do not bow outward. If you rock the dog from side to side you can reveal a loose elbow when the dog is stacked in show position. The brisket should be in direct proportion to the width and should appear BALANCED with the overall picture. It should be approximately four fingers wide at its lowest point.

Well sprung ribs means no slab sides and no barrel chests - a nice clean even BALANCED appearance. No Bull dogs, no whippets please. The widest part of a well sprung ribbed Stafford is about a third of the way down. It will then begin to slightly taper back inward. DO NOT look for this in a young dog or bitch. Too often we see dogs under the age of two or three who already have enormous rib spring. A Stafford male will not reach full maturity until around 3 years old - some even later. A Stafford bitch wont have full body until after her first litter AT LEAST - so the two year mark for her. When we see youngsters looking fully mature we wonder if they can hold up at full maturity or if they will fall apart and become unsound.

In discussing brisket we need to address shoulders. The shoulder blade itself should lie back at a nice angle - some say between 30 and 45 degrees is a nice layback. You have a 45 degree measuring tool in your hand. Holding your hand palm away in a flat position with your thumb outstretched is approximately 45 degrees. Lay your hand in this position on the dogs shoulder blade. Feel where it falls and adjust your hand and thumb accordingly to see the angle.

Another thing to be careful about with a Staffords shoulders is watch for them to be way overdone - meaning too heavy, course or overly muscled. This does not lead to BALANCE. You should see defined muscle but not bulging muscle. We compare a Stafford to a middleweight boxer not a heavy weight boxer. Long lean muscle makes the Stafford more agile.

The front of a Stafford includes legs of proper length (discussed in previous entry) consisting of round bone, showing no weakness in pastern, feet turning out slightly

*More on fronts, shoulders and ribs in another entry discussing forequarters.

Now we get to Jims fave part of the Standard - being rather light in the loins. The canine loin, or Lumbar Spine, is located in that same space we mentioned when measuring coupling - between the last rib and the hip bone. There should be a discernible waistline in the Stafford. It is not meant to appear like a tube, nor is it to be so slight that the word rather gets taken to the extreme. You should be able to easily see a lightness here. There should not be any sagging nor should it be roached, but you should be able to see this indentation of the loin.

It was pointed out to us several years ago that the parts in our breed standard mentioning the tail is more detailed and uses more words than any other part of our breed standard. We find this quite interesting as the tail seemingly serves little purpose and many consider this a cosmetic part of the standard. Perhaps our forefathers in the breed felt otherwise. OK let’s go through it - undocked, obvious. Medium length - measure the tail by pulling to down to one hock joint or another and seeing that it reaches but does not surpass that point. Low set meaning it is set along the spine and not high as in the above example. Tapering to a point and carried rather low - ok there is that word rather again. Our forefathers certainly enjoyed teasing us with this word didn't they. The tail should come to a point and not be a bushy tail.

The Stafford Head

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 09:22:25 -0400

Much emphasis has been placed upon the head of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and at times TOO much importance is placed upon the wrong parts of the head in the show ring. Of course novices and those not in the breed will always comment on a large head. (refer to last journal entry on balance). In the 1935 Standard a scale of points was used when judging the breed and in the first edition the head was given 30 points in an overall allowable 100. In preparation for the 1949/50 rewrite of the Standard this was reduced to 25 points. However, when the Kennel Club finalized the accepted Breed Standard the point scale was dropped altogether - and in our opinion justly so. (*The point scale system is used today at SBTCA Top 20 events).

Since our Breed Standard utilizes so many vague terms, it is difficult for breeders to agree on what fits the Standard, and what does not. In the current Standard some of the vague terms used are “short, deep, very pronounced, distinct, preferable, some relation, medium, not large, ”. Not very clear is it? As for all of these terms I have to ask one question - “As compared to WHAT?”

So beginning at the beginning let’s discuss the proportions of the Stafford head - measuring from the tip of the nose to the stop is your 1st measurement, and then again measuring from the stop to the occiput for your 2nd measurement. We think you should come up with approximately a 1/3 muzzle to 2/3 skull ratio in most Staffords in order to be balanced.

You then want to examine the skull depth vs skull width.

