American Staffordshire Terrier
History
Assuming their name from the area they were first born and bred in, the American Staffordshire Terrier originated in the 19th century in Staffordshire, England. This breed wasn't born over night, it took breeding the Bulldog with many different types of Terriers before they felt they had a good breed, known as the Staffordshire Bullterrier. After this breed was brought to American and American breeders changed they breeds appearance, making sure they only bred those with larger heads and broader chests; ones who appeared more intimidating - it was now an entire separate breed. This breed was known now as the American Staffordshire Terrier. This breed is often mistaken for an American Pitbull Terrier as they both share similar qualities.
Appearance
Considered a medium to large breed dog, both males and females measure 16-19 inches in height and weigh 55-65 pounds in weight. This breed is built stocky and muscular. Their head is boxy and large, their neck is thick and goes directly into their broad chests. This breed has round eyes that are generally dark brown or black in color. They have a single, short layer coat that is available in all solid colors and parti colors. The lower portion of their body generally sits lower than their front half and legs when standing. Their long and strong tail is quite long, laying low to the ground when relaxed. Their ears when not cropped can be either folded down, or triangular and standing straight up.
Temperament
Known well for their guarding, agility, ability to learn and unfortunately being misunderstood, the American Staffordshire Terrier is an excellent dog breed for an educated, dog experienced owner only. This breed requires early obidence training for both the owner and dog, as well as proper positive reinforcement training methods, life long. Terrier breeds are known for pushing their limits and testing their owners. From Jack Russell Terriers, to this breed, Terriers require persistent, patient, and loving owners. This breed is wonderful with children of all ages it grows up around, and generally is a people person type of dog. Please do not expect this breed to generally get along well with other dogs or pets, as they are able to at times, however it is not genetically common. This breed is very loving and affectionate and requires DAILY physical and mental stimulation in order to be calm and obedient within your home. This breed comes with warning labels as we want to make sure every dog ends up with the correct owner, in a forever home.
Grooming
Daily brushing and bathing when needed. This breed is an average shedder.
Special Notes
This breed is not recommended for everyone. Please fully educate yourself about the American Staffordshire Terrier prior to adopting or adding one to your family. This breed does require more than average activity, DAILY. A proper 6ft tall fence is highly recommended for the safety and wellness of your new pup and others. Please educate yourself about Breed State Legislation and local laws regarding this breed prior to adding one to your home. Do not add this breed to your home unless you're able to provide life long physical and financial care to your new family member.
All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”.
The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.