Advice on Staffy type

Hi. We recently purchased a pup who was 9 weeks old. We met the owners and the pups parents who were in the same house. Dad was a blue staff and Mum was a white staff. We saw our pup with the rest of the litter and all seemed well. She is now 6 months old and as healthy as can be. When I take her for a walk many people ask me what breed is she ? I tell them she's a staffy. Is there anyway I can get advice on whether she is full staff. She has quite longer legs than usual staffs and but her temperament is that of a staff. Loads of energy and likes play fighting. She has a very strong jaw and grip.Any ideas

Hi ya, welcome to the forum

Just like us humans, Staffies come in all shapes and sizes. At 6 months she will change shape for perhaps another year so it's not unusual that people aren't sure what breed she'll be.

If you can upload a picture we will be happy to give an opinion

A photo would help a lot. but at 6 months she's at that 'teenage' stage & will be quite leggy.

They do look leggy at that age but don't worry, she will soon fill out

How do I add photo on this site

We generally use photobucket, this is the link https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t12017-how-to-post-a-photos-onto-the-forum but unfortunately you will have to wait 7 days before you can upload an image.
You can maybe find another site which will host your pics that don't have this rule

Ok thanks a lot. Or I can send an email attachment

You can post a pic for your avatar direct from your computer.
Go to profile under the main banner, then avatar and choose a pic straight from your hard drive

Thanks . Will try. If not will wait for the photobucket

"Just like us humans, Staffies come in all shapes and sizes. At 6 months she will change shape for perhaps another year so it's not unusual that people aren't sure what breed she'll be."

Not true Staffie types may come in all shapes and sizes but there is a breed standard for the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. If you look in a dog book it will give you the breed standard. If you go to a Staffie show you will see that all the dogs will be very similar size and build. Dogs would lose points for faults which do not comply with the breed standard.

This is not saying that just because your dog may or may not conform to breed standard it is not a nice dog, they are all lovely dogs but you asked a specific question to which I have given an accurate reply.

paul l wrote:"Just like us humans, Staffies come in all shapes and sizes. At 6 months she will change shape for perhaps another year so it's not unusual that people aren't sure what breed she'll be."

Not true Staffie types may come in all shapes and sizes but there is a breed standard for the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. If you look in a dog book it will give you the breed standard. If you go to a Staffie show you will see that all the dogs will be very similar size and build. Dogs would lose points for faults which do not comply with the breed standard.

This is not saying that just because your dog may or may not conform to breed standard it is not a nice dog, they are all lovely dogs but you asked a specific question to which I have given an accurate reply.

Ouch... little bit harsh there Paul !

You are quiet correct in that there is indeed a breed standard, however, most common Staffies don't adhere to that standard. You can/could then argue that they are not Staffies and are crosses but I would tend to agree with vets opinion on whether they are classed as SBT.

It could also be argued that there are only a select few that actually adhere to the breed standard and therefore are quiet rightly recognised as outstanding examples of the breed.

My original reply was to the fact that this was a 6 month old Staffy and would have a lot of developing to do before reaching the "Standard" or look more like a full grown Staffy which was probably why people had asked the original poster what the breed was

Ian wrote:Ouch... little bit harsh there Paul !

Hi Ian,

My comments were`nt meant to be harsh text can sometimes be misleading. Your right to a degree about a lot of people dont keep to breed standard and this has whats led to a lot of the confusion now. Its very rare now to see a Staffie that has been bred to breed standard but there are some about. People often ask what type of dog ours is and they are then surprised when we say its a Staffie. This is because 90% of staffies now are not of breed standard. This is not to say they are not nice dogs but going back to my original answer they are not to breed standard. A lot of people are breeding dogs now just to make money, a recent trend was for blue staffies which has led to some very poor dogs being bred purely for their colour, in doing so these poor dogs end up with terrible skin complaints. All these people breeding Staffy type dogs now has led to the general dilution of the breed to the extent now that people don`t know the difference. We wanted a staffie so bought one from a breeder with a good back ground in showing. If people just want a staffie type dog thats fine but as in my original comments they are not all shapes and sizes. As to your comment about the op dog only being 6 months , again this is not true a true staffie would still look like a staffie at 6 months.

Again no offence meant to you or anyone else just giving the facts.

No two dogs look the same bred to breed standard or not. The standard is set out to make sure they are bred to somewhat resemble the breed they are supposed to, but they are never the same. At 6 months of age, i would not be worrying about that kind of thing.

paul l wrote:

Ian wrote:Ouch... little bit harsh there Paul !

Hi Ian,

My comments were`nt meant to be harsh text can sometimes be misleading. Your right to a degree about a lot of people dont keep to breed standard and this has whats led to a lot of the confusion now. Its very rare now to see a Staffie that has been bred to breed standard but there are some about. People often ask what type of dog ours is and they are then surprised when we say its a Staffie. This is because 90% of staffies now are not of breed standard. This is not to say they are not nice dogs but going back to my original answer they are not to breed standard. A lot of people are breeding dogs now just to make money, a recent trend was for blue staffies which has led to some very poor dogs being bred purely for their colour, in doing so these poor dogs end up with terrible skin complaints. All these people breeding Staffy type dogs now has led to the general dilution of the breed to the extent now that people don`t know the difference. We wanted a staffie so bought one from a breeder with a good back ground in showing. If people just want a staffie type dog thats fine but as in my original comments they are not all shapes and sizes. As to your comment about the op dog only being 6 months , again this is not true a true staffie would still look like a staffie at 6 months.

