The
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Breed
Standard
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Breed Standard
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier
breed of dog was recognized by the Kennel Club of England in 1935.
This was the first official recognition of the Stafford as a Breed
of dog.
But
before recognition, a club had to be formed and a Standard drawn up.
From John F. Gordon's book "The Staffordshire Bull
Terrier" published in 1971 we have the following historical
commentary found on page 39 of that wonderful publication.
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MAKING THE STANDARD
Making the Standard was one of the
first duties that fell to the SBTC. It was gone into
thoroughly by a body of experts, men with years of
experience and ownership in the breed. Two good current dogs
were set up as excellent examples of the breed. They were
Harry Pegg's Joe (Fearless Joe) and Mrs. J. Shaw's Jim (Jim
the Dandy), the former a fawn, the latter a brindle. Their
anatomy and structural points were examined, and a lot of
old sketches, prints and photographs discussed. It will be
understood that in any breed, provided a number of examples
are available, some features will be more or less uniform or
common to the majority. Assuming that these characteristics
are sound ones they can then be accepted as being typical of
the breed. Some difficulties were at first experienced in
the discussions, for a wide range of types and sizes existed
in Staffords in those days. It was natural that those who
owned the big bulldoggy types claimed theirs were the right
type, while those with the long-muzzled lightweights
supported theirs. It needed a lot of tact and discretion on
the part of club officials to convince these enthusiasts who
was right and who was wrong, while still retaining their
interest, to say nothing of their memberships. Clearly, the
Stafford as a fighting dog had natural physical attributes
expected of a combatant canine. Where these were found
common to a number of dogs they were accepted as desiderata
in the breed, and eventually a Standard was formulated and
passed to the Kennel Club for approval. For some time
argument was rife in Staffordshire towns like Walsall,
Darlaston, and Cradley Heath, each of which had different
ideas as to what constituted a good Stafford. However, as
their opinion in the main of a good Stafford was one that
fought and won, they were hardly qualified to pass
worthwhile comment of any kind on what constituted a good
type for exhibition.
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The
Staffordshire Bull Terrier breed of dog was admitted to registration
in the American Kennel Club Stud Book on October 1, 1974. This was
the first time that the Stafford was officially recognized in the
United States as a Breed of dog.
The
current AKC Staffordshire Bull Terrier Breed Standard was approved
November 14, 1989, and was effective January 1, 1990.
What is a Breed Standard?
A
good answer to this question was given in the book "The
Staffordshire Bull Terrier in America" edited by Steve Eltinge,
and was as follows:
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An official standard is a blueprint
for a breed of dog. Every breed recognized by the United
Kennel Club and the American kennel Club has a standard.
Some standards (like the one for Staffordshire Bull
Terriers) are simple; others (like the Great Dane Standard)
contain thousands of words detailing virtually every aspect
of the dog's conformation. These standards or
"blueprints" describe an ideal to which breeders
attempt to conform. It is the responsibility of UKC and AKC
judges to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the
standards for each breed that they are approved to judge.
Judges must then evaluate exhibitors' dogs according to the
degree to which each dog represents the Official Standard.
The Official Standard for the
Staffordshire Bull Terrier, like all other standards, is
written from a positive perspective. Pure-bred dog standards
describe what is desirable and correct. Virtue, not fault,
is emphasized. Standards mention faults as well as
disqualifications but the intent is to describe the ideal.
Thus, each breeder has a model or framework from which he or
she may form a mental picture of the ideal dog. It is the
task of the judge to grade the efforts of the breeders in
attendance through a system of awards. This is a vital
process for those involved in raising purebred dogs. Without
standards, dog shows, and judges, the identity of all breeds
would probably soon be lost.
Since there are no perfect dogs in
any breed, illustrated standards are usually presented
graphically. This allows the artist to selectively add the
best parts of several dogs to a composite drawing. In this
chapter photographs are used to illustrate the Official
Standard. Although not perfect in every regard, the dogs
depicted here demonstrate the ideal according to each
particular section of the Standard. Photos and drawings are
also used to illustrate faults.
The Official Standard for the
Staffordshire Bull Terrier was accepted by the American
Kennel Club in 1974. In 1975, the first Staffordshire Bull
Terriers were shown in the Terrier Group at AKC shows.
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The
one thing that a Standard cannot describe is the intangibles of
spirit, intelligence, heart and tenaciousness. The Stafford is more
than the written standard and there is a lot more to him than can be
seen by a show judge and his identity is more than can be seen in
the show ring.
We
have attempted to illustrate the points of the breed standard with
graphics and photos. The intangibles we illustrate with anecdotes,
history and other articles within this cyber-publication.
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