Dorsi fell in love with pit bull breeds after falling for her son’s pit bull,
Stunna.
This happy breed is usually friendly as long as their family is present.
Aesir amstaffs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikipedia
Staffordshire Terrier Puppies: Why Are They So Popular?
There has been a resurgence in popularity for pit bull dog breeds. People are
suddenly clamoring to learn more about pill bulls thanks to TV shows like Pit
Bulls and Parolees and Pit Boss. One of the breeds, the American
Staffordshire Terrier, is considered as being part of the pit bull family of
dogs.
The puppies in this article are blue-nose American Staffordshire puppies. When
I took these photos of the puppies, they were 6 weeks old and were nearly
ready to go to their new homes. This was the last litter of puppies that we
had from the parents (Roxie and Stunna), and we got our other dogs fixed, so
we could focus more on the rescue of these beautiful dogs.
Abandonment and Abuse
Although wonderful to have puppies, we realize through these shows that there
are many of this breed of dog already in need of good homes, as some people
abandon them and/or use them for the wrong reasons (like using them to be
fighting dogs).
Kirby of Indiana was one of the earliest AKC Champion American Staffordshire
Terriers. Kirby of Indiana is an example of an early Amstaff champion. Date
1940.
K84m97 CC-BY via Wikimedia
The History of the American Staffordshire Terrier
Staffordshire Terriers were first bred in the 19century in the English region
of Staffordshire. They are a cross between the terrier and bulldog. They were
called various names, such as the Bull-and-Terrier Dog, or half and half,
until they assumed the name of the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
In the late 1800s, as the breed made its way into America, people began to
call them “pit-dogs”, later adopting the name of the American Staffordshire
Terrier. In 1936, the Amstaffs were recognized and accepted into the American
Kennel Club (AKC) as a registered breed.
Of the three types of Pit Bull Terriers known as American Pit Bull Terriers
(APBT), the American Staffordshire Terriers (Amstaff), and the Staffordshire
Bull Terriers (SBT), the Amstaff became the only recognized AKC recognized
breed.
American Staffordshire Terriers aka pit bull puppies
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Temperament of the American Staffordshire Terrier
Although pit bulls have gained an unsavory reputation over the last several
years, the Amstaff actually has many great temperament traits. A recent
temperament test conducted by the American Temperament Test Society showed
that American Staffordshire Terriers consistently score above average for
all the dog breeds that were tested.
These tests measured various things about the Amstaff breed, and they scored
above average for all these traits:
- Non-aggressiveness
- Friendliness
- Stability
- A dog’s protectiveness toward its owner
Roxie and Stunna, American Staffordshire Terriers aka pit bull dogs (blue-
nose)
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American Staffordshire Terrier Colors and Physical Traits
The average American Staffordshire Terrier is 17.5–19 inches tall, and their
weight is proportionate to their size. Their coat is smooth, and as far as I
can tell, there is very little shedding from these dogs.
Scroll to Continue
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These are the various colors of the breed recognized by the AKC:
Black
|
Black brindle
|
Blue
—|—|—
Blue brindle
|
Blue Fawn
|
Blue fawn brindle
Brown
|
Brown brindle
|
Fawn
Fawn brindle
|
Fawn sable
|
Liver
Live brindle
|
Red
|
Red brindle
Red sable
|
Seal brown
|
White
Matthew Beard, Pete the Pup, and Bobby Hutchins in the Our Gang comedy
School’s Out
Robert F. McGowan, CC-BY via Wikimedia Commons
Famous Pit Bulls
Although it may seem that just recently pit bulls have come into the
limelight, there have actually been many famous American Staffordshire
Terriers throughout the years. Some of the more notable ones have been:
- Peter the Pup was the well-known dog who starred in The Little Rascals (aka known as “Our Gang”) comedy television series which was made from the 1920s to 1930s.
- Sergeant Stubby was the most decorated dog in military history. Stubby was side by side with his human soldier companions and fought for 18 months in the trenches of France during World War 1. He was also the only dog to ever get promoted in the military.
defend pitbulls CC-BY
- Jack Brutus was a mascot for the Company K infantry during the Spanish–American war.
- Bud was the first dog in the United States to take a cross-country drive. In 1903, Bud took to the road with his owner Horatio Nelson Jackson.
Comments
Dorsi Diaz (author) from The San Francisco Bay Area on February 21, 2013:
@jandee) Thanks jandee and I so agree – they have got a bad rap and don’t
deserve it. Wonderful animals.
jandee from Liverpool.U.K on February 07, 2013:
Dorsi what a lovely hub,need more like this to let people know they are just
the same as other dogs, terrible the way they are vilified,
best from jandee
Dorsi Diaz (author) from The San Francisco Bay Area on February 06, 2013:
@alexadry) I LOVE them too – awesome companions. Thanks for reading and
commenting!
Adrienne Farricelli on February 06, 2013:
I love pits! They are very sweet dogs just as my Rotties, voted up and
interesting.