The AKC is committing to our breed as well as others in Congress. It is imperative that we show we care also.

Please read this letter from Sheila Goffe, Government Relations Director, AKC.
The red lettering denotes critical points.
The blue to denotes actions which need to be done.

• Sheila Goffe Letter

We must back this AKC effort.

The letter from our president can be seen here.

• STCA Presidents Letter

The STCA Legislative Committee letter can be seen here.

• STCA Presidents Letter

Regional club letters written by the STCA Legislative committee can be found below.

• Golden State American Staffordshire Terrier Club Letter
• The Greater Chicagoland Staffordshire Terrier Club Letter
• American Staffordshire Terrier Club of Hawaii Letter
• Kentuckiana American Staffordshire Terrier Club, Inc. Letter
• Lehigh Valley American Staffordshire Terrier Club Letter
• The Staffordshire Terrier Club of Greater Los Angeles Letter
• American Staffordshire Terrier Club Of Riverside & San Bernardino Letter
• Texas Gulf Coast American Staffordshire Terrier Club Letter

Member letters can be downloaded from here as well. The STCA Legislative Committee created these and they are ready to be sent. Just insert your personal information at the bottom of each letter where denoted.

• STCA member Letter

2010 National Specialty:
Hutto, TX
October 11th to October 16th
Triple Crown Dog Academy

2011 National Specialty:
October 13th to October 15th
Las Vegas, NV
St. Tropez Hotel grounds
Performance will be held at the Henderson facility.

UPDATE Jan. 19, 2010
Open entries still accepted for dogs up to 2 years old extended until postmark March 31, 2010 for this year only!!!

New, starting at the 2010 National Specialty….

Staffordshire Club of America
National Futurity Stake Rules

I. PURPOSE
The purpose of the STCA Futurity is to encourage the breeding of the best
possible American Staffordshire Terrier, reward diligent breeders for their efforts, recognize the
owners for selecting the best quality puppies from responsible breeders, and
reward the owners and breeders for raising and developing the inherited
qualities of the puppy.

II. GENERAL
A. Correct and timely nominations of both the litter and the
individual puppy are required for stake eligibility.
B. Prize moneys can only be won through competition at the STCA
National Futurity Stakes held in conjunction with the STCA National
Specialty.
C. Nomination forms may be secured from the Futurity Director.
D. Nomination and entry fees cannot be paid by credit card.
E. The Futurity Director and committee members are eligible to
participate in Futurity Competition.

III. NOMINATION OF LITTER
A. Nomination must be made by breeder or co-breeder. The person
making the nomination must be an STCA member.
B. Nomination must be made after breeding, but before puppies are
whelped. The postmark on the entry envelope is the official date of
nomination.
C. The fee to nominate the litter is $25.00. There will be no refunds.
D. The nomination of a litter makes all puppies in the litter eligible for
individual nomination.

IV. NOMINATION:
A) PUPPY.
Nomination must be made by the legal owner or co-owner of the
puppy as of the date of nomination.
B. Nomination must be made on or before four (4) months of age. The
postmark on the envelope is the official date of nomination.
C. The fee is $20.00 for each puppy nominated. There will be no
refunds.
D. An entire litter may be individually nominated by the breeder
before puppies are sold by paying fee for each puppy and supplying
whelping date, name, sex, and color for each puppy. If neither litter
registration number of individual registration number is available at
the time of nomination, this must be supplied as soon as available and
in no case later than nine weeks before the stakes judging.
E. Any changes in the identifying information which will be included
in the Catalog must be received by the Futurity Director six (6) weeks
prior to Futurity Judging. Failure to provide such information will
result in disqualification.
F. The sire of all puppies nominated must also be nominated for this
event.
B) STUD DOG:
1) All stud dogs must pay a one time annual nomination fee.
2) Fee is $25.00 for each stud dog nominated.
3) Stud dog nomination fee must be paid prior to whelping of litter.
4) All owners of stud dogs must be members of the STCA.

V. REQUIREMENTS TO ENTER JUDGING
A. The puppy must be entered in one of the regular classes, either in
conformation or obedience at the STCA National Specialty Show. All
entries must be paid in full.
B. Futurity entry must be indicated as an additional class.
C. Futurity entry must include age division (e.g., Futurity 6-9, etc.)
D. Futurity Classes range in age from six months and up. The classes
will be 6-9. 9-12, 12-15, and 15- up.
E. Puppies are eligible only for the first Futurity Stake Show that is
held in conjunction with the first STCA Specialty Show held on or
after the date the puppy reaches six (6) months of age.
F. Individuals handling the dogs in Futurity Competition are limited
to the breeder (or co-breeder), the owner (or co-owner), or members
of their immediate families. Immediate family is defined as husband,
wife, son, or daughter.

