Just found out that puppy is partly a banned breed

[EvilGoldfish]

(Reposted from dog section as I didn’t get any replies yet and I’m really anxious!)

I know we should have done things properly to start with but my heart completely over ruled my head sad

We were on a waiting list for a Staffordshire bull terrier puppy, when my niece told me of a family she knew giving their 10 week old staffy female away as they couldn’t cope.

I went with full intentions of taking her to a local rescue as the details sounded dodgy (no microchip, no vaccinations, no contact details for who sold her to them) but I couldn’t bear the thought of her being picked duo as a bait dog. They had her in a tiny cat cage, no toys/bed and on adult butchers food. The first thing she did when they let her out was run up for a belly rub.

Obviously, she is completely adorable and I ended up taking her to the vets to be chipped, 1st vaccinations and to get checked over.

I know all puppy owners can say this but she is so responsive to positive training, loving and eager to please. She has only had two accidents in the four weeks we’ve had her, she sleeps at the foot of our bed and usually only needs to get up once in the night. Her little tail wags like crazy the second she sees anyone, including strangers and other dogs (dogs from a distance as her second vaccination is next week) but especially children. We are starting KC puppy scheme classes in a few weeks.

I feel like I have to predefend her as we have just received the wisdom panel DNA results. The breakdown is as follows (can’t post pictures yet?)

36% American Pitbull Terrier
21% Staffordshire Bull Terrier
18% American Bulldog
15% Rottweiler
3% Presa Canario
2% Boston Terrier
1% Bulldog
1% Dalmatian (?!)

I’m absolutely distraught. I’ve contacted the RSPCA (anonymously) for advice but wanted to know what others would do in my position? While I wait for the RSPCA response I wanted to try to figure out what my options are (google returned a LOT of conflicting advice).

Is she going to be taken from me when she gets bigger, even if she is a perfect family pet?

What are the chances of her suddenly turning into a rampaging beast, despite her being a very good natured puppy, and will be trained/socialised well?

@OldGeezer

Take it from me - experience working professionally over the years with the very occasional pit bull and lots of inappropriate crosses involving the type, BUT strictly, the American Pit Bull is a type, NOT a breed. My advice is to avoid such animals, you will ALWAYS be on pins in public, NEVER leave it on its own with children or strangers etc etc. AND do make it clear to your insurer ( Domestic and/or Veterinary Health ) that such a breed isn’t on their excluded list.

Christ, another gloom and doom person. What is she supposed to do, take the poor wee soul to be euthanasied on the off chance that she is going to be a bad dog!!! Don't be ridiculous. As others have said who have had staffie crosses, it is the training and upbringing that counts. I have known many a staffie cross or pure staffie and in the right hands, they are adorable , loving dogs. ALL dogs have the potential to attack/bite if they are treated inappropriately or badly trained, even cocker spaniels, my breed. I would not leave a child with ANY dog on their own. It's not only the dog, I wouldn't trust the child either!!!

"To lie and say she is a lab cross is unfair , hopefully she will be a lovely dog but she is not a lab cross.
I work with dogs every day , i love dogs and have no fear of them , but i am aware of the potential behavioural traits of some of the breeds you have mentioned .
My child would never be allowed to be in the presence of a mixed bull breed or full breed presa canaria , pit bull or american bulldog without me or her father.
If she were at a friends house without us with a dog like this i would be furious if i had been lied to.
A person in your dogs presence has every right to know how potentially safe / unsafe they are."
This 110%
I can't believe the number of people saying to lie or keep quiet!!
It's just not worth the risk in my opinion. I couldn't put my own children at risk let alone other peoples. There's no way you can have a family dog and keep it away from the kids. The only possible safe way would be to keep it muzzled literally all of the time which would be cruel.
Cute now but not when it's got a child by the neck and won't let go!

To all these people saying the dog is the devil incarnate on the back of a dodgy DNA test, have you had your own dogs tested? If you did and it came back there was supposedly banned breed in your dog would you have it put to sleep even if it had done nothing wrong?

@flossletsfloss

I'm utterly baffled by this thread. This is the reason deadly dog attacks happen. Lying about your breed? Pretending that being a responsible dog owner is all that matters? If that dog grows up to become massively powerful due to its breed and you are allowing it around your children knowing it has the ability to kill them then I despair. I'm a dog owner, have been for years but some of the comments on here are ridiculous. For gods sakes put your family first and get a safe dog.

