Staffordshire Bull Terrier – Short Toes
The Short-toes defect is called Brachydactylia and occurs relatively frequently in Staffordshire Bull Terriers! It is genetic – however not all offspring are always affected. It is more likely if both parents have the defective gene – but even then is a bit like a lottery in that the number of affected pups is unpredictable.
The defect affected our first ever, pedigreed Stafford (who we love to bits) and before we became more familiar with the breed and breeding and what to look for. We are always alert to the problem now and have been able to advise many others.
We did breed from our original bitch and from 2 litters of 7 pups; only 1 was affected, but was stillborn. Once you know what to look for; the short toed pup can be spotted as early as birth, and becomes more noticeable the older the dog becomes.
Our bitch was sold to us by a registered breeder, who had been recommended by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club —so quite obviously buyers need to beware?
We recently heard a story of a breeder who knowingly sold a dog to an inexperienced person and months later when they spotted the defect he then offered to buy the dog back – and then promptly re-advertised it without mentioning the problem!
In our 5 years of breeding we have come across at least 5 instances of the short toe defect and this from just one Australian state!
How does Short Toes Affect You or Your Dog?
Short toes is more of an aesthetic problem than anything else. Our bitch has an unusual gait, due to her toes, wide chest and muscular build; but we would not swap her for anything.
It is not described as a fault for the breed in the standard—however the defect IS instantly recognizable by judges—and dogs with short toes do not fare anywhere near as well in the show ring.
We absolutely love Staffordshire’s — so the thought of any dog being passed over because of its toes, causes us concern. If you are looking for a Staffordshire as a pet and companion only it is not likely to be a problem. However, if you are planning to show your dog in the ring you would do well to consider a dog that does not have the fault.
Watch the Google video below now:
To the best of our knowledge —there is no other information available on this topic; it is our hope that this article may help to increase awareness of the problem and perhaps lead to more concerted efforts to eliminate it from the breed.
Download the full Short-toes PDF file complete with 4 x full colour photos – you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the file – it’s available FREE here.
Steve
hi i just happened upon your site by accident, and found it very interesting,i have never come across another staff with the short toes except mine. i have a lovely red boy hes 6 now and the best dog ive ever had. he has two short toes one on each side on the out side front paws,his mother neither his father had any neither did his grandma, he was from a litter of ten pups and he was the only one! but i love him all the same. they dont seem to bother him although he doesnt like you to touch them! wanted to breed him but somebody came to see him spotted his toes and didnt want to know.just wondered if you know if his pups would be affected the vet doesnt seem to think it would but didnt really know.thanx claire brown and marley xx
Hi Claire,
Our Red girl also has the fault – but we love her to bits too!
Unfortunately, no matter what the Vet says, it’s a recessive gene – in the bloodline but not visible via testing (who knows with DNA testing though). So since your boy has it – if you mate with a female that has the gene ANYWHERE in the line it will appear.
So – you are quite likely to get at least one pup, depending on family line – its up to you? We decided NOT to breed from our bitch again.
Since its not really listed as a breed defect, you could push on regardless, but its not really responsible in our opinion?
hi thanx for your reply i wasnt sure what to do but you have made my mind up i wont breed from him.thankyou for your help. kind regards claire and marley xx
Australian Terrier
Your post on Staffordshire Bull Terrier – Short-toes Breed Defect … was an interesting read when I was looking for Australian Terrier information.