American Staffordshire Terrier

		American Staffordshire Terrier
		FCI standard Nº 286

Origin		U.S.A.
Group		Group 3 Terriers
Section		Section 3 Bull type Terriers
Working		Without working trial
Acceptance on a definitive basis by the FCI		Wednesday 10 June 1936
Publication of the official valid standard		Tuesday 03 September 1996
Last update		Monday 01 December 1997
En français, cette race se dit		Staffordshire Terrier Americain
Diese Norm ist in deutscher Sprache sichtbar		American Staffordshire Terrier
En español, esta raza se dice		Staffordshire Terrier americano
In het Nederlands, wordt dit ras gezegd		American Staffordshire Terrier

General appearance

The Staffordshire Terrier should give the impression of great strength for his size; a well put together dog, muscular, but agile and graceful, keenly alive to his surroundings. He should be stocky, not long-legged or racy in outline. His courage is proverbial.

Head
Cranial region
Head		Medium length, deep through.
Skull		Broad.
Stop		Distinct.

Facial region
Nose		Definitely black.
Muzzle		Medium length, rounded on upper side to fall away abruptly below the eyes.
Lips		Close and even ; no looseness.
Jaws and teeth		Well defined. Under jaw strong and to have biting power. Upper teeth to meet tightly outside lower teeth in front.
Cheeks		Very pronounced cheek muscles.
Eyes		Dark, round, low down in skull, set far apart. No pink eyelids.
Ears		Set high. Cropped or uncropped, the latter preferred. Uncropped ears should be short and held rose or half prick. Full drop to be penalized.

Neck

Heavy, slightly arched, tapering from shoulders to back of skull. No looseness of skin. Medium length.

Body
Back		Back fairly short. Slight sloping from withers to rump with gentle short slope at rump to base of tail.
Loin		Slightly tucked.
Chest		Deep and broad. Well sprung ribs; close together, deep in rear.

Tail

Short in comparison to size, low set, tapering to fine point; not curled or carried over back. Not docked.

Limbs

Forequarters
Generality		Front legs straight, with large bones. Set rather wide apart to permit chest development.
Shoulders		Strong and muscular, with blades wide and sloping.
Pastern		Upright.

Hindquarters
Generality		Well muscled.
Hock		Let down, turning neither in nor out.

Feet

Of moderate size, well arched and compact.

Gait and movement

Springy but without roll or pace.

Coat
Hair		Short, close, stiff to the touch, glossy.
Colour		Any colour, solid, particolour, or patched is permissible; but more than 80% white, black and tan, and liver not to be encouraged.

Size and weight
Height at withers		Height and weight should be in proportion. A height of about eighteen to nineteen inches (46 - 48 cm) at the shoulder for the male and seventeen to eighteen inches (43 - 46 cm) for the female to be considered preferable.

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 and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and its ability to perform its traditional work.
• Faults listed should be in degree of seriousness.

General faults

Dudley nose.

Undershot or overshot mouth.

Light eyes.

Pink eyelids.

Tail too long or badly carried.

Disqualifying faults

Aggressive or overly shy dogs.

NB :

• Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
• The above mentioned faults when occurring to a highly marked degree or frequently are disqualifying.
• Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
• Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding.

Bibliography

https://www.fci.be/

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American Staffordshire Terrier