This thread is so ridiculous I’m surprised it’s still up tbh. Suggesting actions that might put children’s lives in danger because ‘auntie Ethel’s cousin’s second niece’s cleaner’s next door neighbour had a pit bull that was a sweetie.’ Ffs.

I'm utterly baffled by how many people are taken in by a DNA test on a dog and presumably haven't read the posts where people have proved it's a load of crap. The collie with no collie in it? The cross breed corgi with no corgi?

have you ever watched Pitbulls and Parolees? If you haven't, try and find it. It might reassure you.

This thread is so ridiculous I’m surprised it’s still up tbh. Suggesting actions that might put children’s lives in danger because ‘auntie Ethel’s cousin’s second niece’s cleaner’s next door neighbour had a pit bull that was a sweetie.’ Ffs.

There is not one shred of proof this dog has any pit bull in her. The "DNA test" isn't worth the paper it is written on. The dog has been seen by a vet who has no concerns.

Two dogs here, staff cross (not sure what with but she looked a lot like yours when she was a puppy) and a cockapoo and I can tell you which one I feel more comfortable having kids around and it isn’t the cute fluffy one!

This was the book I used when I got my staffy pup www.qbd.com.au/wonderdog/katrina-warren/9780732269517/ it looks like there is a newer version.

It was fantastic. My boy could dance, hi 5, you could shoot him and he'd die - lots of cool tricks he could roll out for kids as he looked a little scary.

My advice is good socialisation, great obedience and teach her to let go of things and leave something on command. Ours was "drop it" and "leave it". Really easy to teach and it's a good idea to reinforce in high emotion times eg a vigorous game of tug. Mid game command drop it. Dog needs to let go.

My boy was adored by neighbours. I was home sick one day and the postie was idling out the front of my place for ages. Looked out the window and he was cuddling the dog

My experience is staffies are really clever dogs that just want to be with their people. We used to pick up stray dogs on the street and my lad loved running and playing with them. He was very well socialised, which helped when he was attacked by a wolf hound. I was very fortunate he didn't end up dog shy as a result but he got over the attack well. Before breed haters blame my dog for the attack - he was 100% innocent. We were walking along (on lead) minding our own business when the wolf hound left it's yard, approached and attacked. I had to haul it off him. Luckily a lady saw it happen and wolf hound was declared dangerous and destroyed.

Threads like this do make me chuckle. Any large breed dog can kill a human. An GSD, Doberman, Mastiff, Rottweiler the list goes on.

Yes pit bulls are a banned breed but any large breed dog could theoretically be a liability but we don't ban all large/giant breeds.

I don't know what my mastiff cross is. Ex brought it back from the pub one day. He's big, 40kg, but he's well socialised, lives with me and DS. I've never had a problem with him. He has superb recall, is not dog aggressive and all the children in the street like to pet him, and he sits patiently to allow them to do so. Would I leave him unsupervised with children? No, but even if her were a chihuahua, I wouldn't leave a dog unsupervised with children.

Do I walk him on a lead at all times with a halti, yes. Not because he pulls, he doesn't, but I like to ensure that should he ever decided to run out in to the road or dart for something not that he ever has I would have immediate control over him because of the halti.

I've no idea what this dog is. But all I can do is ensure he is well trained, well socialised, in good health and excercised and supervised. But that's what all dog owners should be doing regardless of breed.

Really sorry that I haven't read through the whole thread but I can say with very much experience that my son's pitbull/staffy cross is the loveliest little girl I have ever had the pleasure of spending quality time with. She is now 13 and getting old and stiff, but is totally adorable. The only issue they have had is that she was never socialised properly and barks heatedly at other dogs, so when out walking is NEVER let off the lead. ALL animals/pets should not be left with children alone - any responsible owner/adult knows this. Enjoy your girl, sounds like you have found each other at the right time, and as the police have said - don't put her in a position where her lineage is in question.

Just looked at her picture OP. She is gorgeous. She looks as if she could well have some Lab in her.

Also just gone back to look at the photo, spit of my dog (staff x choc lab) when she was a puppy only mine was chocolate brown obviously.

