Notes



" God watches over all things."

The Character in Modern Am Staf - by Paco Zanoia

In 1956, W. T. Bill Brandon in his first book on the Breed of Cliff Ormsby quoted the following character description - the same which almost twenty years ago he used as the presentation in the American Kennel Club for the typical character of this very particular Terrier - in order to request the official recognition.

"The Stafs will hunt, go to ground with the same zest as any other terrier, make excellent guard dogs, good farm dogs, are not too large for the apartment; and the surprising part is that they seem almost immune to all the trivial dog ailments having exceptionally strong constitutions, because the breed has never been a pampered one, and has always been all dog.
The breed's unswerving loyalty to master and household is sufficient within itself to gain the admiration of the most demanding. They will guard your home or protect your car, and do it with an air of authority that counts. They crave their master's attention, and ask no better place than to be by his side. They thrive on affection and return it fourfold. While their determination of purpose never wavers, they have no competitors as pals and guardians for children. I know of no other breed of dog that I would rather trust with the care and protection of my children. They are unbelievably tolerant and dependable in this respect. They are large enough and strong enough so that the children can't pull them apart. With children they relish being part of the fun and want to be considered a companion to absorb the child's overflow of animation. They can bear the brunt of short tempers without resentment or without having their spirits broken, and they will always come back to lick the administrative hand. In no other breed is there present such a remarkable combination of gentleness, camaraderie, and reliability."

Almost 75 years has passed and for what I am concerned I will not change a word about the description of the ideal character for the modern Am Staf, on the contrary, I sympathize each word of the great Bill Brandon and of our "Founding Fathers".It is thanks to these men and others before them, the breeders of the first imported crossbreed, the famous "Old Time Breeders" of Pit Bull (E. Tudor, J. Corvino, J. Colby, Al Brown, etc.); people that had surely contributed to create the so call "The Grand Old Breed", through the "All-American Dog" transmitted till today, in the modern American Staffordshire Terrier, the typical characteristics of temperament, courage and boldness which probably we would not have without the work, sometimes "uncivil" (from today's point of view) of these people of other time, and of different dog-loving vision.

The firm basic character of these dogs is surely due to the particular temperament. In order to understand the structure we absolutely need to assimilate this simple and at the same time complex concept: ' if your Am Staf is not "Gameness", it will never have the perfect temperament of its specie. Consequently, its character, as whole, will not be typical.'
Let me make an example. The famous musician Duke Ellington said that in order to descript the magic of the music masterpieces: 'which existed and is going to exist thanks to the fact that they have "Swing" and that all the others that does not possess this element has no meaning at all (It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing).'
The synonyms of Swing are: oscillation, rocking. For the people who are interested in art and music with knowledge, they will recognize the wording of Mr. Ellington the essence of something - which is not mathematically explainable. Describing the typical character of an Am Staf I agree and somehow also paraphrase the same concept:' it will have the ideal character and even more than typical one only if it can demonstrate that it possesses the "Gameness".'
In reality the word gameness in dog-loving jargon has a very wide interpretation. From the origin of our dogs, somebody would like limit the meaning to the capability and the ability of the dog to defeat each other in a fight. In fact, as some of us know and, after 50 years of breeding Am Staf my mentor Bill Peterson teaches us: "The gameness is the expression from the dog through the extreme confidence and the desire to please it human master. They are its own will, the capability and the readiness to complete a work, in spite of how it could be discouraging and painful, to make the dog gameness".
With this presumption, I write, without fear of being deny, that Am Staf possesses some psychological characteristic which very little other recognized dog breeds have, and thanks to the great versatility of work, it can be used as a household dog, guard dog, Civil Defence dog, defence dog, in Pet Therapy, and even used in the sport activities like Obedience and Agility. The objective of each serious breeder should be the one of never losing the temperament and consequently the typical character of the breed, and therefore preserving its reliability, stability, friendliness and, above all, typical reluctance of Am Staf to bite or to attack people.

The American Staffordshire Terrier should be totally reliable and loyal. It is not the type of dog that wags its tail and then bites, or gaze carefully with semi -closed eyes, with lowered ears, a face slightly turned away, the tail between the legs, the hair upright. Am Staf greets unknown people with attention, determination, not hostile but interested and thoughtful: it should be a direct glance, loyal, interrogative, and intelligent. The frankness of the dog transpires in the total faith in human. We could almost say that it is like an ingenuous young boy, ready to grant credit and affection to the people that present themselves as friends; sometimes it remains disappointed, it shows its disappointment with a surprised, interrogative and saddened glance. But its nice temperament will help it to overcome easily the bad experience, and it will return rapidly to be a cheerful and enthusiastic dog as always: only that the next time it will be more careful to grant its faith to the others. It is really the strong temperament that makes the Am Staf particularly balanced in its behaviour. A typical Am Staf will never refuse its own master, nor a child or a person with physical problem: due to this reason Am Staf has great result in the Pet Therapy.

