THE "ULTIMATE" HEALTHY FAMILY DOG
by Dave Lygo "Gamestaff" Canada

“... and traded their old lines for accolades in the showring ...”

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The Stafford is still the greatest of all breeds, but I feel this is quickly coming to an end in the health department. Not very long ago our Breed was very active, agile and healthy dog. Not true today. Emphasis is on the show ring for some breeders and not on the family dog. Lots of Staffords are being bred and shipped around the world with a family history of health defects. Instead of exposing health problems in Staffords some breeders prefer the “head in sand” approach. The Stafford's drastically shrunken gene pool certainly has made it harder to find a good outcross to correct a health problem. For the Stafford to survive in the future, small size is of paramount importance!

I have been involved in Staffords for almost 30 years, so I have seen a lot of trends come and go. During these years I have read most of the publications, etc, on the Stafford and until very recently never did I see or read anything regarding real health issues. Take juvenile cataracts for instance. No one ever wrote an extensive article or did great investigative work on this subject. Numerous dogs and bitches that were carriers or had the disease should have been named worldwide. There was the 1971 list, but this was only the tip of the iceberg. If more emphasis were put on breeding Staffords back then, juvenile cataracts would be non-existent today.

In my eyes, Juanita Crawford of South Africa is the Stafford breeder that “started it all” regarding the health of our Staffords. Juanita brought forward health issues on the internet, etc. She got people thinking that before breeding, all eyes and hips, etc, should be checked. She printed the names of Staffords that were carriers of juvenile cataracts. She exposed to the Stafford world the many problems that are cemented in our Breed like hip dysplasia. As a breeder these articles were much more important to me than showing dogs and looking at “posed” dog pictures. The most ironic thing is none of our health issues were caused by any of these backyard breeders!

It has been stated many times that not even 2% of Staffords worldwide ever see the show ring. This means that 98% go into pet homes as a family dog. So the emphasis cannot, and should not, be to breed the Stafford for the show ring. It should be on breeding for the ultimate healthy family dog! However is this really the case?

I like Juanita Crawford because she likes to keep statistics. Some statistics show how many Champion dogs and bitches a certain stud dog has sired. Since only 2% see the show ring this statistic is really not that important. The knowledgeable old-timers in the Breed used to say “a Champion means nothing, I want to see the hundreds of pups sired by this stud dog that never made the show ring.” A better statistic to keep would be how many bitches these top stud dogs sired. I would like to see these statistics printed worldwide. Breeders would be interested in these types of stats.

In some of the top Stafford producing countries it is not unusual for the top studs to breed dozens of bitches. Some even sire bitches in the hundreds. No matter what country you look at there are very few what I call exceptional bitches. If top studs are siring this many bitches, it is hard to plead ignorance that you didn’t know your stud was a carrier of juvenile cataracts, hip problems, etc. I believe no stud, as good as he may be, should sire much over 20 bitches. It gives these studs too much influence on the Breed. Sometimes it may take a couple of years for health problems to show up. If the stud passes some disease on and has sired a great number of bitches, then this is not a small health problem.

These top studs siring a lot of bitches has drastically shrunk our gene pool. Most of our Staffords today only go back to a handful of dogs. The shrinking gene pool can affect the health of our SBTs. 20 and 30 years ago our dogs were much healthier. All the different lines were very healthy. There were many branches of the M-line and R-line, and we had a huge gene pool. If a person ran into a health issue they could go to many of these other lines for an outcross and the problem would be solved. You can’t do this as easily today because most of these lines do not exist now. There was great diversity in the Breed then.

No matter what country you go to today almost everyone has the same lines of dogs, because of recent imports during the last 10 years. Most go back to the Northern line to dogs of Black Tusker breeding or the current “red” line or a combination of both. This is not a put-down of these lines. UK Ch Black Tusker was a good dog and sire. However having a gene pool this small is not healthy or wise. 20 years ago most Stafford countries had numerous branches of the M-line. Now in most countries there have been numerous recent imports and most breeders outcrossed to the current winners or gave their lines up entirely. Some breeders in these countries gave up a superior line of Staffords, expecially in regards to health and physical stamina, outcrossed to current favorites, and traded their old lines for accolades in the showring.

I urge all breeders everywhere that still have their original healthy lines to keep your lines going. These lines will be much needed in the future to provide an outcross which will provide a huge sense of “hybrid vigor” to the health-plagued lines.

Breeders have to start adding and developing new lines of Staffords to our M-line and R-line trees. 6 or so branches is not enough. If we compare our current lines to a Christmas tree, it would not make a good tree for Christmas with only 6 or 7 branches on it. In North America we would call this a “Charlie Brown” tree. 20 and 30 years ago we would have had the most beautiful Christmas tree, full of branches (lines). It is every breeders job everywhere to save current existing lines and start developing new ones that are not too tightly bred. Only the healthiest Staffords should be used.

It used to be stated “once a Stafford owner, always a Stafford owner.” This is NOT TRUE today. I have seen lots of Staffords with identical conformation to that of the Bulldog. With this changing of conformation comes severe health issues. Muzzles too short can cause breathing problems, elongated pallets, or tax the heart too much. Now if you add this factor to the huge costs incurred each year by owners due to the Stafford being unhealthy, it takes a big chunk out of the family budget. These huge health costs caused the Bulldog to decline in popularity. Due to this situation, some airlines in Britain will not allow dogs such as the Bulldog, Pug, etc, on board. They are too much of a liability. The Stafford is very expensive to maintain. If this situation becomes much worse, families will choose another breed. Maybe in 5 or 10 years Staffords may not be allowed on airlines.

The size of our Staffords may determine the future of our Breed. If Staffords are bred to the Breed Standard in regards to height and weight, this can only be a healthy thing for the Breed. Too heavy a Stafford will inherit all the problems of the Bulldog. An even more important reason to breed to the height and weight of the Standard is BSL legislation. It seems every few years a new type of bull breed is created. In Britain you have these “Irish Staffordshire Bull Terriers “, pit bull crosses, various bull breed crosses, and many other such mongrels. If we keep our Staffords small we will not be confused with these other mongrels. I propose that all Staffords should be weighed prior to entering the showring. This weight clause should be inserted into our Kennel Club Breed Standards - I propose any male weighing over 45lbs and any female over 40lbs should be ineligible from receiving a prize, Challenge Certificate, etc. If people don’t want to go along with this and want heavier dogs then this immediately throws the act of showing dogs and the Breed Standard into disrepute. You might as well throw out the Standard! I believe this movement to weigh dogs should start with our parent clubs in the UK. I believe it should start soon!

The Stafford was traditionally a small dog. They shouldn’t be the weight of a pit bull or Amstaff. When perspective buyers (family people) purchase a dog book with all the different breeds they are told the Stafford is a “nanny dog” and should weigh between 28-38lbs. So in other words they want a dog that is great with the family and a dog that is small, muscular, strong and agile. If they wanted a dog 50lbs or more they would buy a Boxer. Dogs like the late UK Ch Benext Beau should be our ideal to aim at.

I predict the first countries to implement the weigh-in clause (dogs not over 45lbs, bitches not over 40lbs) will in a very short time have superior conformation dogs than the countries that refuse to introduce the weigh-in clause. Let’s hear from you people out there. Tell us about your family dog!