The Stafford Foreface

Head: Short, deep through, broad skull, very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop, short foreface, black nose. Pink (Dudley) nose to be considered a serious fault. Eyes–Dark preferable, but may bear some relation to coat color. Round, of medium size, and set to look straight ahead. Light eyes or pink eye rims to be considered a fault, except that where the coat surrounding the eye is white the eye rim may be pink. Ears–Rose or half-pricked and not large. Full drop or full prick to be considered a serious fault. Mouth–A bite in which the outer side of the lower incisors touches the inner side of the upper incisors. The lips should be tight and clean. The badly undershot or overshot bite is a serious fault.

The standard calls for the foreface to be “short”, but how is short defined?

While it provides no exact ratio for proportions it is generally accepted worldwide that the head should be comprised of 2/3 skull measured from stop to occiput and no less than 1/3 muzzle measured from stop to tip of nose. The Stafford is not a Brachycephalic breed.

The image above shows a Stafford with correct muzzle length in relation to skull.

No less than 1 part muzzle – 2 part skull. He has a deep through which is called for, as indicated by the diagonal line from eye to throat.

SBTCA JEC presents:

Stafford Breed Specific Exam – What is the Judge Doing? CLICK TO VIEW
Understanding Stafford Movement – What is Economy of Effort?- CLICK TO VIEW

This and other descriptive excerpts can also found inside SBTCA mentor packets and seminar materials as well as all the other materials available for free and often updated download on the JEC page on our website.