I know that when I first got into dog breeding and read the breed standard it seemed a bit vague to me, ok if i had a picture of a Staffordshire Bull terrier to hand then I could fit the two together and all was well and that was about all I thought about it, didn't need to look at the standard again now I knew what a Stafford looked like.
You could do the same but what would happen if we all took this approach when dog breeding and just had a quick read of The breed Standard, well i think fancy would take over as has happened with many breeds and can be witnessed at dog shows and a few generations down the road we wouldn't have true Staffordshires any more.
A breed Standard is a touch stone it takes us back to the origin of the breed for most breed standards are based in original purpose. Obviously original purpose for our breed in the bad old days was to battle for his life in the pit, thankfully those days have long since been made illegal and the modern Staffordshire is a delightful companion who is loyal to his owners and family.
We totally condemn dog fighting and any body who gets involved in such activity today is a cruel disreputable criminal. we don't need to see a dog fight to understand the conformation and construction of our breed after all most of the breed standard is just describing a well made dog.
I watch our dogs move everyday running, jumping , play fighting and battling over a tug. As breeders we accept the KC standard as an accurate representation of the true SBT type and do our best to understand what the breed standard requires and produce such stock.
Strength and agility are fundamental characteristics of the Stafford neither of which can be achieved unless the animal possesses soundness and balance these four attributes we consider to be the four corner stones of a quality Staffordshire this should be kept in mind when reading the breed standard.
To many with terms like deep, wide and broad with no definition of the terms "The Standard" is hard to understand but it is specific in height and weight i.e. 14 to 16 inches and 28 to 38lbs 4lbs lighter for bitches, though if you go to a dog show for Staffordshire Bull Terriers you will see many out side this, some people just think bigger is better. Anyway if we construct a dog of 16 inches and 38lbs with balance strength and agility then "The Standard" is not so vague after all.
If a dog is 16 inches and 38lbs and balanced then the fact that he is balanced dictates the size of his head and body how much bone he has the width of his front the length of his back, add strength and agility and this dictates the size and type of musculature he possesses. also the standard gives descriptions of the conformation of the fore and rear quarters which also need to be balanced front and with correct hock and pastern then all he needs is a good set of feet the right ears and tail and you have a SBT.
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