An insecure, slothful, nipping, disloyal, neurotic American Staffordshire Terrier is to be considered an atypical of the breed, and is always to be penalized severely and anywhere it is found and it is to be removed from the reproduction. The intelligence of this breed is formidable. Averagely they are the dogs that understand all and are particularly predispose to training: not in the least they excel in the test where it is requested rapid comprehension and mnemonic capability, like Agility and Obedience. But Am Staf expresses its intelligence also in the daily life, in the cohabitation with human; it sometimes demonstrates in a surprising way its capability of reasoning. Other aspects which are common to all the Am Staf are love and happiness of living. The American Staffordshire Terrier is a cheerful dog, friendly, affectionate, exuberant, skittish. Above all it loves to be with its master, and it is even better if it can live in a family, where there is also children, with whom it loves to play with in proportion to the physical possibility of its little friends. Being in a family is important for your Am Staf, which will have way to develop its own formidable character. Each of them has its own personal characteristic, but all of them have a great love towards the family members, and, although expressing in a different intensity, they demonstrate their feelings in a clear way which sometimes, is also touching. There is the one that follows you everywhere, participate in the domestic life, it rubs itself continuously against your legs; another which might only follow you with its sweet and tender glance from its kennel, maybe waving its tail when you pass it by; another express all its affection by biting you delicately with its teeth. In any case, each of them has its way, but all of them will let you know unequivocally that they love you. Loyalty, courage, intelligence and love towards its master are the commune characters of all typical American Staffordshire Terrier; then, each individual will express itself according to its temperament. After more than twenty years with these marvellous dogs I feel that I can conclude also this note on their character defining it: "ideal for many people, but surely not for everybody."
Interview with Paco Zanoia (to the Hungarian AmStaf Magazine)

1) From where do You have this endless commitment to the American Staffordshire Terrier?Why the AmStaff?

1) About 30 years ago I found an old American dog-magazine, "The Staf Terrier Bulletin" and so, reading some notes like the following, my interest started in this breed:"In America, from the half of the nineteenth century, the Bulls and Terriers were called, in addition to all the names used in England, also as American Bulldog, American Pit Bull Terrier, Yankee Terrier, Staffordshire Terrier and American Bull Terrier People involved in this kind of so-called "blood sports", once settled in the New Continent, started to import from United Kingdom the most famous fighters: so, in United States from 1854 arrived: Turk, Pilot, Paddy and Pansy. They were imported by Charly Lloyd, English born, and after settling in America, he was nicknamed Cockney Charlie, because he came from the London suburb of Bow (where its inhabitants are called cockney) Later, Raffer Tanner, were imported by Burke Jack, and then Crib and many others..."
By the way, the precise motivation for which I have decided to breed this Dog was the consequence of the study of more then ten years and my attendance in the late 80s in the USA. Attending the exhibition of AKC and in particular seeing some Am Stafs presented by John McCartney at that time, ignited something inside me, something important and ambitious which brought me, after 10 years, to breed my first litter alone. Only after having evaluated my breeding program, guided by the mentors like my dear friend John. So I decided to take care of the modern American Staffordshire Terrier, the "All-american Dog" and as written above "The Grand Old Breed". You can't have any solid success if you don't know where your dogs are from... That's it!

2) During Your breeding program You emphasize the temperament. You write that the temperament is the primary respect. Please, explain us, why do You think that this is the most important respect from all?

2) TEMPERAMENT COMES FIRST - because the most beautiful dog - the world winner and the more prized one is worthless if its temperament is bad! In other words, I think that the most important thing is to maintain gameness, of course. Some of us know that this trait has nothing to do with conformation and everything to do with temperament! The backbone of gameness includes extreme confidence. It also includes a desire to please the human master. Our breed is like no other. It is the most versatile of them all. No other comes close. We have a challenge, it is to carry on and maintain in our Am Stafs the confidence, stability, reliability, and above all, reluctance to bite or threaten people without a damn "good reason" MUST BE MAINTAINED.

3) Since establishing the De Paco Kennel You had countless success. Which one do You most proud of?

