SIERRA STAFFS - AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIERS, AMSTAFFS, CHAMPION BLOODLINES

American Staffordshire Terrier

Your Task

You will be presented with a number of challenging drawings beginning with Fig 1, a not-very-good American Staffordshire Terrier. Your first task based on your familiarity with the breed, structure generally, and the direction in the 1936 AKC breed Standard is to identify each of this dog's many faults; and on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best), rate his head.

History

When the Standard was written, the Am Staff was still in transition from a pit fighter to employment as a general purpose farm dog, a stock dog, a catch dog for wild pigs, a guard dog, a baby-sitter and a lovable companion. Eventually Am Staff fanciers produced an unmistakable breed quite different from the American Pit Bull Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The following description aided in this production.

The 'Ideal' Body

'The American Staffordshire Terrier should give the impression of great strength for his size. Heights are 18 to 19 inches (46-48 cm) at the shoulders for the male and 17 to 18 inches (43-46 cm) for the female.' Weight doesn't receive mention in the Standard. However, I found mention in the 1993 Dogs USA Annual where weight is given as 55 to 65 pounds (25-30 kg) for males and females as 5 to 10 pounds (2 - 4.5 kg) lighter.

'The Am Staff should be stocky, not long legged or racy in outline. The neck is heavy, slightly arched, tapering from shoulders to back of skull. No looseness of skin. Of medium length. The shoulders are strong and muscular with blades wide and sloping.'

'The back is fairly short. There is a slight sloping from withers to rump with a gentle short slope at rump to base of tail. Loins slightly tucked. The ribs are well sprung and deep in rear (well ribbed up). Legs are set well apart, (the elbows close). The chest is deep and broad. The front legs have large, round bones. The hindquarters are well-muscled, let down at hocks, turning neither in nor out. The feet are of moderate size, well arched and compact. The tail is low set tapering to a fine point.'

Rearward of the head, Fig 1 has at least eleven faults.

This head, an enlargement of Fig 1's head, conforms to the current Standard. This doesn't make it a good head. Read the following 1936 description of the ideal head; compare it to Fig 3, Fig 4 and Fig 5 heads; choose the correct head from these three. (You can type in your choices at the bottom of this page.) Then, rate Fig 1's head on a scale of 1 to 10.

The 'Ideal' Head

The 'ideal' head is of medium length, deep through broad skull (rounding of muscle on each side of median line) very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop; and ears are set high. Ears are cropped or uncropped, the latter preferred. Uncropped ears should be short and held half-rose or prick (not many prick ears seen today). Full drop to be penalized. Eyes dark and round, low down in skull and set far apart. No pink eyelids. Muzzle is medium length, rounded on upper side to fall away abruptly below the eyes. Jaws well defined. Underjaw to be strong and have biting power. Lips close and even, no looseness. Upper teeth to meet tightly outside lower teeth in front. Nose definitely black.

You can now compare your choices.

Figure 3, Figure 4, or Figure5?

The Am Staff's head is a major type characteristic. Of these three heads which one is correct?

Fig 5 can be ruled out because of the description in the Standard which reads, 'muzzle to fall away abruptly below eyes'. Fig 5's muzzle is filled in under the eyes in the manner of a good Bull Terrier's egg-shaped head, and his eyes set on the sides of the head instead of more square to the front. The AST Standard asks for a 'distinct stop' which ensures the eyes face straight forward in a wide skull.

It is a little more difficult to rule out head Fig 3 based on the official wording because his muzzle is of canine 'medium length' and he does have 'very pronounced cheek muscles' for a dog. Of the three, he most resembles the head on Fig 1.

We can accept the belief of a number of breeders that the muzzle from nose tip to the inner corner of eye should measure 1/3 the total length of head and rule out long muzzle Fig 3. As for what actually constitutes 'very pronounced cheek muscles', I can do no better than refer you to Fig 4's very pronounced cheek muscles. Also notice that the corner of the eye is level with the break between skull and cheek.

Unofficially the correct head as represented by Fig 4 is twice as long as the skull is wide. The muzzle is 1/3 the total length of head. I have used a blaze on the forehead to indicate how 'distinct' the stop is and to convey the fall away under the eyes. Later when we look at the head in profile you will appreciate that the muzzle is deep through - 2/3 the depth of the head.

