Easy SBT Standard

General Appearance:



Smooth coated, well balanced, of great strength for his size. Muscular, active and agile.

Characteristics: Traditionally of indomitable courage and tenacity. Highly intelligent and affectionate especially with children.
Temperament:




Bold, fearless and totally reliable.

Head And Skull: Short, deep though with broad skull. Very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop, short foreface, nose black.
Eyes: Dark preferred but may bear some relation to coat colour. Round, of medium size, and set to look straight ahead. Eye rims dark.
Ears: Rose or half pricked, not large or heavy. Full, drop or pricked ears highly undesirable.
Mouth: Lips tight and clean. Jaws strong, teeth large, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
Neck: Muscular, rather short, clean in outline gradually widening towards shoulder.
Forequarters: Legs straight and well boned, set rather wide apart, showing no weakness at the pasterns, from which point feet turn out a little. Shoulders well laid back with no looseness at elbow.
Body: Close coupled, with level topline, wide front, deep brisket, well sprung ribs; muscular and well defined.
Hindquarters: Well muscled, hocks well let down with stifles well bent. Legs parallel when viewed from behind.
Feet: Well padded, strong and of medium size. Nails black in solid coloured dogs.
Tail: Medium length, low set, tapering to a point and carried rather low. Should not curl much and may be likened to an old fashioned pump handle.
Gait/Movement: Free, powerful and agile with economy of effort. Legs moving parallel when viewed from front or rear. Discernible drive from hindlegs.


Coat:

Smooth, short and close.
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.
Sizes: Weight: Dogs 12.7-17 kg (28-38 lbs) at withers
Bitches 11-15.4 kg (24-34 lbs) at withers
Desirable Height: 14-16 inches
(these heights being related to the weights)
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.
Notes: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

The Staffordshire Bull Terrier - A Dog of Contrasts



GENERAL APPEARANCE – Smooth coated, well balanced, of great strength for his size. Muscular, active and agile.
This clause of the standard is most important as it gives the overall picture of TYPE. Many judges and enthusiasts alike do not seem to realize that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is NOT a bulldog. The thing to remember is that we are not looking for a Bulldog or a Terrier, our ideal lies somewhere in between the two.
“Active, agile and of great strength for his size” are the keywords. Strength is shown by muscular development and this can be a pitfall for the inexperienced.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is an athlete with long, rubbery, resilient muscle, and when in good condition will give the appearance of being smooth and hard. On the other hand bulky, loaded muscle which, for all intents and purposes, give the impression of great strength, will be accompanied by shortened, heavy bone; such a dog is referred to as the “bull type” and does not possess the correct conformation . Heavy bone and bulky muscle loses agility. AGILITY is a definite requirement of the breed.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier should have a ‘clean outline’, free from fleshiness, he should stand his ground and with his athletic and controlled muscular activity he will portray his best.
The bitch, whilst possessing all the same features and qualities of the dog, by her refinement proclaims her femininity.
LOOK FOR good show condition, a close, short coat shining with natural gleam. Good straight bone, long, rubbery, resilient muscle and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier must never be fat.
CHARACTERISTICS – Traditionally of indomitable courage and tenacity. Highly intelligent and affectionate, especially with children.
This area of the standard deals mainly with temperament. This is not easy to assess when looking at a dog in the showring. The Stafford has proven his ability in the obedience ring demonstrating he is trainable. This coupled with this quiet independence is one of his greatest charms. He can be a great fighting machine, if set upon, exhibiting a single-minded purposefulness and craftsmanship not to be found in any other breed. Yet, he is most trusting, affectionate and gentle with humans, so much so, many doubt his ability as a guard.
LOOK FOR a keen and intelligent expression with obvious awareness, he should stand his ground without being too troublesome. Cringing Staffordshire Bull Terriers should be penalized as without their temperament they lose their magic and breed presence.

TEMPERAMENT - Bold, fearless and totally reliable.
Temperament is well covered in the characteristics clause, except to emphasise that he should be totally reliable, a gentleman, unless set upon.

HEAD AND SKULL – Short, deep through with broad skull. Very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop, short foreface, nose black.
The head of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier is unique. It has a rugged beauty all of its own, being broad with great depth and strength, clean of loose or pendulous skin that would be a great disadvantage to a fighting dog.
The broad skull is encases in prominent muscle that commences above the eyes, bulging slightly. The prominence of the stop and furrow is brought about by this muscle as it bulges across each side of the head, and smoothly in sweeping lines, continues down behind the ears. The cheek bumps must be prominent.
The foregoing relates to adults as puppy heads are not fully developed until approximately eighteen months.
The muzzle should be short, broad and blunt. The ideal proportions are one third muzzle; two thirds skull. There should be no sign of lippiness; the lips should be clean and tight. The nose is black with large nostrils.
From the nose, the muzzle should gently widen to the skull and ever so gradually widening to the ears. The muscular development of the cheek muscle increases the appearance of width making the head a ‘wedge’ shape. The head should be deep through as should the muzzle. There should be no appearance of snippiness or on the other hand the head should not be square. The planes of the skull and muzzle should be parallel without any signs of being

dishfaced or down faced. The topline of the skull is flat – not round, dogs with round skulls are termed ‘apple headed’.
Weak, pinched and snipey forefaces denote a grave lack of strength in bite and are untypical. A ‘bitchy’ headed dog is as undesirable as a ‘doggy’ headed bitch.
LOOK FOR a muscular, clean head of good depth and breadth, wedge shaped and in balance with the whole dog. A strong, deep underjaw is a pre-requisite. Loose skin or pendulous lips to be penalised.

