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About breed
Health
Lifestyle & care
Education
Links
Blog
SBT HEALTH
SBT HEALTH
A healthy dog is the main goal of reputable breeding and proper home care for a lifetime. Future dog owners should carefully research their breed health statistics and be aware of parents’ health testing when purchasing a puppy. Puppy buyer’s lack of attention to the importance of tests done by breeders is one of the major reasons for irresponsible and unethical breeding to flourish
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Sbt health
Staffordshire bull terrier health and health tests
The Staffordshire bull terrier is a fairly healthy and physically strong breed, but the breed community quite reasonably recommends completing a set of certain health tests to ensure the health of the producers and their offspring. Unfortunately, even the best results from all the tests available in the world never guarantee you that the puppy will be 100% healthy: genetics is more complex, and hidden individual genetic predispositions can manifest in an older dog under the influence of environmental factors and home care. However, proper health testing significantly minimises these risks, so make sure to check if your puppy's parents have had all the recommended tests done.
Puppy buyers should know that even if their puppy has a pedigree, it does not guarantee that his parents have done all the recommended tests or some at least. For breeding Staffordshire bull terriers, for example, in Estonia, health tests are not mandatory at all, but a responsible breeder must know the health status of his dog. Nowadays these tests are quite accessible, do not cost too much, and are technically not difficult to complete. The official minimum required health tests may vary from country to country and are usually set by the local Kennel Club. For another example, in Finland it’s mandatory to do both eye screening and hip dysplasia test, starting from 2025 - elbow dysplasia test too. Source: Finnish KC
For a dog used in breeding, a good example of test set is: joint examinations (hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, and patellar luxation), eye examination (recent), DNA tests for breed-specific diseases L2HGA and HC or known status by the parents. In the case of the last two DNA tests, sometimes breeders do not redo them if they are confident about clear results of the dog’s parents. But still, it's considered a good form to re-test the offsprings a generation later to avoid the emergence of the condition.
Remember that Kennel Clubs and local laws do their job to support ethical breeding, but it’s the puppy buyers who create the demand. As long as the demand for cheaper puppies exists, and puppy buyers do not pay enough attention to parent’s health tests, there will always be someone out there with a corresponding offer.
Puppy buyers should know that even if their puppy has a pedigree, it does not guarantee that his parents have done all the recommended tests or some at least. For breeding Staffordshire bull terriers, for example, in Estonia, health tests are not mandatory at all, but a responsible breeder must know the health status of his dog. Nowadays these tests are quite accessible, do not cost too much, and are technically not difficult to complete. The official minimum required health tests may vary from country to country and are usually set by the local Kennel Club. For another example, in Finland it’s mandatory to do both eye screening and hip dysplasia test, starting from 2025 - elbow dysplasia test too. Source: Finnish KC
For a dog used in breeding, a good example of test set is: joint examinations (hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, and patellar luxation), eye examination (recent), DNA tests for breed-specific diseases L2HGA and HC or known status by the parents. In the case of the last two DNA tests, sometimes breeders do not redo them if they are confident about clear results of the dog’s parents. But still, it's considered a good form to re-test the offsprings a generation later to avoid the emergence of the condition.
Remember that Kennel Clubs and local laws do their job to support ethical breeding, but it’s the puppy buyers who create the demand. As long as the demand for cheaper puppies exists, and puppy buyers do not pay enough attention to parent’s health tests, there will always be someone out there with a corresponding offer.
Read more
Health tests and common issues
DNA testing
Breed specific genetic diseases are quite uncommon in SBT, but proper testing is mandatory to prevent them from spreading
Essential articles to consider when researching Staffordshire bull terrier’s health and health testing in your puppy’s pedigree
Elbows & knees
Other joint and ligament development problems which decrease dog’s mobility and may require surgical intervention
Skin problems
Problems with skin and fur are not breed specific, but common in dogs overall. While some of them are heredity, others originate from daily care routine, environment, nutrition and even hormonal levels.
What’s about blue
Behind the beauty and popularity of blue colour Staffordshire bull terriers hide much more serious problems with health, quality of life and profitable business for backyard unethical breeders.
Allergies & immune system
Functional potential of dog's immunity consists of hereditary immunity (maternal), artificial (vaccinations) and gained (care and experience). For the health of a dog, it is important to look into of each of them.
Eye health screening
According to statistics, hereditary cataract is far not the onliest eye problem that should be controlled through breeding.
Hip dysplasia
Not breed specific, but wildly spread condition which affects hip joint development depending on diagnosed degree.
Svargsaga kennel is registered in EKL (FCI) at 2022. You can find as at SBT pedigree.
Showing and breeding dogs was never a main goal for me. I started in the dog world with behavioral modification and training, gained a degree in rehab & myotherapy, studied nutrition (raw/dry), trained nosework disciplines, and already for several years own an educational dog blog. Throughout all these fields I strongly promote a holistic approach and advocate for dog’s physical and mental well-being.
You can learn more about my educational background here.
Daily life and adventures of our dogs can be found on our Instagram.
Showing and breeding dogs was never a main goal for me. I started in the dog world with behavioral modification and training, gained a degree in rehab & myotherapy, studied nutrition (raw/dry), trained nosework disciplines, and already for several years own an educational dog blog. Throughout all these fields I strongly promote a holistic approach and advocate for dog’s physical and mental well-being.
You can learn more about my educational background here.
Daily life and adventures of our dogs can be found on our Instagram.
About us
English Staffordshire bull terrier breeder
Nowadays there are many ways to get in touch with a reputable breeder. One way would be through your local Kennel Club and Breed Club, or by your own research and social media. However, the most promoted litter might not always be the most tested or wellbred. Remember to carefully research such topics as health testing in SBT, learn the chosen line features and parents temperament.
Average prices may vary depending on your location and chosen breeder, but usually they are somewhere between 1500 eur. and 2000 eur.
Reputable breeders always have pedigrees for their puppies and do not charge for them more. For the breeder, ordering the pedigree costs about 20-30 eur. per puppy. If the pedigree is absent, there must be a reason for it like lack of dog’s Kennel Club registration, individual restrictions from Kennel Club, not done tests or other requirements.
Reputable breeders always have pedigrees for their puppies and do not charge for them more. For the breeder, ordering the pedigree costs about 20-30 eur. per puppy. If the pedigree is absent, there must be a reason for it like lack of dog’s Kennel Club registration, individual restrictions from Kennel Club, not done tests or other requirements.
It is hard to be sure what character your future puppy will have when he matures. This can be influenced by many factors: genetics, lifestyle, socialization and training, individual experience with the world, and even health. But overall SBT can be described as high drive all-round dogs, bold, fearless, and passionate lovers, who know for sure how to enjoy this life and to get the most out of life, but may be selective or even aggressive when it comes to other animals and dogs. We looked deeper into it in our about breed section.
First of all, each dog is an individual with it’s own character and preferences, and not only genetics, but both training and life experience too can make a big impact on adult dog’s behaviour. However, when it comes to genetic part and statistics, Staffordshire bull terrier tend to be pretty much good with kids, but selective with dogs and other animals. You can learn more about Staffordshire bull terrier temperament here.
Staffordshire bull terrier is a relatively healthy breed with a low percentage of genetic DNA diseases currently present. However, DNA diseases and other not breed-specific conditions still need to be tested in pedigree, and puppy buyers must carefully research the topic. There are absolutely no responsible reasons not to health test dogs, especially in breeding. You can learn more HERE
A proper start is very much helpful when starting a new chapter with your puppy. You can learn some of the most essential steps on how to prepare your house, your family, and yourself here.
