American Staffordshire Terrier Dog Breed

Below are the details and specs for the American Staffordshire Terrier dog breed.

The Am Staff is a medium-sized breed. Males weigh 50-70 pounds, and stand 18-20 inches tall at the shoulders; females weigh 45-60 pounds, and are 17-19 inches in height.

Contrary to popular opinion, the typical Am Staff is happy, remarkably playful, and affectionate; it is also extremely loyal to its human family, and is intensely protective of them. This breed will defend its loved ones at all costs, and will require a great deal of obedience and temperament training, along with as much early socialization as possible, to teach it proper behavior. A well-balanced Am Staff is great with children, but since it was originally bred for dog fighting, an Am Staff's instinct is to be aggressive towards other animals, especially other dogs.

This breed needs a moderate amount of care. Required grooming is negligible, but a good deal of exercise, along with plenty of behavioral training, will be necessary.

The Am Staff is descended from the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, which itself originated in England. In the early 1800s, dog fanciers sought to develop a breed that combined the agility and vigor of a terrier with the toughness and bravery of a bulldog; with this in mind, breeders began crossing various bulldog and terrier types, and the result was a breed that originally had a variety of names, including the Bull-and-Terrier and the Half and Half, but was later renamed the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. By the mid-nineteenth century, dog fighting became a popular sport in England, and though it was quickly declared illegal, Staffordshire Bull Terriers gained notoriety for their unmatched prowess in the "fighting pits." Over the next several decades, as dog fighting likewise became fashionable in the U.S., Staffordshire Bulls made their way across the Atlantic, with similar results. In the U.S., where the breed became known as the American Bull Terrier or the Yankee Terrier, people preferred dogs with larger bodies, ones capable of overpowering their opponents. As the years passed, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (of England) and the American Bull Terrier began to diverge in both size and temperament.

In 1936, the American Bull Terrier was officially recognized by the AKC as the Staffordshire Terrier. (The organization revised the name in 1972 to the American Staffordshire Terrier to differentiate it from the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the American Pit Bull Terrier, which were by then acknowledged as separate breeds; the AKC recognized the Staffordshire Bull in 1974.) In the latter twentieth century, the Am Staff (along with other breeds including the American Pit Bull Terrier and the American Bulldog) became embroiled in controversy, particularly in the U.S., where Congress enacted several laws that aimed to control and/or ban certain dog breeds. Today, though, this scrutiny has relaxed somewhat, and the Am Staff is prized for both its guard-dog ability and its affectionate temperament.

The Am Staff has a short-haired, stiff coat that normally has a glossy sheen. The overall impression of this breed's body, which is usually a little greater in length than in height, is one of power, agility, and athleticism. This breed is celebrated for its powerful head, which is the shape of a soft oval, with muscular jaws and a short, rounded muzzle. The eyes are set low on the skull, of medium size, round or almond-shaped, and are normally brown in color. The ears, which are often cropped, are medium-sized, high-set, and triangular in shape; they are often erect, but if uncropped may hang slightly. The powerful neck is arched a bit, and the chest is both deep and broad. An Am Staff's topline usually slopes a bit from front to rear, lending to the breed's streamlined, agile appearance; the shoulders and thighs are extremely well-muscled. The forelegs are wide-set and straight, and the hind legs are angled back somewhat, adding to the Am Staff's streamlined look. The tail is relatively short, low-set, and curved slightly.

Courageous, attentive, loyal, and friendly, the Am Staff is by nature a fun-loving, affectionate animal – but when posed with a threat, it may morph into a vicious, relentless killer. As a terrier, this breed has an instinctually high prey drive; since its breed history includes decades of fighting in the dog pits, an Am Staff may be aggressive towards other animals (particularly other dogs). Contrary to many people's opinions, though, these dogs are naturally warmhearted animals, and if provided with proper temperament training, will make excellent family companions.

That said, consistent (but by all means gentle) discipline, along with early socialization with all types of people and animals, is an absolute must for this breed. Much has been written about the various methods of instilling proper behavior in breeds like the Am Staff, but most professional trainers agree that this obedience training should start when the dog is a puppy, and should be positive and reward-based. Something as simple as teaching a young Am Staff to "sit," and then giving it a dog treat when the command is carried out, is a basic tool that will help the puppy learn discipline; as the commands – "heel," "stay," and "come," for example – become more complex as the dog gets older, it should instinctually follow them, as it will usually know the owner is the boss. In addition, trainers recommend that Am Staff owners have their dogs spend time with a variety of people – friends and strangers, adults and children – with the dog closely supervised, of course. Am Staffs are very intuitive, and will normally take cues from humans as to how people should be treated. Some new Am Staff owners who feel unable to fulfill the above-mentioned necessities enroll their dogs in obedience classes (or puppy kindergarten, if the dog is young).

The typical Am Staff is a people-pleaser, but it can also be stubborn and at times difficult to train, particularly when teaching it to be housebroken. These dogs need a lot of attention, and may become catastrophically destructive if bored or left alone. (In particular, they love to chew things, so experts suggest providing plenty of bones and rawhide – better it chews on those than on shoes or furniture.) But this breed is intensely devoted to its human family, and will fight (to the death, if necessary) to defend them; it probably goes without saying that the Am Staff is simply unmatched in its guard-dog abilities.

Whether loving or vicious, protective or stubborn, this breed can be quite a handful, and will likely be too much for a first-time dog owner to handle.

An Am Staff's life expectancy is typically 12-14 years. This breed is generally healthy overall, but may occasionally suffer from elbow or hip dysplasia, heart issues, mange, or hypothyroidism (a hormone imbalance that can be treated with medication). Experts suggest taking an Am Staff to a veterinarian for a thorough checkup upon first acquiring it, to diagnose any potential health issues. And because of its muscular structure, it is recommended that this breed be fed a high-quality dog food, one that is high in protein; feeding an Am Staff raw meat on occasion is a good idea as well.