THE STANDARD EXPLAINED

 

 

First of all print yourself a copy of the standard by clicking here

We shall deal with each part of the standard in turn. What it is vitally important to remember is that each judge will interpret the standard their own way. A fault is a fault but the degree of the fault and the opinion of that judge will vary so don't be put off showing just because you see after reading the standard that the dog is faulted. I have seen the best dogs on occasion beaten by the worst so the saying is true.
Every dog has his day.

General Impression
The American Staffordshire Terrier should give the impression of great strength for his size, a well put-together dog, muscular, but agile and graceful. He should be stocky, not long-legged or racy in outline.

This you will need to gauge for yourself. You are on the internet, there are books available. Look at photos of the very best dogs and see what they look like. Later in the standard you will see that 18-19 inches is the preferred height and that height and weight should be in proportion. It shouldn't be too difficult to imagine a well put together dog, muscular yet agile and not too tall. Bitches are slightly smaller. Some are masculine, some are feminine. Generally speaking they will not be as muscular as their male counterparts. The American Kennel Club Standard particularly states "No Exaggerations" An overdone dog or one that is out of proportion is not to be encouraged.

Temperament
Keenly alive to his surroundings. His courage is proverbial.

An amstaff is no wuss. if he is dopey, cowardly, indifferent then he has incorrect temperament. If you are only wanting a pet then you may find some of these attributes appealing, however, as a show prospect, temperament is judged and while you do not want an aggressive dog you do want one who is on his toes always at the ready.

Head & Skull
Head medium length, deep through, broad skull, very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop. Muzzle medium length, rounded on upper side to fall away abruptly below eyes. Jaws well defined. Underjaw to be strong and have biting power. Lips close and even, no looseness. Nose definitely black, dudley nose undesirable. Eyes Dark and round, low down in skull and set far apart. Light or pink eyes undesirable. No pink eyelids. Ears Should be short and held rose or half prick. Set high. Full drop to be penalised. Mouth Upper teeth to meet tightly outside lower teeth in front. Undershot or overshot mouths undesirable.

What is important here is what is not said. First and foremost an Amstaff head has parallel planes. What this means is that the top of the muzzle and the top of the head run parallel. Between them is the stop which is where the eyes are. Many Amstaffs have Stafford heads or what we term apple heads. The top of the head instead of being parallel is round shaped like an apple. Others still have lines that are not parallel. Each of these is a fault. The standard calls for a head of medium length, a broad skull and distinct stop. Again if the head is too short the dog will look more like a Stafford than an Amstaff. The proportion of the muzzle to the head should be in the ratio 1:2. Any longer in the muzzle and the dog will begin to look snouty. A broad skull will provide the dog with a good broad head to match his muscular body. A distinct stop! This means that the area between the parallel planes should be noticeably steep. Generally speaking, the steeper the better. Although not mentioned, the depth of the muzzle should be approximately 2/3 the depth of the head. This coupled with the deep through, medium length head with the muzzle to head length of 1:2 will give the typical Amstaff head.
Ears
We have a standard which calls for half prick or rose ears. (rose is like the stafford where they fold back on themselves) With dogs with cropped ears and semen from dogs with cropped ears being imported it is impossible to know what ears you will get and even with two dogs with perfect ears there is no guarantee what you will get. Rose ears look by far the better but it is more important to have two ears the same. You should ask your breeder for assistance with ears as it will be many more generations before proper natural rose ears are the norm..
The upper teeth should meet just outside the lower teeth. An undershot mouth is considered a serious fault.

Neck
Heavy, slightly arched, tapering from shoulders to back of skull. No looseness of skin. Medium length.

This part is pretty much self explanatory. The neck tapers slightly from the shoulders to the skull and there should be no loose skin.

Forequarters
Shoulders strong and muscular with blades wide and sloping. The front legs should be straight, large or round bones, pasterns upright. No resemblance of bend in front. Forelegs set rather wide apart to permit chest development.

Again quite self explanatory. Strong and muscular with wide shoulder blades. Front legs should be straight with no bend. Pasterns upright. This is the equivalent to the wrist area. When the dog is at attention, it will be up on it's pastern, when relaxed, slightly bent. It should never be down in the pasterns. Legs should be wide apart. With wide shoulders one would hope there is a wide chest to go with it.

