the
staffordshire bull terrier breed
standard is as breed standards go, a reasonably comprehensive and
descriptive one. It was composed
and written by a small group of gentlemen in a black country public house , the
crossed guns, around 1935. these men were far sighted and enthusiastic to
see the STAFFORD take his place in the showring along with the BULL
TERRIER and all the other various terriers.
they
saw the potential in a breed that was originally bred for an entirely different
kind of activity,and a so called
sport.
Although
dog fighting had been made illegal by parliament many years before, the practice
still continued albeit in secret and underground.It is interesting to note that
there are still people today who clearly state that the stafford is not a show dog.
Since
the first or original breed standard
was written, it has been amended on 2 separate occasions by the KENNEL CLUB,(who own all of the breed standards) firstly in 1948 and
again in 1986,although none of those alterations affected the clause which
describes the head.
Although
i have stated that our breed standard is
reasonably comprehensive, and describes most points fairly well, if one was
given the task of improving (?) it, or whatever, it would be very tempting for
most of us to make a few alterations, amendments additions etc. etc.
to
our breed standard!
without
doubt the more descriptive and lengthy a breed standard becomes, the more
complicated it will be, and more important it will prove very difficult (or even
impossible ) to find a specimen that would fit this more descriptive and lengthy
breed standard!
In
my view, however, there is one clause in our breed standard which i believe
could be improved, or made clearer,and possibly avoid confusion and uncertainty,
and i refer to the head clause
which reads thus
short,
deep through with broad skull . very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct STOP.
.
NOW
AS WE HAVE ALL SEEN (THOSE WHO ARE familiar with THE STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER)
HEAD TYPES, SHAPES CAN DIFFER VERY CONSIDERABLY IN THIS BREED, WE CAN SEE
DIFFERENT STYLES OF SKULLS(DOMED,FLAT, AND ROUNDED ETC.). FOREFACES, EYESHAPES
EYE POSITIONS AND SO ON.
THE
VARIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF HEADS COULD FILL A GREAT
NUMBER OF PAGES, BUT TO attempt to simplify the matter , i propose to divide
the various types of heads into three groups (all based on a 9 inch head
length)
one
.the
head that has a longer than average length of muzzle or foreface, say 5 parts
skull to 4 parts foreface, or measuring (approx.)5 inches
from occiput to stop, and 4 inches stop to nose.
two
.the
head , which i believe to be the
correct ratio 2/3rd. to
1/3rd. or measuring (approx.) 6 inches occiput to stop and 3 inches
stop to nose.
three
the
head with an extremely short foreface,say 7
parts to 2parts, or 7 inches
from occiput to stop and 2 inches stop to nose, this type of head is quite
popular with many fanciers. of course all of these measurements are all approx.
and will vary a ½ inch or more either way. taking the
first example, 5 parts skull
and 4 parts fore
face this type of head was a more
common sight 25 years ago or so, it usually
had a more shallow skull and
not such a defined stop as you would see on examples
1 and 2. the eyes were not usually wide enougth apart which often gave
the a foreign expression. this type of head
still occasionally appears, but of course is not very popular. there can
be no doubt that the concentration and improvement(?) on heads over the last 20
or so years has eliminated this longer type of foreface., and of course it is
very easy to spot in the whelping box !
the second example, the 2/3rd. skull to 1/3rd. foreface, which to me, and many other people seem to be the ideal balanced head, and generally a head of these proportions can usually breath quite comfortably (except of course where dogs have a soft palet, but that unfortunate condition is a matter for a different article and can only be written by a veterinary surgeon) and we must remember that this condition can appear in any type of head. the 2/3rd. to 1/3rd. would usually have a deep(through?) skull, a distinct stop, and areasonable width between the eyes.
Our
third example, the shorter forefaced head , roughly 7 parts
skull to 2 parts foreface or 7 inches occiput to stop and only 2 inches
stop to nose (approx.) will be almost certain to have a very deep (through ?)
skull often rounded. these type of heads with
the shorter foreface can experience breathing difficulties (particularly in very
hot weather), they also can tend to have smaller teeth than the first two
examples. there can be no doubt though ,the shorter foreface can look
very impressive, and quite popular
amongst many fanciers. the admirers of this type of head will tell you, quite
reasonably,that the head
clause in our breed standard
clearly states , and i quote short
deep through, with broad
skull, distinct stop and short
foreface
this
very clear statement raises the old
age question,how deep is deep and how short is short?
in
my view , and i base my view on a theory in this matter,because i believe that
the original authors of our breed
standard (our gentlemen in that black country public house),when writing it
were comparing the staffordshire
bull terrier head with the heads of the most popular terriers of that
particular time, and of course i am refering to the
airedale terrier and the
smooth and wire fox terriers all had (and of course still have) a
comparatively shallow and narrow
skull,(certainly not deep through!), and most important to my theory, a fairly
long foreface, , i feel, therefore, that the terms used deep, throughout were deliberately used to make a clear distinction between
those sort
terrier heads and
the head of the stafford. to attempt to
make my point a little clearer,a typical smooth
or wire fox terrier would
have approx. almost equal proportions of skull and foreface, or 4inches occiput
to eye and 4 inches eye to nose. these
measurements are based on the proportions of a smooth fox terrier in my kennels.
it
would, therefore, be a reasonable assumption to make that the term short
foreface would have to mean shorter
than a skull and foreface of equal proportions, so that it could be seen how a staffordshire bull
terrier
head of, say, 2/3rd. skull and 1/3rd. foreface proportions
could quite accurately be described as in our breed standard as a short
foreface, and even in the longer foreface of the
5 inch skull to the 4 inch head!
after
attempting to describe the three types of stafford heads, there are still
a number other syles and shapes of
heads in our breed, and it would be
impossible to describe the head in every conceivable detail in the breed standard, to attempt to eventually make all the
heads in our breed totally similar! we
could however, clearly describe the
ideal proportions of the head (skull and foreface) so there could be no
disagreement or doubts as to what the breed standard required, no arguments as
to what the correct proportions
should be , it may also settle the
question of how short is short!
so,
therefore, my own solution in this
matter would be to insert the
following words the desirable proportions
of the head
should be
.in
the head clause. i have
deliberately left
out the key
words, to (hopefully!)
promote constructive argument!
as
i have already, stated my own
preference in the matter , i strongly lean towards 2/3rd. skull and
1/3,rd.foreface, and although the very short foreface can look
impressive, we must be on our guard
against exaggerations most
importantly not to lose sight of
the oringal concept of
the shape
and purpose of this breed i.e.
a fighting terrier.
unrestricted
breathing and
stamina are essential ,
which should be
found in
the 2/3rd, to 1/3rd. ratio head, but not
always found in the very short
foreface, also, of course,if forefaces became shorter generally, we would
lose,maybe forever, the essential terrier ingredient, and the breed would no
longer be the staffordshire bull terrier that
was originally conceived.
whatever
we agree are the ideal proportions of the skull and foreface, it is of paramount
importance that we can easily recognise the true typical stafford
expression, which can only be seen
if the following essentials are
present, the dark medium sized round eye, set
in the correct position, looking ahead, a distinct stop, clean lip,and a
(reasonably) strong underjaw (strangely the description of the underjaw is not
referred to in the head clause,but is included in the mouth clause, and
simply states, jaws strong).