Honest to God if people aren’t going to read the whole thread could they not at least make use of function that would let them read all the OP’s posts before weighing in? It was really rather Groundhog Day by the time I finished. (In b4 someone accuses pitbulls of groundhog genocide…)

@EvilGoldfish It sounds like you’re doing a grand job for your (adorable) wee puppy; your family; & society as a whole. You’re clearly thoughtful, responsible, you know what you’re about, & you’re mitigating against potential risk. Hopefully you’ve been reassured by PPs who’ve pointed out the gaping flaws in trying to apply US statistics to the UK, too.

@RazzleTitz - I found myself imagining your dog heavily involved in Comic Relief. Really ought to be getting some sleep.

Wisdom panel DNA is a fun thing to do but not 100%. If your vet says staff X lab then go with that. You have no reason to suspect anything different. The KC good citizen classes are absolutely brilliant, especially for socialisation and working with distraction. Keep going after the puppy classes as they do bronze, silver, gold and advances obedience.
Pit bulls are actually a superb breed and she's not going to turn into a rampaging beast any time soon. Keep her on a lead in public places, take her to a private enclosed field ( you can hire for about £20 an hour) for off lead running and recall training. Keep her socialised with other dogs and people.
Your vet will tell you she can be spayed at 6 months. DONT do this. Her bones need to develop properly and her brain needs to develop properly. I have a Belgian Malinois, she's 16 months old and still hasn't been done. She will be spayed 3 months after her next season where she'll be around 2 years old.
Her skeletal structure will be completely formed, she will be completely out of her adolescent stage ( she's coming to the end of that now and has calmed down a hell of a lot) and she's still well within the time frame of preventing certain cancers.
In short, bin the test, keep her on a lead, keep her well trained and socialised, keep her well exercised once she's old enough ( mental exercise alongside physical) and enjoy her.

Pure pitbull do make wonderful pets BUT need to be trained well. It's the unscrupulous people who use them as weapons and money making machines that should be banned. You don't know if he is or not as dog DNA companies are crap (so I've heard). Train him well and love him lots

Have a look at this from the government website. There is an Index of Exempt Dogs which means she could be added to it and made legal for her life time. I think it would be better as will give you peace of mind.

www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/banned-dogs

@GhoulWithADragonTattoo apparently even if I knew she was a banned breed for sure then I still could not preemptively apply for exemption for her (contacted DDA too, they repeated what the RSPCA said).

@k1233 thank you for the book recommendation! We have to wait for the next puppy classes to start so doing as much with her as we can while we wait.

Re: The horrific case in Wales. That poor boy, it is a really horrible story.

As I understand it though the dog was an intact adult male who was sold on Facebook to the family, displayed very human aggressive behaviour, and so was in the process of being sold on again.

That case seems to follow the high risk pattern for a fatal dog attack (happy to be corrected about anything as I only really started looking into fatalities yesterday!)

Extremely irresponsible owners (past and present) who didn’t stop two children from being alone with a powerful, relatively unknown, intact male dog which had already displayed human aggression. A family with dc who bought an adult dog privately, discovered it was very aggressive and then instead of urgently consulting a vet/behaviourist, were trying to sell it on to another unsuspecting person to recuperate the money they’d paid.

I don’t think I’m being naive to say that is not the same as our situation at all.

She is a calm and happy puppy, who responds very well to positive reinforcement training, she will never be hit or screamed at. All interactions between her and the dc are and always will be supervised and structured.

I am not dismissing or minimising what has happened to that poor boy and others, but I think this clearly was a situation that has been seen before countless times, and one which could have been prevented if any adult involved had shown any responsibility at all.

Ignore dna. Bring her up well and you will be fine x

I’m worried about the Presa C part tbh!
This is going to be a big dog. Of a whole heap of problem breeds.
As others have said, get a basket muzzle, a good harness and really good pup classes.
Because as soon as there’s any sniff of trouble , right it wrongly; your pups going to be The Bad One

Best of luck.

I've got genghis Khan in my DNA but I don't get the urge to rape murder or pillage.

@Ddot
Could I sell you on Extreme Pony-Trekking?

🤣

She looks so cute and reminds me of my friends dog Lola, who is part staffy, lab and kangaroo.... lol when she got excited she'd bounce on her hind legs

It should be destroyed. These dogs are killers.