Why the Athletic Stafford?
Why did we choose these fine dogs as our chosen breed and companions, feared by some but loved by many????
They are a loyal & affectionate breed of nice compact size with a fearless & dependable temperament. The ancestry of these dogs can be traced back at least as far back as the beginning of the 19th century, the early Bull & Terrier crosses go as far back as the early 1800.
In May 1935 the Bull and Terrier received the approval of the Kennel Club, the Staffordshire bull Terrier's were admitted into the stud book registry. The breeds first English Champions gained their titles when the Challenge Certificates were awarded to the dog Champion Gentleman Jim & the Bitch Champion Lady Eve in 1935 (pics on Stafford's of old link)
The current Kennel Club standard has been reduced in size & function, why???? perhaps to make the Staffordshire Bull Terrier more acceptable to the general public that for many years had been fed exaggerated, sensationalised stories about these fine dogs. The changes have not benefited the breed as far as we can see.
So ask us what drew us to the Athletic Staffordshire Bull Terrier & what is encouraging us to strive & recreate the Kennel Club Stafford of old, its simple, we want to experience the real Stafford spirit in its total & raw exuberance, fun, eager to please, healthy, willing & able, with an unparalleled steady temperament with adults & especially children, we want others to be able to enjoy these fabulous animals for many generations to come.
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1935 K.C Standard Smooth coated dog, he should give the impression of great strength for his size &although muscular should be active & agile, standing about 15 to 18 inches, 28-38lb bitches 4lb less .................................................. |
1987 K.C Standard Smooth, short & close coat, movement free, powerful & agile with economy of effort, desirable height, 14 to 16 inches, 28-38lb bitches 4lb less |
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| Our Nathan, 17 & 1/2 inches at the shoulder, weight 37lb |
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"In response to an article on agility and movement within the stafford breed"
I enjoyed reading Archie Bryden's excellent article 'Lets have some sense'
What surprised me was Archie's statement "The standard also states the Stafford to be active and agile in movement, although how a judge is supposed to asses this latter point defies comprehension"
I believe that to a certain extent it is quite possible to assess agility in the show ring.
When it comes to breeding, judging or assessing agility in any breed of dog many of us make the same mistake. We start evaluating the dogs strictly against the written standard and we ignore purpose and history. In my opinion, no breeder or judge of any breed can be successful if they rely totally on their breed standard. It is not enough to know that the dog must have a good bend of stifle, it should be understood 'why' he must have a good bend of stifle. With this knowledge a person is better able to select the dog best qualified to perform a given purpose.
Agile means nimble or quick moving, yet most of our breed standard asks for a dog not built for speed but for endurance. Endurance means the power to withstand hardship or stress. Assessing agility in the Staffordshire bull terrier using the breed standard as a guideline begins with a look at the dog standing.
The dog should be in balance, a knowledge of anatomy will be more useful here than the breed standard. A dog that is in static balance will have his front and back legs parallel and pointing straight ahead. The front paw will be directly under the vertical centre of the shoulder blade. In the rear the heel or hock of the dog should be parallel and slightly behind the pelvis joint. A dog with good angulation at the front, poor at the rear and vice versa is not in balance and will usually not move well. A dog with poor angulation both front and rear would make a better balanced dog and may even move reasonably well but he will never be as agile as the dog who is completely in balance at both ends.
Although the head has little to do with agility, there are a few relevant points I would like to make. The short muzzle is in itself not a problem, but there are problems which sometimes accompany the short muzzle. One is elongated soft palate which causes laboured breathing and can cause stress to the heart. All those dogs you see puffing and panting on a hot day do not necessarily have elongated soft palates. The lack of length of muzzle is associated with reduction in length of tongue, which in hot weather is vital to the dogs cooling process. These dogs are simply having to work harder at keeping cool. Everyone else has had their say on teeth, now it's my turn. The shorter the muzzle the less room there is for teeth. It is common for Stafford 's to miss one premolar on both sides of the lower jaw. A Stafford should have a total of 42 teeth. I have seen dogs with up to three missing premolars on both sides, a total of six missing teeth. Any more missing teeth and the only bite such a dog would be able to give an opponent would be a love bite.
But now back to agility.
The front of the dog should have well laid-back shoulders. The forward reach of the front leg should be approximately the angle of the shoulder blade, therefore the more laid-back the shoulder, the better the reach. Animals built for endurance such as the wolf have well laid back shoulders, animals built for speed such as the cheetah have vertical shoulder blades. At the trot, a well laid back shoulder increases reach and endurance. The dog with steep shoulders will lack reach of stride, endurance and will bounce up and down at the withers.
The standard asks for a dog who is well boned.
