With a medium sized muzzle and a heavy muscular back, they are as powerful as they look, if not more so. Their ears should not be cropped by AKC standards and their eyes are far apart, round and dark. The American Staffordshire Terrier has a broad skull, high set ears and pronounced cheek bones. However – even though there have been decades of separation in breeding the American Staffordshire Terrier and the American Pit Bull Terrier are the very same dogs genetically. The AKC only recognizes the American Staffordshire Terrier and not the APBT. Even today there are those that make that argument, but they have been recognized outside the AKC as separate breeds. At one point in time the American Staffordshire Terrier and the American Pit Bull Terrier were considered to be the same breed. The American Staffordshire Terrier is a strong, powerful dog – stocky, muscular and graceful. All American Staffordshire Terriers are directly related to the American Pit Bull Terriers. The name was changed to move the breed away from its characterization as a bull fighter and to distinguish it from the smaller English Staffordshire Terrier. In 1969 the American Kennel Club recognized these dogs as American Staffordshire Terriers and refused to recognize the American Pit Bull Terrier. When the AKC accepted the breed in 1936 they were given a new standard, new purpose and new group – the terrier. In England they were still known as the American Staffordshire Terrier. There were also some that were accepted into the AKC as the Staffordshire Terrier. By the late 1890’s they were accepted by the United Kennel Club (UKC)as the American Pit Bull Terrier – a new and distinct breed. These terriers (AKA pit bull terrier) came to the United States in the mid 1800’s. These English Staffordshire Terriers are also the source of contention by breeders who insist it was the Fox Terrier, White English Terrier, Tan and Black Terrier that are the ancestors of the English Staffordshire Terrier. It was not until later that the breed came from Staffordshire.

The breed of the English Staffordshire Terrier was bred in the early 19th century in the West Midlands. The American Staffordshire Terrier is directly related to the English Bull Terrier and English Terrier. The American Staffordshire Terrier is a part of all the confusion surrounding the group of “pit bulls”.

American bully pocket