VI. SELECTION OF JUDGES
A. Nomination of Futurity Judges will be limited to the participants in
the Futurity.
B. Each breeder who has submitted a Bitch Nomination ( co-bred
litters, one vote per bitch nomination by primary owner as recorded
by AKC) by a date to be announced by the Futurity Director, will be
given the opportunity to nominate their choice of futurity judge. Each
breeder will receive one nomination for every three litters nominated
with no breeder submitting more than 2 nominations. Each
nominatedÕ judge name will be placed in a sealed ballot envelope by
the breeder and mailed to the Futurity Director. Each nominee will be
contacted verbally and must submit in writing their acceptance as a
possible candidate with in 10 days of verbal contact. All confirmed
nominees may submit entries for competition in this event. However,
the winners of Judge Draw will be required to withdraw their entries
and will be refunded their money. Dogs owned by the judges for this
event can not participate in this event but may participate in other
STCA regular and non-regular events.

VII. CLASS DIVISIONS
A. Stake is divided into four age divisions; 6-9, 9-12, 12-15, and 15-
up.
B. Each age group is then divided by sex.
C. Four placements are made in the judging of each class.

VIII. SEQUENCE OF JUDGING
A. Judging sequence for each age division will be Dogs, Bitches,
Winners and Best of Opposite. After the age division winner is
selected, the judge will select a best of opposite winner.
B. Best Puppy and Best of Opposite Puppy are selected from the 6-9
and 9-12 winners.
C. Best Junior and Best of Opposite Junior are selected from the 12-
15 and 15-19 winners.
D. The Best Futurity Puppy and the Best Junior compete for Grand
Prize Futurity Winner. If the Best of Opposite Puppy and Best of
Opposite Junior are of the same sex, they shall compete for the Best of
Opposite Sex to the Grand Prize Futurity Winner. If they are
different sexes, the dog or bitch that was awarded Best of Opposite to
the Division Winner (who is now the Grand Prize Futurity Winner)
shall re-enter the ring to compete with the remaining Division Winner
(of his or her own sex) for Best of Opposite Sex to the Grand Prize
Futurity Winner.

IX. DIVISION OF FUTURITY STAKE MONEYS
A. GENERAL
1. 30% to operating expense fund. In the event there is any
remaining funds; All left over funds will be submitted to the
Challenge Trophy Award fund
2. 70% to be divided equally between the puppy and junior
stakes.
B. DIVISION OF INDIVIDUAL STAKE MONEYS (PUPPY AND
JUNIOR)
1. 80% to placemen ts in the eight classes, pro-rated by the
number of dogs entered in each class, with 40% going to first
place, 30% to second, 20% to third place, and 10% to fourth
place.
2. 7% to be divided equally between the two age division
winners (puppy & junior) with 3 1/2% going to each.
3. 3% to be divided equally between the two age division
reserve winners with 1 1/2% going to each.
4. 10% to best in Futurity Stakes.
C. DIVISION OF PRIZE MONEY
1. 40% to Breeder.
2. 30% to Owner.
3. 30% to stud dog owner.
4. Both breeders and owners must be members of the STCA
for eligibility.

X. TROPHIES AND RIBBONS
A. A trophy and rosette will be provided for Best Puppy, Best Junior,
and the Best in Futurity winner from the Futurity operating funds.
B. Other trophies and rosettes may be awarded at the discretion of the
National Specialty Futurity Committee.
C. Ri bbons will be awarded for each placement.

XI. RECORDS
It is recommended that those who have made entries in the Futurity Stakes have
copies of all pertinent information regarding acceptance of nominations, name
changes, etc., available at time of judging.

SUMMARY OF MAJOR RULES:
1. Litter must be nominated before litter is whelped.
2. Puppy must be nominated on or before puppy reaches four (4) months of age.
3. Futurity is an additional class at the National Specialty, and the entry must so
indicate.
4. All information on entry form must be consistent with what was supplied to the
Futurity Director.
5. Entry is open to all legally eligible dogs.
6. The postmark on the entry envelope is the official date of nomination.

