American Staffordshire Terrier
Learn about the temperament and personality of the American Staffordshire Terrier. Discover what he's like to live with, his traits and characteristics and how he generally behaves. And look at lots of American Staffordshire Terrier photos.

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American Staffordshire Terrier Temperament
The American Staffordshire Terrier is a people-oriented dog who thrives when he is part of a family. They are intelligent, graceful, loyal, feisty, courageous, and very, very strong. Amstaffs are an active breed, always ready for fun, and they love to play outdoors. They are high energy and need regular exercise. They can be rowdy and overly exuberant, especially when they are young. They do best when they have a job to do. A bored Amstaff will destroy your house. They do well in obedience, agility, tracking, and conformation. Obedience training is very important with this breed. They really need an interactive owner who will spend time with them, training them and playing with them and just being their best friend. But they also need an owner who is able to establish leadership, as Amstaffs definitely have a mind of their own. Amstaffs are protective and they look imposing so they can make an effective deterrent, but they are really too friendly to be guard dogs. Some Amstaffs are dog aggressive and none will back down if challenged. Amstaffs love their children and are patient, gentle, and tolerant. Of course, very young children should always be supervised around any dog. This is an animal who will strive to please you and take great pride in making you laugh. He will demand a lot of your attention and will be an excellent companion, for you and your family.
American Staffordshire Terrier Training
The American Staffordshire Terrier is intelligent and quite easy to train. He learns new commands quickly at an above average rate.
American Staffordshire Terrier Shedding
The American Staffordshire Terrier sheds a fair amount of hair. You'll find hair stuck to your couch, carpets, clothes and everything else in your home.
American Staffordshire Terrier Grooming
The short coat of the American Staffordshire Terrier only requires an occasional brushing. But because he sheds you may find yourself brushing him once or twice a week to remove loose hair. (What you get out with a brush doesn't fall out in your home!)
American Staffordshire Terrier Photos
Rating: Ease of training
Tells you how easy or difficult a breed is to train.
A higher rating means the breed is easier to train, a lower rating means the breed is harder to train.
An easy to train breed require less time and patience to train.
Rating: Intelligence
Tells you how intelligent a breed is in terms of how quickly it can learn commands from humans. A higher rating means the breed will learn your commands faster (and is therefore generally considered to be more intelligent), while a lower rating means the breed will learn your commands more slowly (and is therefore generally considered to be less intelligent).
Keep in mind that this is only one way to measure a dog's intelligence and a low rating might still mean the breed is highly intelligent in other ways.
Rating: Shedding
Tells you how much hair the breed sheds. The higher the rating the more hair the breed sheds.
Rating: Watchdog
Tells you how good the breed is at being a watchdog and raising the alarm when a stranger approaches. A higher rating means the breed will bark vigorously to warn you of a stranger's presence on your property. A low rating means the breed probably won't bark much if a stranger enters your property.
Rating: Guard dog
Tells you how good the breed is at being a guard dog due to the appearance, size, and strength of the breed. A breed with a high guard dog rating will make an intruder think twice before stepping foot on your property.
Rating: Popularity
Tells you how popular the breed is in terms of ownership. A higher rating means that more people own the breed. The more popular a breed is the easier it is to find and purchase one because there are more breeders breeding it.
Rating: Size
Tells you how large or small the breed is. A lower rating means the breed is smaller and a higher rating means the breed is larger. It gives you a quick idea of how physically large or small the breed is compared with all the other breeds.
Rating: Agility
Tells you how agile the breed is. A higher rating means the breed is fast and nimble on its feet while a lower rating means the breed is heavier and slower on its feet.
Rating: Good with kids
Tells you how good the breed is with children. A higher rating means the breed is good with children. Note: all breeds are generally good with kids when they're raised with them.