Breed Priorities – The Staffordshire Bull Terrier

by Nikki Riggsbee

This discussion is not intended to promote fault or part judging. Nor is it to imply that any characteristic called for in the standard is unimportant. Judging, and breeding, is about prioritizing and about what the judge or breeder must have and what will be forgiven. Discussing priorities can help in learning how to better evaluate a breed.
Questions, Comments, or Concerns? Contact AKC Judge Ms. Nikki Riggsbee at Email: nriggsbee@aol.com

The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is one of the bull and terrier breeds. It was recognized in 1935 by The Kennel Club in the United Kingdom and by the American Kennel Club in 1974. The Stafford has been very popular in its home empire, ranked at 11th in popularity most recently, having previously been as high as fifth. Those in the United States haven’t discovered the charms of this breed. AKC ranks it as 82nd in popularity based on 2016 reg- istrations, down from 79th. It gets a “bad rap” along with the other bully breeds, but the Stafford is very friendly to people, requires minimal grooming, and is easy to house train. It is nicknamed the “nanny dog” because of its special affinity with children.

We found eleven breeder-judges and several mentors to invite to take a survey on their breed’s priorities in conformation. Nineteen agreed to participate, and we received twelve completed surveys by the deadline. Those who contributed have been in the breed for nearly twenty-eight years on average. The experts who judge have been doing so for an average of seventeen years; most have judged their national specialty and other Stafford specialties.

Staffordshire Bull Terrier Virtues

The experts were asked to prioritize a list of virtues from the breed standard. The list below has the virtues in sequence by the average of the experts’ ranks, with 1 being the most important.

1. Head short, deep through
2. Wide front, deep brisket, well sprung ribs
3. Indomitable courage, high intelligence, and tenacity
4. Hindquarters well muscled, hocks let down, stifles well bent
5. Level topline
6. Active and agile
7. Gait free, powerful, agile
8. (tie) Very pronounced cheek muscles
8. (tie) Great strength for its size
10. Legs straight, well boned
11. Body close coupled
12. Short foreface
13. Eyes round, medium sized, set to look straight ahead
14. Neck muscular, rather short
15. Length of back, from withers to tail set, equal to distance from withers to ground
16. Tail low set, tapering to a point, carried rather low

The biggest majority, all but one of the surveys, put “Tail low set, tapering to a point, carried rather low” (16th) in the last quartile, although none ranked it sixteenth. The virtue placed at the bottom most often, on six surveys, was “Length of back, from withers to tail set, equal to distance from withers to ground” (15th); but four had it in third quartile, lifting it out of last place.

Two-thirds of the experts agreed on the following virtues: “Head short, deep through” (1st), “Legs straight, well boned” (10th), and “Eyes round, medium-sized, set to look straight ahead” (13th).

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Posted by Alex on Aug 23 2017. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.