The Standard advises 'no pink eyelids'. A better word would be 'eye-rims'. Jacqueline Fraser author of The American Staffordshire Terrier, Denlinger, 1990, advises that, 'Some breeders and judges give leeway here if the coat color around the eye is white.' I could go with that except that the majority of Am Staff appear to have an attractive dark halo around each eye in addition to dark eye-rims which may suggest a further distinctiveness and one that should be considered when the Standard is revised.

Figure 1 and Figure 6

There could be more faults, however I have listed 11 of Fig 1's most obvious departures. They are:

1) lack of required large bone

2) neck not heavy and not arched

3) shoulders steep

4) upper arms steep and bossy

5) lack of forechest (hollow between front legs)

6) chest narrow

7) brisket above elbow

8) long loin

9) high-set tail

10) narrow hips

11) excessive tuck-up

The American Staffordshire Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier

The smaller Staffordshire Bull Terrier is said to resemble the American Staffordshire Terrier. It does; however, the Am Staff is not simply a large SBT. As these two drawings show, the two breeds have gone their separate ways since the Civil War when 'Cockney' Charley Lloyd imported his famous dog 'Pilot' and others from Britain. You cannot simply enlarge this 16-inch (40.5 cm) SBT to 19 inches (48 cm) and it becomes an Am Staff. There are subtle differences between the Am Staff head Fig 11 and the head on Staffordshire Bull Terrier Fig 12.

I can depict these subtle head differences much easier than I can describe them. This head comparison to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier serves to reinforce awareness of the distinctiveness of the Am Staffs head beyond just the cropped ears.

In addition to head differences and size, proportionally the Am Staff's neck, body, legs and tail are longer. This creates a totally different balance only fully appreciated when compared to each other. And lastly the Am Staff's front feet, unlike those of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, point straight forward.

Unlike the owners of Bull Terriers, Am Staff exhibitors shy away from having their winners photographed in profile, preferring the 3/4 angle. This preference can be a disadvantage when it comes to formulating an image in one's mind's eye of what a judge should look for in profile. Although less dramatic, the view in profile defines specific proportions as correct. and I would be remiss if I did not include a profile view.

It is in profile that this typical bitch's shorter muzzle than skull (unofficially 1/3 muzzle to 2/ 3 skull) can be appreciated as well as parallel planes, the distinct stop, and the shape of the end of the muzzle.

In profile, attention is drawn to the broadening of the neck into the shoulders and its arch. When the Standard is revised. the forechest in front of the point of shoulder should receive mention as should the sloped upper arm; the elbow positioned level with deepest part of brisket. The elbow also positions half the distance between withers and ground, the foreleg being as long as the body is deep. There is a slight slope to the front pastern. She is 18 inches (46 cm) tall and 20 inches (51 cm) long.

There is a muscle pad at the withers and frequently a muscle ridge along each side of the spine. The withers are obvious and as per the current Standard, I have given the topline a slight sloping to rump, with a gentle short slope at rump to base of low set on tail. The loin is short and she is only slightly tucked up. Her good hindquarter angulation complements her equally good forequarter angulation.

Ears

Ears may be cropped or uncropped, the latter preferred. Uncropped ears should be short and held half rose or prick. Full drop to be penalized. In addition to 'cropped' this should only include 'half rose' - delete the 'prick ear' and forget about changing 'half rose' to 'half prick'; allow me to illustrate my interpretation of prick ears, half rose ears, cropped ears and half prick ears and then decide yourself.

I have drawn the same head with four different pairs of ears. Fig 7's prick ears, Fig 8's half rose ears, and Fig 9's cropped ears are all acceptable; however I doubt if you will ever see a prick ear in the show ring. Fig 10 is the accepted representation of a half prick-ear, however I do not believe this is what fanciers want.

The term half prick ear where, as an Fig 10 the tip breaks forward above the top of the skull, is not the term that should be used to describe Fig 8's half rose ears where the tips fold forward but more to the sides partially exposing burr. All that needs to be revised is to delete the two words 'or prick' and you are left with uncropped half rose Fig 8 and cropped Fig 9 to choose from.