3) I'm proud to be able since my beginning to spell correctly the short name of the breed - LOL - Please enjoy this quick note from my good friend Richard Pascoe: "It has become a fad to spell Staf with two F's at the end. It is interesting that in the 1940 and 1941 yearbooks, in Cliff Ormsby's book, in my book, in Jackie Frazier's book, in Wayne Brown's book and numerous articles, in Franz Diaz and Peter Mark's book, and in Paco Zanoia's books and reprints Staf is always spelled with one F. When I had been in the breed approximately 3 years and, therefore, thought I knew everything about the dogs, I wrote an article for the newsletter in which I spelled Staf with two F's. Clifford Ormsby, founder of the Expert Kennels, wrote me a hot letter in which he admonished me for misspelling the name of the dog in this way. He said, if I recall, every office has a staff, but if you spell Staf, that has only one possible meaning and that is a breed of dog. I wrote Mr. Ormsby a return letter in which I promised I would never make this grievous error again.."

4) Could You describe, what does the ideal AmStaff means for You? Which type is closest to You?

4) I believe that my ideal Am Staf is reflected fully in the "moderate-type" of Am Staf that the seminar of STCA recommends to all the breeders to pursue, both as how it is represented in its designed tables, and also in the ideal description dictated in its comment for the standard. All the best Am Stafs that I have seen in my life are moderate type. The male should be of moderate type "but, mannish" and the female should be moderate type "but, feminine" in no case in front of these specimens I have had the necessity of controlling the gender - under the tail ;-).

5) Could You name a female and a male from Your dogs, who You think closest to Your ideal AmStaff?

5) As female my Goody, De Paco XZ Hollywwod Gold Bolt, and as male Ice, De Paco XZ Gold Number. They are both conforming to the A.K.C. breed standard.

6) You can rarely meet a breeder, who provides You detailed information of the genetical background of a breeding for anyone. Why do You keep this so important?

6) I rarely meet good Am Staf breeders around the world, the rest is a consequence. For me knowledge and transparency are very important. Detailed information about genetical tests of reproducers should be the base for all the reputable breeding programs.

7) In Your breeding program You both use the inbreeding and the out blood. In the breeding the AmStaff both ways are necessary?

7) Depends on what I want and the aims that I have fixed in a certain phase of my breeding program. Each genetic treaty explains how to use in the best way the various selection techniques in blood relationship, it is not the theoretic answer that will bring to success in breeding Am Staf, our breed is a strain in the strain and all that normally works for instance for the Doberman we cannot obtain a satisfactory result with Am Staf. I believe that it is fundamental for us to have a deep knowledge in our re-producers' phenotype blood-line progeny.

8) Currently we can hear a lot about the "old-type" and the "modern-type" of the AmStaff. What is the difference between the two types?

8) That's a joke, for people that try to adapt the breed standard to their dogs. I don't care about this bullshit;-)...

9) In which type could you categorize the current De Paco AmStaffs?

9) I strive to breed Am Staf for moderate-type, confident, calm, happy and willing to work for anyone.

10) If this difference exists between the two type, does it mean good for the breed? Could we construe like the breed is developing? Or may be it?s not good for the breed, because the "modern-type" moves away from the original standard?

10) The moderate-type is the better one to follow, then we can get bully-type or terrier-type, but no other type is named in our breed standard and in his comments.

11) In recent years the breed's popularity soared dramatically throughout the world. Generally if a breed comes popular, it's harmful in point of the whole breed. How do You see this in case of the AmStaff?

11) No comment

12) Hungarian breed AmStaffs have achieved great success around the world in recent years. On the World Dog Show in 2006 a Hungarian breed and owned AmStaff won the B.O.B.. On the World Dog Show of 2009 and 2010 also Hungarian owned AmStaffs won the World Youth Winner, and there were more Hungarian AmStaffs won their classes. What is Your opinion about the Hungarian AmStaff flock? Are the hungarian breeders on a good way?

12) Honestly, I love Hungary and Hungarian culture and tradition, but in the maintime, I don't know anything about the situation of the breed in your Country. By the way, reading about the above results I make you my sincere congratulations.

13) What advice could You give to a start-up breeder?

13) To the future breeder I will recommend them not to improvise. Without a qualified and authoritative teacher or a mentor you cannot be a good student and in the future, your time and your sacrifice will not give you the right reward. You will remain disappointed from what you don't know. The advice that I give you is to find mentors beyond the ocean from positive and qualified individuals. Personally, I owe all to Bill Peterson, Dick Pascoe, John McCartney and Gigi Sager just to name few. I will never stop thanking them. Am Staf is an All- American Dog and I think that it is good to import, along with its centenarian tradition and culture.

14) During the planning of a breeding which one has a more important role, the female or the male? I mean that You would like to improve on the phenotype of the female with the male, or You would like better to involve to Your own breeding the properties of the male?