EYES – Dark preferred but may bear some relation to coat colour. Round of medium size and set to look straight ahead. Eye rims dark.
Without the correct eye colour, shape and placement you will not find the correct Staffordshire Bull Terrier expression. The eyes should b round without being bulbous or protruding. They should be widely spaced, look straight ahead and approximately in line with the stop. There should be no hint of the oriental. If the head shape is correct the eye shape and set will follow.
The Standard calls for a dark eye but may pay some relation to the coat. The darker the better but some brindles and reds have a hazel eye which is quite acceptable. The yellow or lighter shades lose the true expression.
Pigment around the eyerim is to be dark on all colours excepting where the hair is white – some latitude is allowed here and the eyerims are usually pink.
LOOK FOR a keen and intelligent expression, with medium sized round eyes placed wide apart and set to look straight ahead. The dark eye is preferred but may bear some relation to the coat color. Almond shaped, bulbous, protruding or yellow coloured eyes to be penalised.

EARS- Rose or half pricked, not large or heavy. Full drop or pricked ears highly undesirable.
Ears play an important part of the overall appearance. Rose or half pricked are equally acceptable. The important point here is that the ears are small to medium in size and to be of thin texture. Large, thick ears carried untidily, detract from the overall pleasurable picture of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Large or thick ears would also put him to a great disadvantage in the days when he performed in the pits. They should be set high on the side of the head, using the outside corner of the eye as a guideline.
LOOK FOR rose or half pricked ears, not large but small to medium of thin texture carried high on the side of the head. It is important they should be tidy. Full pricked or full drop to be penalised.

MOUTH – Lips tight and clean. Jaws strong, teeth large, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite ie. Upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
This is a bug-bear with most Stafford breeders. With a breed that calls for the short, blunt foreface there is some degree of the undershot mouth problem inherent.
Before an incorrect bite is heavily penalized, one should assess the degree of severity whilst remembering the Staffordshire Bull Terrier’s purpose.
If a dog has a slight dentition problem eg. Crooked inscissors, it should be considered no more a fault than untidy ears or light eyes. Better an outstanding specimen of the breed with a slight dentition problem take top honours over a mediocre dog with a perfect bite.
LOOK FOR a clean scissor bite with some reservations toward excellent specimens with slight dentition problems. The wry mouth, badly undershot or overshot mouth should debar a dog from winning.


NECK – Muscular, rather short, clean in outline gradually widening towards shoulders.
A reachy neck will lack strength, and the dog that has a neck too short will suffer with respiratory problems. The call for a rather short neck does not mean that the head is to be almost on the dog’s shoulders. The neck must be powerful and strong, it must be clean from loose folds of skin. It must be long enough to swing around to confront his adversary. It must taper gradually from the head widening into the shoulders. When a dog is standing his ground, you will see the muscular, crested arch over the neck which enhances his outline.
LOOK FOR a clean, smooth, muscular and strong neck with that distinct regal, muscular arch from the occiput to the entry at the shoulders where the neck widens.

FOREQUARTERS – Legs straight and well boned, set rather wide apart, showing no weakness at the pasterns, from which point feet turn out a little. Shoulder well laid back with no looseness at elbow.
The front legs should be well boned and straight and whilst being set rather wide apart must be set under the dog in line with his shoulders. The straight line is broken only at the point where the feet turn out slightly at pastern. The turn out at pastern is for flexibility and agility.
Viewed from the front, the outside line of the front leg should go straight up into the shoulder. This is covered in a flattish muscle,



not bulging or bunchy. The shoulder should be smooth. Viewing from the top of the dog, the shoulders should come cleanly into the body and on no account should it appear that the shoulders are tacked onto the side of the body.
LOOK FOR a good straight front with the slight turn out at pastern. Clean, muscled shoulders well laid with no sign of looseness. Do not be impressed by the bunchy loaded muscle in the shoulder. Feel for the correct thickness and roundness of bone, which should be ample rather than heavy. A stilted or proppy action in the forward movement will indicate upright placed shoulders which is incorrect.