In speaking with several breed specialists we have learned that one thing to look for in examining this relationship is the underjaw. Many of todays exhibits lack a strong underjaw. Many of them may have strength of underjaw, however it remains hidden under loose lips giving the appearance of a weak underjaw. It is for that reason you need to put your hands on the dogs and let your hands ‘see’ for you. A strong underjaw has a deeper vertical line from lower lip to tip of chin than a weaker one which would tend to quickly advance towards the rear of the skull as seen in profile. One more thing about the fleshy lip - not only is it unattractive, but it could get the dog into trouble in an altercation where either his own tooth could puncture his lip - or his opponent could easily grab a loose lip. The lip should be very tight against the teeth. No looseness or wrinkle or any spongey appearance.

Muzzle width should appear as a rounded off block widening until just below the eyes and increasingly deepening until the rear of the lower jaw. The muzzle is more of a square shape than a wedge. Again, get your hands on the exhibit and feel for a fleshy muzzle, wrinkle or a narrow muzzle. Without feeling it, the muzzle can be camouflaged by excess flesh. You want to feel a rigid, hard and smooth muzzle.

I’m sure you have heard the terms ‘Dish Faced” and “Down Faced”. It wasnt until recently that I was told how to determine whether a Stafford exhibits either of these foreign angles. I knew something wasn't pleasing, however, I just wasn't sure what it was. Look at the head in profile and examine the angle of the skull when the head is held horizontally with the ground. Then look at the angle that the muzzle takes. The muzzle angle should be slightly below parallel that of the top of the skull. Any lower results in down faced...and higher results in dish faced.

The stop can be deceiving. It should be around an inch deep and the angle should be almost vertical. Place your thumb on the stop to measure and see the angle. Simply looking from the profile may cause you to be distracted by the eye socket.
You MUST get your hands on this in order to know - colors, patterns, lighting and coat can all make this depth and angle deceiving.

As for the actual nose - we don’t care for a ‘tip tilted’ nose but there is nothing in the Standard addressing this so it exists. To us it causes a cartoonish expression and we wonder if it could affect breathing to a certain degree. Maybe not, but we simply don’t prefer it. One exact term in the head part of the Standard is the word “black” - as in “black nose”. There is no arguing what that means - or is there? We have seen Staffords in the ring with dark brown or dark gray noses receiving top honors. It is our opinion that if a Stafford has a brown or gray nose, no matter how dark, they are a dilute and therefore the possibility of being a liver exists - “Liver” is a DQ.

Around here we often make a joke of something we saw on the internet about someone's Staffords head. A person obviously new to the breed who owned a young Stafford asked the question, “When is my dog’s head going to split?”. Well, we can laugh at the way this is phrased, however, there is something to this. The Stafford should not have a domed, apple head. There should exist a ‘furrow’ of sorts made up of muscles on the top of a mature Staffords head. Puppies and young Staffords may not get this muscling until they reach 9-12 months or so but it should be there as adults. Same goes for the pronounced cheek muscles. Until the Stafford reaches maturity (preferably between 2-5 years old depending upon the lines) the head will continue to change and mature. Some say the head will change continuously throughout the Staffords life.

This brings us to one of the most clearly written portion of the Standard - the eyes. They are to be round. OK, there goes the specifics of this part of the Standard. They are to be medium in size. They are to be set in the skull to look straight ahead. OK. Straight seems simple enough, but what is medium in size? Not small and not bulging out of the dogs head for sure! Staffords usually have very animated eyes resulting in wonderful expression. The round shape contributes to this. They are to be dark except in relation to coat color. OK, I get it. If your dog is white, red or fawn or blue they can be lighter? No, it says a ‘dark’ eye is preferable. So I suppose we should all strive for dark eyes - however - we wouldn't discount a dog with a lighter eye if everything else is in order. It is, after all, only a cosmetic part of the dog. Others feel differently as we all have our values set for what is the most important thing and what may be forgiven. We were once penalized in the ring by a visiting judge from Australia. There the Standard calls for pigment on the eye rims of white Staffords. Here it does not - we were showing a pied bitch with no pigment on her lower lid of her white side. Since we were showing in this country, the judge should have gone by the AKC Breed Standard, but it must have looked too foreign to her. Incidentally, this bitch is now 5 1/2 years old and is developing pigment on her lid.

As for ears - we use the ears on our male as our goal for the perfect ears in shape, thickness, form and set. They should be tightly rosed (or half prick although we do prefer rose), not heavy in leather and even thickness for both ears. They should not droop low or appear too heavy in proportion to the overall head itself. A full drop or a full prick is of course a serious fault and shouldn't be the goal. They should not be set high up on the head, giving a flighty appearance, nor too low giving a bored appearance. Ears are responsible for how the Stafford shows emotion and alertness. Correct ears can be so flattering and incorrect ears can take away so much from an otherwise lovely headed Stafford.