Again no offence meant to you or anyone else just giving the facts.

I fully understand what you're saying Paul, the majority are not breed standard and agree that a lot of bad breeding for money hasn't helped at all especially blue on blue breeding.

I think we may have to agree to disagree about sizes though, shape is entirely different however. I'm not a leading expert in any sense but have owned a KC registered Staff and currently have a rescued Staff and there is no mistaking what breed, though not KC, my rescue is which is why I'll stand by my post about size.

But I'll certainly concede that there is a true Stafford standard

I walk with someone who's got two purebred boy staffs from the same litter. One of them is much bigger than the 41cm maximum standard. It happens.

Hi,

Of course there are a lot of staffies out there that look different but as in my original post there is a specific set of criteria that set out the breed standard which can be found under my post, if anyone wants to read it you may be surprised at how small staffies really should be. If you look at the dog in the SBT niceboard I think you would all agree this is chosen as a dog that would closely follow the breed standard. Just because some of your dogs don`t have all the attributes that make up the breed standard does`nt mean they are not staffies or even inferior staffies it just means that they would lose out in a show ring, a breeder who adheres to the breed standard and wishes to keep the breed in its purest possible form would not breed from a dog which did not have the attributes looked for in the breed standard. Most that are bred to breed standard do look very similar and there is no mistaking what type of dog they are if you look in the link you will see this, People don`t confuse a Doberman with any other type of dog because they are nearly always very similar in size and shape.  

It seems strange that so many have joined a forum devoted to a certain type of dog then argue against that it is actually a specific breed.

http://www.staffords.co.uk/sbtbc/standard.htm

Not sure anyone is arguing let alone against what is or isn't an SBT Paul.

There is of course a breed standard and then there are those that don't adhere to that standard and then there are the crosses.

DIdn't you get certified lineage or family tree when you bought the puppy? Is it registered to the breed? Those are the two things that can easily varify the breed. If the dog has no papers there is always DNA tests that can be done but if you have bought a dog to be a companion and a family member and the dog is what you want the dog to be it really doesn't even matter if it is pure Staffy or not.

DNA tests are only accurate if you know the parents and the parents have a long lineage. You can not DNA a dog to tell the breed.

lexii wrote:DNA tests are only accurate if you know the parents and the parents have a long lineage. You can not DNA a dog to tell the breed.

Ok. I was in impression that you can do DNA test to determinate dog's ancestry like in humans too. But I'm not a scientists so I really have no clue.

I remember someone on here had a DNA test done on their Staffy to try to determine what mix of dog or purity of Staffy it was. The results were fairly inconclusive but... The poster knew what the parents were and his dog was a cross and the DNA results suggested what the cross was correctly.

I'm with the jury on dog DNA results and can't decide either way, it feels like they can give a good idea but not be conclusive as to true linage, which if you think about the permutations of linage, could be very mixed as to the results further back.

-Ian- wrote:I remember someone on here had a DNA test done on their Staffy to try to determine what mix of dog or purity of Staffy it was. The results were fairly inconclusive but... The poster knew what the parents were and his dog was a cross and the DNA results suggested what the cross was correctly.

I'm with the jury on dog DNA results and can't decide either way, it feels like they can give a good idea but not be conclusive as to true linage, which if you think about the permutations of linage, could be very mixed as to the results further back.

I think that was a bit of a fluke to be honest. Ive heard of ones be done on purebreds and they came back as a lurcher and a labrador. lol

Yeah I agree, as I mentioned, they jury is still out as far as I'm concerned

Ian wrote:Not sure anyone is arguing let alone against what is or isn't an SBT Paul.

There is of course a breed standard and then there are those that don't adhere to that standard and then there are the crosses. Smile

Hi Ian,

Totally agree with you don`t know why I overstated the fact. I think its because most staffies you see now are not as the brred standard dictates , which you are right does`nt mean they`re not staffies. I just think its a real shame as quite a lot are so far from the breed standard they could be a completely different dog even tough they are registered staffies.

As I said earlier no offence meant or intended. I like all dogs no matter the breed.

No offence taken Paul. It's quiet clear how passionate you are about the breed and seeing a Staffy that adheres to the standard is always a pleasure.

Do you show your boy at all ?

I was talking to someone about DNA testing, and they said that given that all dog breeds are created by selectively mating different breeds together they'll always have mixed genetics. It doesn't matter how many generations of pure pedigree-pedigree breeding your dog has, the DNA will always show several breeds.

Which kinda makes sense when you think about it.

Ian wrote:Do you show your boy at all ?

Hi Ian,

No we don`t show our boy, he did qualify for crufts as a youngster as we bought him from breeders who are really into the show thing. Ours just lives the life of luxury its like having 3, 2 year old kids round the house. They are great dogs either 100 mph or asleep on the sofa.