The circle closes: after decades of study, meetings, insights here is the final chapter of a life dedicated to the American Staffordshire Terrier. The origins of the breed, the spirit of the first breeders, the continuous research of the Standard for morphology, the care in the selection of typical characteristics, the Temperament first of all; the winners of the greatest dog shows in the world and how judges and handlers have impacted the Breed.

Every newcomer coming into our breed is mezmerized by large and showy individuals. After a while and exposure to more dogs, they can find the faults in a dog but it will take years, or it may never happen, that they will be able to appreciate the True Am Staf.

Each breed has only one "right type", the typical Am Staf is the one that most closely matches the binding characteristics of the breed. The "type" is precisely what divides one dog breed from another. In all breeds there are small differences in size, expression, essence and elegance. These inequalities can be traced back to family peculiarities that determine differences in line, but not in type.

CHUBBY - MUCH MORE THAN A CHAMPION!

"I still have a long way to go, but I'm already so far from where I used to be and I'm proud of that."
Paco Zanoia - De Paco Knl., Italy (EU)

Diamante del mio nuovo libro ed ineguagliabile valore aggiunto è questo esclusivo capitolo, appositamente ed esclusivamente scritto per me dal mio caro amico e mentore W. F. Bill Peterson (Willynwood Knl.). Questo scritto renderà inconfutabilmente chiare a tutti le origini e il percorso della nostra razza sin dai suoi albori nella “The Grand Old Breed”. Ogni passaggio del lungo percorso dell’ “All-American Dog” è dettagliatamente documentato da Mr. Peterson non a caso nato nel 1936, lo stesso anno in cui la razza ebbe il suo riconoscimento ufficiale dall'A.K.C.

THE BREEDER: Renato Paco Zanoia
Interviewed by Milla Kanninen & Mihaela Kosic
BIS: Firstly can You give us some background on yourself? How old were you and how did it all come about?
R.P.Z. : 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 X-Z Line...

The main Am Staf winners of the dog shows in the last years are real "Flatcatchers". They are very flashy Am Stafs...

I feel compelled to write to President Trump also to solve the growing problem in the rings of dog show in America and all over the the world... In fact, as few of us know, type and balance are of great importance and size should be kept in line with the Standard, and "showmanship is of some importance", but the real test for Am Staf is - the proper Terrier movement. German Shep is another breed.

The ancients said: "Like begets like"... was one of the oldest forms of selective breeding that created most of the dog breeds. The method was essential, it consisted in establishing the kind of dog that the breeder had decided to represent as his "ideal type" in few generations, mating it with others of similar type, eliminating all that closely don't resemble its parents. This technique is still one of the most important basic principles of the selection. To speak about the Am Staf selection it is of fundamental importance that I tell you something about the beginnings of Cliff Ormsby's breeding.