Body
Back fairly short. Slightly sloping from withers to rump with gentle slope at rump to base of tail. Well sprung ribs, deep in rear. All ribs close together. Chest deep and broad. Loins slightly tucked.

A dog that is long in back will look too long overall and be out of proportion. When the dog is stacked or on the move the topline should be straight but not level. It should be at the highest point at the withers with a slight slope to the rump and a gentle slope to a properly set tail. Ribs should be close together and well sprung which will accentuate the loins which should have a slight tuck. Chest deep and broad is self explanatory.

Hindquarters
Well muscled, let down at hocks, turning neither in nor out.

Well muscled speaks for itself. There should be distinct hindquarters after the slight loin tuck. The hock is the area above the foot. Let down means "short" Too long in the hocks will make the dog high in the back. Turning neither in nor out. There are many different faults in this area but the standard calls for the hindquarters to be "neither tuning in not out" in other words parallel and perpendicular to the ground.

Feet
Of moderate size, well arched and compact.

Amstaff feet are not meant to be large like a Malamute. They should be medium sized well arched (on their toes) and tight in the toes like a cat's paw.

Tail
Short in comparison to size, low set, tapering to a fine point; not curled or held over back. Not docked. Tail too long or badly carried undesirable.

The tail should be no longer than the hock in the adult dog. It should not be held over the back although many Amstaffs will hold their tails like this when excited. The tail should be straight with a small upward curve towards the end like an old fashioned pump handle.

Movement
Must be springy without roll or pace.

The perfect dog will when viewed from behind, have his hind legs move almost directly in line with his front legs. This is rarely the case and most dogs are off one way or the other. It is preferable that the hind legs move slightly inside the line of the front legs, perhaps moving a little closer at higher speed. Side movement should see the front legs "reach" out in front of the dog with the hind legs driving forward in a scissor action. Bad movement is a sign of a badly put together dog and is usually inherited from the parents. Faults which are apparent in the side movement are small steps in the front (no reach) too high movement in the front
(lollypopping) sluggish in the back end (no drive) and paddling in the back end (rotary action) Many judges like good movement and apart from the fact that the dog will be faulted, your dog will not have much of a winning chance. Springy! Coupled with the reach and drive outlined earlier a springy gait will give the impression that the dog is light on it's feet. Pace is where both legs on the same side of the dog move in unison. Some dogs will do this when out on a lead. It is not desirable in a show dog. Roll is where the dogs body will wobble from side to side. Again not desirable. The best gaited dogs will move as a complete unit showing maximum efficiency.

Coat
Short, close, stiff to the touch, and glossy.

There are two coat types one is stiff almost like a brush and the other is more velvety. It makes no difference which but a good shiny coat is needed in the show ring to reflect good health.

Colour
Any colour, solid, parti, or patched is permissible, but all white, more than 80% white, black and tan, and liver not to be encouraged.

Black and Tan is the most prevalent problem in Australia. Some lines carry these colours and the breeders have continued breeding. Please don't encourage them. Dogs with more white are now beginning to appear but nowhere near the more than 80% considered undesirable..

Size
Height and weight should be in proportion.

This speaks for itself. See below.

Height:
Dogs approx 46 - 48 cms (18 - 19 inches) at shoulders Bitches approx 43 - 46 cms (17 - 18 inches) at shoulders is considered preferable.

Considered preferable. Some standards are quite particular about size while others are less so. It will be easier to win with a slightly bigger dog than a smaller one. Just remember he should be stocky, not long legged or racy. You also need to consider what is TOO big. In My opinion a dog that is 10% over size will be approximately 21 inches. I wouldn't want a dog to be any bigger than that. Likewise about 19 1/2-20 inches would be topsize for a bitch.

Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

A fault, any fault is just that - one fault and it will be penalised according the the seriousness of the fault and how that particular judge views it. Do not consider that because your dog has a few faults that he will not win in the show ring. What is important is that his faults are only of a minor nature and that he fits the "General impression"

Note: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

My note female animals should not.

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