Todays staffords it's a shame

this is a pit or maybe a pit cross any papers to prove otherwise?

 

The wife works at a doggy boarding facility and I always like to check out the dogs saw one of these things last month I took it out to get a better look and this 4 yr old dog started effing wheezing and panting walking down the eisle on my inspection I think they got touched with the EB but can't be sure

Tapd on my skyrocket using 2.0 beta 5

 

When you say one of these things do you mean a stafford? If it was wheezing and panting walking down the aisle then call the vet as there is obviously something medically wrong with it.

 

One of the low wide Stafford. I got to this forum about 60 pages late and didn't notice lol I see it frequently here in Cali and there bully staffs and pits if you can call em that they can't make it down the block..sorry for the confusion

Tapd on my skyrocket using 2.0 beta 5

 

D. dont pay anyone to tell you how your dog should look like. take it out if he/she works till they can nomore but still dont give up then that must be your standard, and i betcha from there on you will improve health and stamina.

 

Thats a fine looking bitch, it would help to remember she is a female therefore smaller than a male, which would in my eyes make her very nice indeed, as for her gasping, she's wearing a thin leather collar and was more than likely run up & down the mat with the lead held up tight to keep her up on her toes to impress the judge and onlookers, try doing that yourself without gasping for air??

 

I'm incorrect?
I'm a photographer by trade as well as enjoying it as a hobby, I have albums containing photos of staffords i personally photographed in he mid 80s at shows on 35mm long before there was ever digital,
Of course there were dogs matching the breed standard, not close as you stated, if they did not generally meet the standard there would be no point showing them?
also a show dog in the ring would be obviously heavier than a working dog, (working weight being fighting weight) ?
even a dog used for fighting was not kept at that weight all the time, he would have been sent for conditioning if the owner didn't condition him, this would have involved a very careful feeding and exercise regime on the lead upp to his/her match.
So more definately in the mid 80s a show dog quite often would have been anything between 16 - 18 inch and some bigger and the weight anything between 30 - 55 even 60 pounds for the bigger dogs.
And any fighting/working dog off season could reach similar weights as they were of similar sizes.

 

thats a very good excuse, my perception's still remain the same

 

a stafford in a show should give the best impression of a dog ready for the pit, including nic and conformation. that black dog you like doesnt meet neither expectations

 

yup 12 gage took the words out my mouth they should look ready in every way that is why the standard is bs there should never been a standard except work out in the proving ground

 

offcoarse i like a certain look and i think we all do but i wont ever deny a good worker cause in the end that is the look i am striving for

 

Nice lot wallyy!

 

That's what I was thinking.Nice Wally

 

yeah no doubt wally looking good

 

wally delivers yet again.
staffords that look like staffords.

 

How many people on this forum actually keep a stafford for working? I would say the majority of people even on here keep them as pets, myself included. with only a few keeping working dogs, if this is case then not all the dogs r going to be proved as game or have proof of being fit to be worked. With that being the case everyone who looks at a nice dog. But turns their nose up at it because its not been proved is being a little hypocritical about them unless they work them themselves. I do realize the forum I'm talkin on is game dog but wasn't it the fact they were used in a pit one of the reasons that makes them exceptional pets? Any dog that turned on a handler wasn't kept or bred from. The dogs may be pets but still have fire in their bellies and back down from nothin on four legs. Long may they last that way. There will never be strict culling the way there used to be so might aswell accept that and give credit to anyone keeping a fine dog that's well excercised and looked after instead of having it turned into a fat couch potato cos they got bored of walking it like a lot I've seen. I much prefer the traditional style of dog as opposed to the short legged variety but each to their own. Apbt being the working version of the american stafford or so I've heard, don't particularly agree with that but if it is the case why not do the same withe sbt show type and working example? Classify them as two seperate breed types and be done with it. The differences between them now are as vast as an irish wolfhound compared to a jack russel.

 

No harm to you but if ever a stafford was produced in a show ring at the weight and condition of one going for a serious match, the police and vet would be called for the owner.
a stafford in a show is generally at a weight where he/she looks strong, with good muscle tone and a solid build but not obviously over weight.
A dog going for a match looks like a skeleton with skin as tight as clingfilm, you can see nothing but lean tight muscle and bone, to anyone who knows that's acceptable because anyone with experience of being around the working side of it will know why it's like that and understand, but the general public seeing a dog like that would assume it's been starved.
There has never been a stafford in a show ring stripped down to that level, thats a condition a dog may only be in once or twice a year, when prepared for a match that could last a couple of hours against another dog which was prepared to go the same distance.

 

Unless my eyes decieve me that black bitch has good length of legs, looks maybe 16 - 17 inch at least, maybe weighing 35 pounds, she looks athletic, if she was about to be matched it would be possible she'd be a few pounds lighter and leaner but soon after her match she'd be back to what she is now or a pound or two more,
There's no dog and i mean NO dog that can be kept at match weight all the time, unless it's done by under feeding, remember a dog being matched is dieted down and exercised to extreme measures to be prepared for one perticular night.
if you tried to keep a dog at that weight you'd need to keep a tight eye on it's diet and exercise it in the same manner as a dog going for a match, you'd burn the dog out eventually, no different than any other athlete, the best you can hope for is keeping it lean and fit generally, but not permanantly in match condition.
out of curiosity what do you see when you looked at the black bitch in the photo?

 

Thats a pitbull, or a pit x staff, you're obviously in the USA because in Ireland or the UK our climate doesent allow for a dog being kept on a heavy chain outdoors, we keep them in pens/runs unchained, you never see a happy dog on a chain, personally I think they look like they have arched backs or drooped necks when kept like that, just my opinion no harm intended as i know it's the way many are kept there.