14) As for the most part of the successful breeders that I have known, I too agree on the decisive importance of the female. In reality the female is dominant in the descent of the phenotype of open pairing. But only some outstanding males have given as much contribution to the offspring in the open pairing. See Tryarr Diamondback Redbolt, Patton Red Rock Skillet and De Paco XZ Red Rascal, to mention some of the most famous.

15) Do You have a favourite Hungarian AmStaff?

15) Yes, Baboo, Ch. Tiger Tattoo's AustinTexas.

16) Let's see the health tests. In Your breeding program You tone the health results of the dogs. Which one do You think the most important of them? Whis is that, from what You don't allow, even if that dog is fit to all other criteria?

16) Today the most important test is the ATAXIA one, everything else follows in a serious Breeding program.

17) To my knowledge there is not a De Paco dog in Hungary. This could just by coincidence, or You would give a dog to Hungary reluctantly?

17) Differently from the "mordern school", being me an "old school" breeder, I rarely send my dog outside of my Country. I breed for care my De Paco line, for my dreams in the breed. In essence, my American Staffordshire Terrier already possessed the temperament traits to be the best companion, and these were the traits that I carry on into my De Paco breeding program. Maybe I'm too careful with my Am Stafs, since people can change the name of the line, my prefix, and try and call it their own. But of course, you know when you see a De Paco Am Staf, it is De Paco only if exclusively bred by me from my home! I am in a family restaurant business and I hope to soon open a restaurant in your Country and share my dogs with you! Why not?

18) Beut let's move up a few thoughts of the things of the writer De Paco. In our info You wrote two books about AmStaffs and a gold number set and You are the co-author of two more books. Do You keep important, that You popularize the AmStaff not just like a famous breeder, but the literature of the AmStaff could expand by You?

18) It is my effort to try, to contribute to making more widely known the facts concerning these wonderful dogs, truly unsurpassable in their combination of reliability, courage,intelligence, heart and charisma. So doing, I still hope that the true way for the Am Staf will never be lost or forgotten in a welter of superficiality and empty opinion of the modern dog show' world.

19) From where do You have this unbelievable energy? De Paco the Breeder, De Paco the Writer and... De Paco the Judge... Recently You judged several times, even on really eminent shows, for example on the Pannonia Terrier Show. As a judge, how do You feel criticizing Your love, the AmStaff? What type of judge do You consider Yourself? Critical, or who try to find the positive in each dog?

19) I keep my energy and my best from my dogs, sharing with them my life and attention. I do love my breed, you know, as our great man-breed Bill, W. Truman Brandon since 1936 loved to say:"Once a Staf fancier always a Staf fancier". Mr. Brandon was the principle player in forging our breed standard and establishing A.K.C. recognition, so i suspect that he was motivated by love of great dog and sense of noble purpose. That's the way I like it.

20) Would You judging AmStaff in Hungary?

20) Of course, it would be great to visit your country, I have never been there before.

21) As a judge and as a breeder of course, what is the order of priority for You? Style, shape, size, movement, head, bone, colour, markings, etc.?

21) Temperament, type, style, condition, soundness and movement. I prefer dogs that answer the demands of the breed standard, the one that meets the standard. I'm a very rare example of a judge in the breed these days.

22) If You should list the five top historical AmStaff, who were they for You?

22) CH DE PACO XZ HOLLYWOOD GOLD BOLT
CH WILLYNWOOD BLUEBONNET LADY
CH PATTON RED ROCK SKILLET
CH KNIGHT BOMBER
CH SKY KING OF HAR-WYN
23) If You should list the current five top AmStaff female and the current five top AmStaff male (not bred by You), who were they?

23) I am extremely concerned about this question, as I trust in my dogs and as i love to say: "what you see is what you get", so I will respond to this question next time;-) lol

24) Is there any new hope at the De Paco Kennel? Who(s) are they? Could You let us know a few words about them?