The mouth of the Stafford contains large, white, strong scissored teeth. The incisors should appear level and even. The occlusion should appear evenly spaced and all teeth should be present. A scissor bite is essential.

These are examples of very nice scissor bites and tight lips

Lately there has been a lot of talk about Staffords being bred from and shown (and winning) with reversed scissor bites. Inverted canines are very incorrect and can cause severe pain to the dog. The lower canines can penetrate the upper palette. Under or over bites are faults. Severely undershot or overshot Staffords should be severely penalized in the ring. A Stafford without a proper scissor bite probably should not, in our opinion, be used in any breeding program.

Heights & Weights

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 14:36:22 -0400

Excerpt from notes from a 1952 meeting on the "Desired" heights for the breed.

Bill Boylan was born and raised in the Black Country. He was brought up among people who owned Staffords and got his first pup at the age of 6, but his father didn’t consider the dog to be a good one so he gave it away. After 3 years in the 9th East Surrey Regiment during the first World War, which included 12 months as a Prisoner Of War, he returned to work in the engineer industry. One time he went to Cannock as a maintenance engineer he saw this lovely pied Staff, who was described as a terror as they had to feed the dog by pushing the food towards him with a broomstick. He eventually won the dog over and became its friend and when Bill left the Black Country he brought this dog to remind him of his roots, so when he moved to St. Albans he came with a Stafford and his wife.

The Kennel Club did not yet recognize the breed and in the early 30’s much was written about the merits of a Stafford in a magazine of the time called ‘Our Dogs’. There was talk of seeking recognition by the Kennel Club, which would enable them to be exhibited at dog shows. At the time he firmly believed that ‘showing’ would result in the fighting spirit being bred out of the breed for the purpose of the show ring and he was right as there aren’t that many Staffords around today that could battle with the likes that he was used to. Although he did think it was a good idea for them to be registered and described for those who wanted to know more about them.
There were instances were newcomers to the breed had been sold mixed breeds, which weren’t real Staffords at all and to him it was all wrong. If registration would help prevent and eliminate that sort of behavior he was all for it, but that was way back in the 30’s.

Over the years the Kennel Club wanted one agreed Standard for the entire breed as different clubs just operated to their own standard, which was no good and it was important for everyone that something definite was decided. The Kennel Club sent out notices to all the breed clubs to seek co operation and agreement on one Standard for the entire breed and in May 1948, the Southern Club called a special meeting to discuss this matter asking to drop the maximum height from 18” to 17”.

The Cradley Club had already sent off to the Kennel Club what they thought should be accepted, 14” to 16” and this was returned for discussion at the main Meeting at Wolverhampton, to which all Clubs had sent delegates and the 14” to 16” height ratio was accepted without further objections from anyone. There had been no prior suggestion of a drop to 16” and the Southern Clubs delegates understood it, as it would be a reduction of only 1 inch and not 2.

In a interview in the mid 80’s by Ed Reid, Bill was asked what his thoughts about the change of Standard in 1948 was and he replied like this:

“ It was the Cradley fanciers who brought out the little ones. It appears they wanted the Standard to suit their little dogs, not their dogs to suit the standard. That is why they wanted the height brought down to 16” as they already had their smaller dogs ready. Newcomers to the breed, unaware of the situation as it then existed, just went along with the alteration. They hadn’t much choice anyway!”

According to Bill the reasons for breeding smaller Staffords were many. Commercial purposes was one, selling to females in competition against the Poodle and so on. His good friend Vic Pounds feared the exaggerationists in the show circuit, as they would aim for massive heads, bigger boned animals and so on and who can blame him when you see the typical show specimen in today’s show ring.

When asked about his thoughts he firmly stated:

“ We are governed by ‘fashion’. In other words the 1948 Standard contained the new height/weight ratio, which I disagreed with and left the Club because of. I didn’t want to be a Club Member, all I wanted were good Staffordshire Bull Terriers, but for my bitch I needed a good stud dog, most of which, as they are too standardized, do not come up to what one really wants, so you have to look around and try to find the nearest to what you want, which will probably have been bred for the show ring, which is dictated by ‘fashion’. When an animal become popular at shows it becomes the dictate of ‘fashion’ and fashion dictates sales, and to maintain the sales they maintain the popularity of the breed in order to maintain puppy sales and put money in their pockets!”