The bone in the forearm of a dog is either oval or round. Dogs that are built for forward speed have oval foreleg bones. Wide-fronted dogs who are built to resist side forces, in other words, designed for lateral stability such as Stafford 's, should have round bones.
The standard asks for wide front, deep brisket, well sprung ribs, in other words, the circular chest which is structurally the strongest and has the greatest volume for storage of heart and lungs. The only disadvantage of the circular chest is that the shoulder blade must move up and down on a curved surface. A flat surface is more efficient, animals built for speed have deep, narrow chests with flattened sides. Moving along to the loins, the standard asks for a close-coupled dog. although long loins and / or coupling is a structural weakness, the loins / coupling should never be too short as a reasonable length of coupling is required for turning ability.
In the rear the stifle should be well bent. A well bent stifle normally has longer reach and gives the dog more flexibility. Straight stifles are in my opinion a serious fault, the dog with straight stifles cannot move in a free, powerful and agile way. The hocks should be well let down, in other words, the rear pastern should be short. Low hocks are better for endurance whereas high hocks are better for initial speed.
The breed standard tells us the topline should be level and the tail should
be low set. Can the two go together ? In my observations I have noticed dogs with level top lines usually have medium, that is neither high nor low set tails. Whereas dogs with slight muscular arch over the loin, known by some as the Midlands topline, usually have a low set tail. The difference in these two toplines is caused by the angle or shape of the pelvis. A level backed dog has a pelvis slope of around 30 degrees off the horizontal. Providing the rest of the rear is as it should be this dog will have a good back reach, rearward extension of the rear paw, and will move with discernible drive from the hind legs. The dog with a slight muscular arch and low set tail has a slightly steeper pelvis of around 35 or 40 degrees, this dog will have a shorter back reach. The angle of the pelvis indicates turning efficiency and it is the steeper pelvis that is desirable for quick turning and agility. The dog whose pelvis is too steep will have restricted back reach and will move with fast short steps.
Dogs that look like body builders may have heavy muscles. Heavy muscles produce greater strength but slower reflexes. Thin muscles have quicker reflexes. On the move low wide set dogs may have some body 'roll' this is typical for our breed but the greater the 'roll' the greater will be the expenditure of energy to overcome the 'roll'. The 'roll' must therefore be kept to a minimum.
It can be beneficial for the judge who is assessing agility to have an understanding of hereditary problems such as hip dysphasia and slipping patella. Dogs who resist flexing the stifle joint by swinging the legs outwards, or if one hock is inclined to knock against the other, the one hock may be doing more work than the other, such movement indicates problems in the stifles and / or hips and certainly eliminates the dog as being agile.
To sum it all up. Surely a healthy, sound and correctly constructed dog who moves freely and with purpose in the show ring is an active and agile dog outside the show ring.
Written by = Heather Maxwell
The Kennel club standard itself has changed twice since the original standard was set in 1935 the first change was in 1948 with the second in 1987
Some facts about the standard past and present
The words "His off duty quietness and trustworthy stability make him the foremost all purpose dog" were removed in 1987
The words "Bold, Fearless and totally reliable" only appeared in the recent 1987 version of the standard
The words "active", "agile", "great strength for his size", "muscular" and "smooth coated" have never been changed
1935 Colour. may be any shade of brindle - Black - White - Fawn or Red or any of these colours with white. Black and tan and liver not to be encouraged
1948 Colour - Red, fawn, white, black or blue, or any of these colors with white. Any shade of brindle or any shade of brindle with white. Black-and-tan or liver colour not to be encouraged
1987 Colour - Red, fawn, white, black or blue, or any one of these colours with white. Any shade of brindle or any shade of brindle with white. Black-and-tan or liver colour highly undesirable
Gait/Movement - Free, powerful and agile with economy of effort. Legs moving parallel when viewed from front or rear. Discernible drive from hindlegs............ Gait/Movement did not exist until 1987
1935 Weight. Dogs 28 to 38 lbs. Bitches 4lbs less
1948 Weight and size - Weight: Dogs, 28lb. to 38lb. Bitches, 24lb. to 34lb. Height (at shoulder), 14in to 16in, these heights being related to the weights
1987 Weight and size - weight: Dogs 28lbs to 38lbs. Bitches 24lbs to 34lbs. desirable height (at withers), 14 to 16 inches, these heights being related to the weights
Although the weights have never been changed, the height was changed to 14 to 16 inches in 1948
Both the 1935 and the 1948 Standards describe the height to be measured "at the shoulder" - there is no mention of WHERE on the shoulder the measurement should be taken, the 1987 Standard says "at withers" which is a much more definitive point
We like to think the whole feel of our site and the many pictures on it will warm you to the real Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Thanks to our good friend's for sending us this picture, it says so much!!!!!!