24) My name is Paco, Renato Paco Zanoia. I was born in the 1959. Since 1973 my passion is dogs, I am the only owner, founder and curator of the De Paco's bloodline, the first and the only A.K.C. Exclusive Am Staf bloodline outside the United States of America. My bred-by dog "Ice", BIS/BISS Ch. De Paco XZ Gold Number won the Best of Breed and Best in Show award - at the A.K.C. Staffordshire Terrier Club of America (S.T.C.A.) 2001 National Specialty in Texas. Since 1936, he's still the first, and until now, the only, non-American male, bred outside the U.S.A. to win the Nationals. In 2009, always as breeder/owner I won again the Best of Breed and Best in Specialty Show with a female named "Goody", BIS/BISS Ch. De Paco XZ Hollywood Gold Bolt at the historical Montgomery County and S.T.C.A. National Specialty in Philadelphia, PA., and she"s also the only, non-American female, bred outside the U.S.A. to win the Nationals. De Paco's Am Stafs also won the Best of Winners titles at the S.T.C.A. National Specialty in both 1999, 2000 and 2005. Award of Merit in 2001, 2006 and 2009. Won the A.K.C. Montgomery and Westminster Shows' B.O.B., B.O.S. & A.O.M., and on several occasions, in different years and Countries, De Paco's males and females, became F.C.I. World Show's Best of Breed and B.O.S. Winners. I hope to win one more time the Best of Breed at the S.T.C.A. National Specialty always with a dog bred and owned. This my new dream in the breed, and that is my only dog show planned in calendar for every next year.

25) Could You send some words to the Hungarian AmStaff fans?

25) "Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe".
My dears Hungarian friends in the breed my words are: HAVE FAITH! God bless you and bless your American Staffordshire Terrier.

26) Would You like to append anything more to the interview?

26) Yes, a last note, please, don't lose the original intention, understand the Standard. Thank you and see you soon.

ALL AMERICANS - by Paco Zanoia

Does a dog look like its master? This very common expression usually doesn't harm anyone - except the dog. For my breed of American Staffordshire Terriers (Am Staf), even more than for other breeds, it's crucial that the person who selects the dog in the first place, and later the owners, should be both qualified and experienced. So in this respect it's fundamental that the training for this particular breed of dog should take place be broad and serious. It's true that most of the so-called "breeders" in Italy, the rest of Europe and America have no idea why the dogs which they keep at home mate, but perhaps they do know what they can hope to earn from the sale "the upshot of the mating". Having made that clear, I'll now continue in order to be of assistance to the around 20 percent of real lovers of the Breed, those who really care about its future.

There's no breed on earth that can boast such a rich, genetic inheritance as ours, all of which is amply documented in a good number of publications. On several occasions I've had a chance to illustrate the paths of "The Grand Old Breed" has trodden in the last century in a bid to achieve recognition by the A.K.C. - F.C.I. which has given it its most recent name of American Staffordshire Terrier. Today, as I am writing this article on "an American dog", I am listening to American music, namely Jerry Lee Lewis's latest record called "Last Man Standing". You might find what you&'re about to read surprising, but I hope it will help you to understand the spirit and reason behind the Am Staf which really is an "All-American Dog".

At the beginning of the 1950's in Memphis (Tennessee) a man called Sam Phillips opened a small recording studio, Sun Records. While Sam didn't have much money he did have a great deal of passion and wished to encourage young, up and coming musicians. It was from his tiny recording studio some fifty years ago that "rock and roll" emerged. Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, to name just a few, were among its pioneers. They all had enormous talent, some were men of genius, they had open minds and shared one big passion: music and more music.

At that time in the United States there was a lot of racism - it was in people's everyday lives. Just imagine, then, when Sun Records started making discs by Whites and Afro-Americans musicians, without any distinction whatsoever. Then white musicians and singers began going to church to listen to sermons, gospel music and spirituals. This was the unbelievable revolution that allowed a group of determined people, with deep cultural origins to blend Jazz, Blues, Country, Hillbilly and Sacred Music into an all American music style that was later taken up and shared the world over. While the development was not always easy and without hiccups, today we still talk about rock'n'roll even if in a modern way.

As I listen to Jerry Lee - he's over seventy nowadays - singing "The Last Man Standing" accompanied song after song by the famous rock stars of the '60s, '70s and '80s, he gives me hope that one day in my field there'll be future "breeders" of Am Stafs, who before "recording" a litter, will have taken the trouble to study the breed, its origins and pedigree, its history and genetic mapping, and why not, seeing that some experienced and successful breeders are still around, they&'ll ask them for advice. Present-day dog breeding has no other references, except the Judge's opinion at dog shows and he - more often than not - is like a deaf music critic, or even worse, he hasn't the slightest wish to make himself understood.

Here's a piece of advice: you've got to leave behind the darkness of commonplaces (they're growing steadily more frequent) and if you've got a dream of becoming a dog breeder, this is one of the best dogs in the world that can fulfil your dream. Still you have to be sure that this is your kind of "musicdog". As for me, I'm going to carry on breeding and rearing exclusively Am Stafs as well as listening to Rock'n'Roll, probably because I know where "these particular Americans" come from and what they want. Okay, it's only "Staf'n'Roll"... but I like it!!!