This “hot” topic would never lay to rest as it is still today being talked about in the same intense way. The debate will probably go on forever as there was a split in the Stafford fancy and the more hardcore sporting enthusiasts kept on breeding their stock after what had been proven to be the best, “game to game” regardless of show standards. 4 years after the Standard was changed another Meeting was called to discuss the “Desired” heights for the breed and the following is the notes from that Meeting.

Standard Amendment
The joint meeting of Staffordshire Bull Terrier Specialist Clubs was held on Saturday, July 26th, 1952, at Birmingham, following the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club's Championship Show.

The following represented their respective clubs:

East Midlands' S.B.T.C, Messrs. Adderson, Gibling and Greenwood.
Northern Counties' S.B.T.C. Mrs. Greenwood and Messrs. Ainley and Greenwood.
North Ireland S.B.T.C. Messrs. Gordon, Piesing, and Tryhorn.
North West S.B.T.C. Messrs. Crompton, Heargraves and Rawnsley.
Scottish S.B.T.C. Messrs. Adams, Findlater, and Smith.
Southern Counties' S.B.T.C. Messrs. Boylan, Cairns, and Tomlinson.
The Staffordshire B.T.C. Messrs. Dudley, Jack Dunn and Holden.
After a speech of welcome by Mr. Holden, chairman of the S.B.T.C., the meeting elected him to the chair.

Mr. W. A. Boylan, on behalf of the S.C.S.B.T.C., Tabled the following motion: " That this meeting agrees that the Height/Weight clause of the standard be amended to read 'Desired heights - Dogs 16 inches; Bitches 15 inches. Desired Weights - Dogs 38 lb; Bitches 34 lb.' "

"In making this proposition" said Mr. Boylan, "I am doing so after many years in the Breed, and after noting the tendency since the alteration of the first Standard of 15 to 18 inches, which were the original measurements, to the present one of 14 to 16 inches. My chief objection to the latter is that the tendency seems to be at the present to get a dog as short on the leg as possible, and at the same time carry the maximum weight allowed in the Standard. We see exhibits of less than 14 inches being placed first, whilst dogs of 16 1/2 inches or 17 inches are put right out, when they are, in fact, only as much over the maximum height as the winning short-legged ones are less than the minimum height. That to me is entirely unfair and is also leading away from the ideal fighting dog.

We have heard that some of our breed clubs have been in a certain amount of difficulty in having a reasonable number of exhibits that conform to the new Standard. Many of out oldest breeders are in agreement with this proposition and I will quote one. Mr Charlie Townsend states:
“The new move only fixes an ideal height and an ideal weight. With the sliding scale we are only perpetuating the lack of uniformity in the Breed. With the ideal size the judge can use his discretion, and that is a good thing. “

I had the privilege of putting this motion to a Special General Meeting of the Southern Club in March 1951, and have had plenty of time since to study its implications, and I am even more convinced than I was then that this will greatly benefit the Breed. Any of us who claim to have the interest of the Breed at heart must of necessity have in mind a picture of our ideal Stafford, and I ask what is YOUR ideal in size and weight? If it differs from my proposition, with all respect, I ask you to state it and fully discuss it, and so give all Stafford owners, both present and future, the considered opinions of names which will live in the Breed for ever. The decision of this meeting will be a future guide on the wisdom of our actions. If we fail now and leave things unsettled as they are, you can take it from me, Mr Chairman, and Gentlemen, that a move will be made which will advocate a revision of the Standard to the point of leaving the height clause out of the Standard altogether.

In seconding the motion, Mr. Cairns referred to the first Joint Meeting at Wolverhampton, where the present Standard was agreed, and said:

“ The outstanding thing about that meeting was the manner in which we really got down to the job, and I am sure that the same spirit will prevail at this meeting. Fundamentally we have all the same object in mind. To do our best for the Breed, our Clubs, and for our members. We have a great responsibility, and one which if we were not all sincere and deeply interested in we would have passed on to someone else”

Going back over my notes of that first meeting, I notice that the Southern Counties drew attention to the fact that the Kennel Club had expressed the opinion that we should state a desired height and weight in the new Standard. The S.C.S.B.T.S. general meeting had decided on heights of 15 and 17 inches, but in view of the Kennel Club suggestion, agreed “ Desired height – Dog 16 inches and Bitches 15 inches” This was put to the joint meeting. Mr. Jack Dunn, then representing Scotland, raised objection to this, and made a plea for “ the little 24 pounders ” which he knew around 1928; he did not say “ little 14 inches” presumably because these “ little 24 pounders” were tallish 16 inchers. That is how the 14 to 16 inches came about.