For Additional Information, Contact:
Jaime Nuckles
National Futurity Director
Staffordshire Terrier Club of America
1198 S Lehigh Gorge Dr
Weatherly, PA 18255
phone: (570) 578-3619
email: ASTdog@aol.com

Anyone interested in sponsoring the below award for 2010 National Specialty please contact Jaime Nuckles ASTdog@aol.com

SPECIAL FUTURITY AWARD OFFERED
_____________ had generously donated $00.00 to the Futurity as a Futurity Challenge Award.
This money shall be awarded to the first person who owns the Grand Prize Futurity
Winner in three Futurities. The Futurities need not be consecutive.
Additionally, a Best of Opposite Sex to the Grand Prize Futurity Winner will be
awarded. (effective 2009).
Until the Challenge Award is awarded, the money shall remain in the STCA bank
account. Until the Challenge Award is awarded, all interest accrued on that amount
shall be awarded annually to the winner of the Futurity Best of Opposite Sex and the
Grand Prize Futurity Winner. The interest is divided 50/50.

http://amstaff.org/minutes.html

Available for download below is the new National Specialty Judge Selection Procedure and Judge Selection form. The mail in deadline is Oct 10^th, 2008 and hand delivery must be done by the day before the General Membership meeting.

National Specialty Judge Selection Procedure

Judge Selection Form

I do have some more information I can share with you all about this test. The burning questions people are asking are “How good is the test?” and “Will it become available in the US?”

Taking the first question first – How good is the test? Scientific work is evaluated when data is submitted in a manuscript for publication by a journal. Following submission, the journal editors send the manuscript to external reviewers who read it and give their opinion on its value. The editors’ decision on whether to publish the work is based on these reviews and once published, of course everyone can read it and judge for themselves. This has not yet taken place for this work but will in the near future. Until that time the French group have asked me not to reveal specifics of the research, and it is fair to say that the external review process has not yet occurred. However, there are a few things I can say. Firstly, working independently, both my group and the French group identified the same chromosomal region, and narrowed the disease down to the same handful of genes. It seems unlikely that two separate research groups would reach that same point if the research was incorrect. Secondly, the data they have shared with me suggests the test is very sensitive and specific.

The second question is very pertinent to you all – (Will a test become available in the US?) and the answer to that question is yes, it is possible that the test will become available right here in the US. When I get more specific information on this I will pass it on. In the meantime, be aware that Labrador breeders use the same lab, Antagene, to test for a myopathy (the mutation was identified in France) with no problems.

Natasha Olby

Exciting news! Antagene has announced that there is now a genetic test available to detect affected dogs and carriers of cerebellar ataxia in American Staffordshire terriers. A group in France led by Dr. Marie Abitbol has developed this test and I started working with them recently when we both realized we were looking at the same chromosomal region for the underlying problem. We have shared DNA samples, and we do know the American dogs have the same genetic marker of the disease as the French dogs. We don’t know how reliable this test is yet because it is very new and this type of specific information has not been made available. We do know that dogs with the genetic mutation can exhibit very different severities of signs with onset at very different ages. As we get more information on this, we will be sure to share it with you all so keep watching the website for updates. For now, you can go to the website below to find information on the test. This text is in French and it is a news release by the company on the test.

Information about the test.

If you go to http://www.antagene.com you will reach the main web page of the company and you can click on a link at the top of the page for English. You can navigate through their pages and see for example how a sample is submitted for the other diseases they test for. The test is not yet listed as being available under the English subheading. Again I would note that this is a very recent development and we will continue to post new information as it becomes available. Keep watching the health web page because we will post all updates there.

Thank you to everyone for your support of my work on this devastating disease. I am so glad that we may now have a test that will help the breed to eliminate this problem from these fine dogs.

Natasha Olby

Make sure you check out the following sections regarding our 2008 National Specialty:

STCA Events Page

2008 Show Committee Page

2008 National Conformation Trophy Donations

2008 National Performance Trophy Donations

Check out the STCA News Blog for all of the latest STCA news related information:

STCA News

There is a new legislative section to better inform you of the proposed breed specific and anti-canine legislation:

STCA Legislative News

The Archive Committee will be bringing you more informative articles and tid-bits that can be found here:

The STCA Archives

You can get your current health related information from the Health Committee section of the site:

The STCA Health Committee

There is a lot more information to be found here so please check out the entire site. We hope you find it easy to use and informative. There will be new features and information added constantly so make sure to bookmark the site and visit often!

- STCA Web Admin

There are 3 levels of awards, and each level is based on the amount of tests conducted. The awards will be presented on an annual basis at our National Specialty from testing which was conducted from September 1st of the previous year to September 30th of the current year. For this year only, since it is the first year of inception, we will be accepting certifications earned from January 2007 to September 2008.

For more information on this new program please visit the Health Committee page for the awards.
STCA Health Awards