I enjoyed it a bit too much I have a hangover tyhis morning : :smt101 :smt101

Irish Stafford is a generic term for the strains/bloodlines sent back over to the UK, otherwise this discussion could be about Flynn Staffords, Dublin Red Strain Staffords Even muddier waters.

The original lines such as DRStrains where bred only to other Dublin dogs to keep that successful line pure. Those earlier dogs could be recognised even today as conforming to what most people consider to be a KC Stafford. These dogs I consider to be Irish bred Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

I think the confusion is with the modern(ish) Irish "for want of a name" Stafford. The Psycho line dogs where a classic example of breeding fighting dogs. Keeping lines pure was secondary producing a winning dog/strain was most important. This and the fact that the ultimate fighting dog in the APBTerrier was also easily to hand in those days led to I believe what we see today, a taller more athletic dog. Is it a Stafforshire Bull Terrier No.

Do we really think if the DDA was not in place, people would be calling these dogs Staffords I think we can fairly certain they would be called by what I consider is their politically un correct name Irish Pit Bull Terriers

Modern day ..Dublin Red dog...no outside influence this dog's ped can be traced back to the original dogs owned by bobby watts..this is one reason these dogs arent called irish pitbull terriers !..as anyone can see this dog is a stafford....(owned by a friend)

nice looking dog

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Modern day "Flynn bitch"..as anyone can see no pitbull influence another reason these dogs aint called the "irish pitbull terrier"

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modern day Dublin red strain x flynn dog ...as u can see a healthy staff....another reason why they aint called pitbulls

tusker wich of the irish lines is mixed blood then.

surely aswell if there staffords with no mixed blood there are just staffordshire bull terriers and not irish staffords

Hello pete, the last thing i want to do is get involved in another debate about these dogs..especially with folk who have no knowledge of them other than what they learn from misleading books ..and also from 3rd hand information . Now this statment is in no way meant to belittle anyone in anyway. The Original meaning of the phrase "irish staff" was nothing more than a simple way of differentiating between the English kc dogs and those that were being brought over at the time from Ireland by the likes of Maurice Dann (to name one) and yes these dogs were IKC regisitered for the biggest part...but obviously there were some that were of dodgy parentage like "Irish black jack" .Now since that time the this name has taken on another meaning, that of a more athletic type of dog , and yes i suppose along the way there has been pitbull added by some folk ..BUT this is a individual thing and not a breed wide policy..this sort of thing goes on in all breed even Kc breeds(unfortunately). This practice was probably more frequent amongst the psycho line of dogs...and definately the stormmer dogs which are from a staff/ebt x pitbull breeding. Now i know my comments will attract replies ..and i base my comments only on my own experiences and those of my friends wno have ben involved with these dogs for over 45yrs ...

i thought that was a pretty honest post tusker, cant fault honesty
some lines of ISBT carry EBT and pitbull blood but it is very minimal, the majority of the blood in these dogs nowadays (when bred properly) is just a mix of Irish and Uk staffs, some tracing back to KC lines, others from unreg'd lines and some from IKC lines too. There are a few numpties and muppetts out there who breed any bully looking dog to any other bully looking dog and call them ISBT but they are the ones to avoid, good breeders of ISBT will try to stick within the close lines that have been bred for generations and only outcross if it is to a line that is well established for throwing good athletic dogs and will compliment the pedigree of the other dog