I cannot believe any Clubs’ membership accepted this without argument , but such was the standing of the respective delegates that these objections were over- ruled. I am equally certain that is this motion is tonight accepted by this meeting after listening to the discussion, the delegates here will be capable of getting their membership to accept the majority decision of this meeting.

The case for this motion has already been given the widest publicity, which will certainly have been followed closely by everybody here.

It was first stated in March 1951, at a special general meeting of the S.C.S.B.T.S. and subsequently dealt with at great length in succeeding numbers of ‘The Stafford’. A nationwide poll was organized, resulting in 183 votes being cast in favour to 6 against.
The important point, after the overwhelming majority, is that these votes came from all over the country; they were not confined to any one particular area.

Despite all the words written in support of the amendment, only one letter was received from the whole area north of London against!

As this is the only articulate objection to this proposition it is worth referring to. This letter states:

“If we adopt a rigid height and weight clause with one stipulated figure then scales and measurers would have to be adopted at every show”

It seems incredible that the simple statement ‘DESIRED Height’ could be interpreted by anyone to mean that all Stafford dogs, for example, must in the future be exactly 16 inches. It has been stated time and time again by countless experts that the desired height for a Stafford dog is 16 inches and the present proposition is only capable of one interpretation, which is that the dog most nearly approximating the desired height and weight shall receive the most marks when the height/weight clause of the Standard is applied in the ring. The writer of this letter is so wide of the mark, that it is the present day standard, which calls for weights and measurers to apply it correctly, whereas the proposed amendment allows that latitude which renders weights and measurers completely unnecessary.

If this interpretation has been propagated in the councils of those Clubs known to oppose the amendment it can only be said that their decisions have been arrived at on a complete misunderstanding of the meaning of the amendment and as such are valueless.

The writer continues: ‘ any responsible person in the Breed sees in the present Standard his ideal Stafford to be in the upper limits of the weight/height clause, then breed for it and tell the newcomers to aim for it’.

Would it unfair to interpret this as an argument in favour of the amendment?
If we are going to say that the correct height and weight for a Stafford dog is 16 inches and 38 pounds, what reasonable objection can there be to stating it in the Standard? We have reached the position where supporters and antagonists all agree that the ideal dog should be 16 inches and 38 pounds, can we logically continue with a Standard that discards dogs with a shade over 16 inches, whilst permitting others to be two inches under ?

The main reason for stating a height and weight at all is to establish the desired balance of a Stafford. If we show 16 inches and 38 pounds that puts the balance in a nutshell.
14 to 16 inches and 28 to 38 pounds have confused everybody. We have all seen 14 inch dogs shown, but what about their weights?
If anyone wants to lose some money try guaranteeing a class for under 32 pound dogs. Yet there were well filled classes for these when the minimum height was 15 inches! Think this over carefully. It can mean only one thing and that is that the present Standard has created so much confusion that it is not capable of correct interpretation by the judges and is therefore useless.

Opponents have argued that we are rushing out fences, and that sufficient time has not elapsed since the inception of the present Standard and the tabling of the amendment.
The original Standard was agreed in 1935, the present Standard in 1948. A period of 14 years, including seven years of war, when breeding was at its lowest ebb, and very infrequent dog shows were confined to small areas of the country. The period 1948 to 1952 saw a marvellous upsurge in the Breed, with an average of four new Champions each year, compared with four in four years in the pre war period, when there were two specialist clubs as against eight now!

Opponents did not argue we were rushing our fences when the present Standard was agreed, yet the rate of the development in the first seven year period, with phenomenal expansion in the last four years. These facts coupled with the first class organisation of the Breed today, eight specialist clubs, a breed magazine, 26 Championship shows a year, and countless other shows puts us in the best position ever to assess development in the Breed.