BODY – Close coupled, with level topline, wide front, deep brisket, well sprung ribs, muscular and well defined.
The body must show great strength for its size and great springiness in body structure. A deep brisket, depth to the elbow. He should be short and well muscled and strong in coupling. There is no hard and fast measurement here but it is considered that approximately four fingers long in the coupling but no more. He should be well ribbed back.
Viewed from the side you should get an impression of a square dog, rather light in loin, with a distinct tuck up. He must have a level topline with an ever so slight muscular rise over the croup.
LOOK FOR a level topline, strong and short in coupling. Ample depth of brisket and the smooth contour of that great, smooth muscle. Well sprung ribs that are well ribbed back. Overloaded muscle, short heavy bones, long weak backs, lack of brisket and/or spring of rib are untypical.
HINDQUARTERS – Well muscled, hocks well let down with stifles well bent. Legs parallel when viewed from behind.
Good balance in the matter of height and breadth of hindquarters. When viewed from above the hindquarters should be slightly narrower than the forequarters. Well developed second thighs are essential, as are hocks well let down. Watch for the faults of cow hocks when the points of the hocks turn inwards.
Ensure good bend of stifle – this is very important. Any straightness in this area will limit the pushing and staying power of the dog and give a disagreeable prop-like effect to the hind limbs.
The slightly bowed hind leg is a legacy from our Bulldog ancestors, and, whilst not perfect, is not a sign of weakness and when present to a slight extent, does not constitute a serious fault.
Watch for substantial muscle development in the inner and outer confines of the hindlegs and you should fault severely on degenerate posteriors.
FEET – Well padded, strong and of medium size. Nails black in solid coloured dogs.
The feet are best described as half hare; half cat. They are medium size with the front being larger than the hind. They are well padded, strong and well knuckled up. Not tight like a cat foot.
LOOK FOR well made sound foot with strong wrists or pasterns where the wrist weakness is likely to show. Keeping in mind we have an athletic breed in the Stafford, thin, flat, or splayed feet constitute a bad fault.

TAIL – Medium length, low set, tapering to a point and carried rather low. Should not curl much and may be likened to an old fashioned pump handle.
The tail is of medium length, low set and likened to an old-fashioned pump handle. The length is mostly taken by holding the tail along the inside of the hind leg. It should not quite come to the beginning of the hock. It should be strong at the root and taper to a point. A correctly set pump handle shaped tail sets off the overall picture of out ideal dog. Gay, curly or tails set too high or low, or those carried between the legs are unsightly and uncharacteristic.

GAIT AND MOVEMENT – Free, powerful and agile with economy of effort. Legs moving parallel when viewed from front or rear. Discernible drive from hindlegs.
Free, powerful, agile with economy of effort and a definite swagger. Legs should be parallel when standing both fore and aft. The front legs, when moving, will automatically incline inwards toward the spine or centre (kinetic balance). This inward inclination must commence from the shoulder – never the elbow. The hind legs should move parallel when viewed from behind and have discernible drive.
A typical, well balanced Staffordshire should never cross or weave either in front or rear, a dog moving in this way should be heavily penalised.

COAT – Smooth, short and close
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier’s coat is quite distinctive, best described as a medium coarse texture and pleasant to handle. It is very close fitting but even on hard muscled dogs will tighten closer when the animal is fighting. In this state it forms a leather-like armour protection to the body.
LOOK FOR quality in the coat texture and good condition. Fault long, coarse coats and any sign of ruff.
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.
There are a wide variety of colours allowed in the Standard. There should be no colour preference when judging. A good dog is a good colour unless it is black and tan or liver.
We have had incidences of a couple of black and tans gracing the show ring. The Standard states these two colours are highly undesirable. To show, breed or award a prize to these colours is to encourage them. It is written in many of the Stafford speciality books that these colours are to be ostracised, as when bred with, these will spread like a germ. Black and tans are the colours distributed on the Manchester Terriers though sometimes the tan is not as brilliant. These markings appear on a solid black body.
Liver, though we do not see many of them these days, crops up from time to time but the fault is too obvious to attempt to exhibit them. They are usually a well made dog with a dark red coat, brown nose and pale yellow or gooseberry eyes.
LOOK FOR clean colours with sound pigmentation ie. Black nose, eyerims, toenails. Check the pigmentation on blues, red and fawns in particular. Some blues have a grey nose and mask and reds and fawns sometimes have brownish pigment. White dogs, or where white extends beyond the eye area, you will occasionally find black eyerims but many such dogs are quite pink in that area. When judging a white dog some latitude should be used though the standard faults pink eyerims.

SIZE – Weight: Dogs 13-17 kgs (28 - 38lbs), Bitches: 11 – 15.5 kigs (24 – 34lbs). Desirable height (at withers): 35.5 – 40.5 cm (14 – 16 inches), these heights being related to the weights.
Remembering that we have a medium sized dog, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier height:weight clause is one of the extremes allowing 10lbs and 2 inches. When the breed was first recognized with the English Kennel Club, the specimens had a considerable size difference. In the early days it did not matter about size, all that counted was soundness and if the dog was game.
It is not very likely in these times that you would find a Stafford 14 inches and 28lbs, or for that matter one 16 inches and 38lbs. Most 16 inch dogs these days weigh around 40 – 42lbs.
LOOK FOR a well balanced dog, all components blending together smoothly and being no taller than 16 inches or less than 14 inches at the shoulder, weight to balance with height.