If it was in order to alter the 1935 Standard in 1948 after 10 lean years, it must be in order to propose this slight amendment now, particularly when no point has been argued more fully than this one. Every interested person has had ample opportunity to state his case, and what do we find? 183 voted in favour, 6 against, oceans of printed matter in favour, two letter (one of which was misleading) against!

If the clubs’ representatives are here to serve their members they must take these figures into account. Perhaps we shall hear during the discussion how each club got their opinions of their members; were these truly representatives of their membership?

It gives me great pleasure to second this proposition, because transcending all other considerations, the present Standard has led to complete chaos, and this confusion will have a very serious effect on the Breed until it is altered, as it surely will be, if not now then later.

One height and one weight states the desired balance of the animal in the simplest possible terms. It can only lead to a greater uniformity in the Breed, make satisfactory judging, and give the breeders, the backbone of the fancy, a fair crack of the whip!

The chairman then invited questions and asked for further clarifications on the point as to whether the proposed amendment did mean that dogs should have to be exactly 16 inches and 38 pounds. Replying, Mr. Boylan said that the proposition meant exactly what it stated; its object was to establish a desired height and weight, an ideal and this was capable of only one interpretation, and that was that the dogs most closely approximating this ideal, other points being equal, would win. This allowed latitude above and below the ideal. The chairman said this should satisfactorily clear up that point.

In the discussion, Mr. Hargreaves, N.W.S.B.T.S, said that he considered the present Standard satisfactory. He preferred a dog of 16 inches and 38 pounds, but thought it dangerous to permit dogs above 16 inches. Mr. Ainley, Northern Counties S.B.T.C, agreed with this view.

Mr. Boylan asked whether, in view of this, would either of the clubs concerned be prepared to tell their members owning dogs over 16 inches that they would have to leave their clubs, as those clubs were not prepared to cater for them?
Both answered in the negative.

Put to vote, the motion to agree the amendment was carried, 12 votes for and 8 against.

The following Standard amendment was also tabled by the Southern Counties S.B.T.S. :

That the section of the Standard concerning eyes be amended to read “ Round or medium size, not protruding and set to look straight ahead. From medium to very dark brown, the darker for preference, some may even appear black.”

This was carried nam. con.
North West S.B.T.C proposed that clubs supporting this meeting agree that travelling expenses of all delegates present be added together and that each club contribute an equal amount to the total expenses. It was explained that this was proposed with the object of helping the most distant clubs. After discussion the motion was withdrawn.

Scottish S.B.T.C. proposed that each club guarantee the breed classes in all championship shows in its area, and submit its own list of championship show judges to the promoting society.

It was stated on behalf of the Scottish club that this motion was made in hope that some agreement could be reached whereby they would be given an opportunity of putting up judges for shows in Scotland; at present they have not been given an opportunity to have a say in the choice of judges in their area.

Mr. Cairns stated that the Southern Counties had never put up a list of judges for any of the Scottish Championship shows and if all the English clubs acted similarly there should be no further difficulties. He was in sympathy with the Scottish club’s point of view and was sure his society would also support this view. However, whilst the motion was simple as applied to Scotland, certain difficulties could be foreseen when it came to a division of the English Shows.

The Scottish club proposed that clubs represented at this meeting agree to exchange club judging lists, or to include in their lists the names of specialist judges mentioned in the list of other clubs. The Scottish delegates said that this motion was linked with the above and arose from the same consideration. They would be satisfied if delegates would report back to their clubs and put the Scottish point of view to their members.

A vote of thanks was accorded the chairman for the able way in which he had conducted the meeting and he in turn thanked the delegates for their attendance and interest in the important matters which had been so thoroughly discussed

Size, Proportion & Substance

Sun, 5 Jul 2009 15:45:14 -0400

This portion of the Breed Standard seems to be a sticking point, or a dividing point for many Stafford breeders and
enthusiasts for some reason. We just don’t understand what is so difficult to ‘get’ about it though. The wording is quite clear for our vaguely written Standard. There is nothing less clear than - HEIGHT AT SHOULDER: 14” TO 16”. It doesn’t say ‘preferred’ or ‘close to’ or ‘try as hard as you can to achieve’ this height. It simply means what it says - A Staffordshire Bull Terrier, to be in Standard height, must fall between 14” and 16” at the shoulder. Period.

The next sentence is equally clear. A Staffordshire Bull Terrier DOG in order to be in Standard weight must fall between 28-38 lbs. and BITCHES falling between 24-34 lbs. Period.

Now comes the vague part - for some, not for us: “These heights being RELATED to weights.” Easy peasy. How is this difficult? How is this controversial? It then goes on to clarify even further for judging and breeding purposes to state, “Non-conformity with these limits is a fault.”

This doesn’t mean that a Stafford dog can be 14” and 38 lbs. any more than it means a Stafford dog can be 16” and 28 lbs. That wouldn't be in RELATION to one another would it? It all goes back to BALANCE.

Some people will go to extreme lengths to justify what is at the end of their lead by twisting these simple statements to make their dog fall into the category somehow - even if he clearly does not! In fact, we have also heard that it is IMPOSSIBLE to have a modern day Stafford fall within these height & weight limits. We have heard all sorts of absurd excuses such as:

• Dog food is so much better today than when the Standard was written so its ok for them to weigh more. NOT TRUE! Many years before ‘kibble’ diets were introduced dogs were fed whatever scraps and meats their owners could spare. The diet consisted of a much healthier variety, natural proteins and fats - not the mass produced garbage of today.

• Those weights were written as fighting dog weights. NOT TRUE! Dogs were fought in weight classes, therefore there were many acceptable weights for fighting dogs. A 28lb dog would never compete with a 38lb dog. The height to weight ratio in our breed standard had nothing to do with fighting. In fact the height was brought down from 18” down to 26” to accommodate the heavier dogs of the day.

• A Stafford would have to be starved and tread milled 7 days a week to meet those proportions. NOT TRUE! I can’t even believe this one except for the fact I heard it with my own ears at a Stafford judging seminar. How absurd. We have owned Staffords of several varieties - fitting the Standard to a “T” (16” tall and 38lbs - dog), too heavy (15.5” tall and 37lbs - bitch), too fine (15.75” tall and 32lbs - bitch). None of them were starved nor milled 7 days a week - all were kept fit by a variety of methods. It was their basic structure, genetics and breeding that either they conformed or not - not starving or over exercising. I was insulted when I heard this and appalled it was said to new judges.

• A Stafford with substance and bone can’t weigh that little. NOT TRUE! Yet another absurdity - breed for the Standard, dont change the Standard to fit your breeding!

• They need to weigh more in order to win. NOT TRUE!
(OK maybe so since extra weight can hide faults and if your exhibit has a dippy topline, no rib spring or a weak rear perhaps an extra 5 lbs. does hide these faults. What’s the point? Who are you trying to fool? It will be your fault when your breeding program is producing heavy, unbalanced and disproportional animals, won’t it? You can’t fool genetics.)

Moving onward to the next sentence: IN PROPORTION the length of back, from withers to tail set, is equal to the distance from withers to ground. SQUARE! Not squatty. Not short legged. Not long backed. When you draw a line from the withers to the tailset this line should be the same length as when you draw a line from the withers to the ground.

Lately we are seeing too many Staffords with short upper arms, or short in leg all over. Some are over angulated in the rear, and most are carrying an extra 4-8 lbs. Some even more. This can affect the health of the dog in many ways and should be avoided. Some have massive bone like the English Bulldog. In fact, we have seen a few that you have to look twice to see if there is a tail to determine if it is indeed a Stafford and not a Bulldog. Staffords should have leg under them in order not to be squatty, low riders. Remember - this is a SQUARE athletic breed. They need this in order to remain agile.

So if all goes according to plan and Mother Nature cooperates with you then when you breed for the Breed Standard you want a balanced, clean, square animal falling within these numbers and shapes. There’s really no reason they can’t. None at all - that is unless you are still making excuses for what you have and are doing to the breed.

Exaggeration exists on both ends. Neither is a goal if you plan to stay within the blueprint of the breed, the Standard. We have here several examples of Staffords fitting within the Standard. “Captain” at 3.5 years old stood a hair below 16” and weighed a hair above 37 lbs. He is the same length when measured from withers to tailset and from withers to the ground. He had plenty of bone, substance, leg - and he had a closely coupled body. We fed him approximately one pound of food per day and he was exercised at a minimum because of living in the hot Southern United States. He either swam or chased a ball in the early mornings or late evenings. His muscles were long and lean, not bunched. You could see his last rib at his waist but he was not a thin animal, nor was he a small Stafford. He was at the TOP side of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Standard.

So, therefore, it IS possible to meet the Standard without going to any extremes at all.
You simply have to breed for it.