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?

No one gets mauled to death by a Westie, do they?

Several babies have been killed by small breed dogs.

you sounds like a very responsible owner OP!

Don't dob her in on any organisation yet - just ensure her behaviour is impeccible.

Also be aware she may one day be aggressive towards other dogs, even with socialisation, as its in "that" breed.
If any kids in the way that would be a disaster. That in mind for ANY dog, but more so for bull breeds.

I wish you the best with her, shes incredibly cute. From now on, your lab cross!!

Stop worrying, she is a mix, nothing to worry about at all. Just love her and keep doing what your doing and she will be fine xx

Pit Bull’s are a type not a breed. So over a certain age your dog could be deemed to be a pit bull type if it meets certain criteria

In my experience you may get stopped by the police at some point IF they deem your dog to be of Pit Bull type and it will then be assessed as to whether it’s of good enough temperament to go on register, it will then need to be spayed (if not done so already), muzzled and on a lead in public, microchipped and have a tattoo.

From experience and to stop you worrying you may be best to ask for an assessment from a Dog legislation officer who are police officers trained to assess banned breeds

Definitely do as much training as possible and get her used to as many experiences as possible

It will be fine, had a similar dog myself. THE most loving dog ever with adults and kids but did not get on at all with other boy dogs - he was an un-neutered male tho (not my decision) so just be wary with that (but with other girl dogs)
Enjoy your new pup :)

Just seen the pic and she is absolutely stunning. She also looks very much like a retriever/collie/lab cross I had years ago......just to add to the confusion

@EvilGoldfish I’m glad you are concerned because it shows you are responsible but honestly don’t fret too much. You are training your dog extremely well and she has a lovely temperament.
it’s not even 50% Pit bull. I’m pretty sure I saw something somewhere that you can get your dog assessed or show that your dog has a good temperament and it exempts you from the banned dog rules -whatever they are. I would say don’t say anything though, if your dog was aggressive it would be irresponsible to lie but considering she is so lovely, it’s hardly a problem. No one will know. Rescue centres are full of staffy/ pitbull crosses but they slap staffy on their profiles and contract, nobody asks unless it’s blatantly obvious.

I’m pretty sure my staffy has pitbull in her but I adopted her not having any proof of this, it’s just my thoughts because of how she looks. I wish I had her as a puppy as she does have some aggression, I got her when she was 3- much too late. She has improved immensely though. You’re lucky you have yours since a puppy, keep her socialised with doggy day care/ training classes etc.

Also there’s no way your dog will turn into a beast in the future. Pitbulls aren’t illegal in ireland where I’m from amd also many other countries like the US. I follow loads of pitbull accounts on IG of cute little pitbulls dressed up in bows amd what not, they’re very similar to staffy’s so don’t worry:

@OldWivesTale

She's beautiful and looks more lab than staffy to me

This ^

@Tilltheend99

I can’t find the right reply to quote it but op has only a vague idea of what her (admittedly cute) pup went through with its original owners. So with all the best intentions in the world she will never be able to say with certainty that pup had a good upbringing. For some dogs, even once well trained in a good home, the trauma never leaves them. It just takes one thing to spook the dog to cause it to behave erratically. The added factor of the banned dna means a morally placid dog could turn unpredictably.

I think it is a disservice to your dog to pretend. I think you should take the test to your vet and talk the situation through. If the vet say yes these tests are bs don’t worry then great. If not then the licence/neutering/muzzle/training route is the way to go and having sort professional advice on how to best look after your dog would count on your favour should the worst happened.

When OP got the pup she was 10 weeks old. Dogs should not been leaving their mothers until 8 or 9 weeks so the previous owner had not had her very long.

Two weeks will quite likely not have caused any trauma to her. She sounds like she has settled very well with OP already.

I have had a few rescue dogs that had been abused and it can take quite a while for them to settle, they don't usually just settle in immediately.

They can also be lovely dogs that never cause any problems. None of my dogs ever caused any problems and they have all been large dogs

Get liability insurance and put her down as a staffy. Nobody’s going to ask that DNA test unless she starts showing serious aggression, you could always muzzle her if she becomes rough while playing.

@EvilGoldfish

Ok, hopefully this works! The imgur link:

imgur.com/a/jCz2mQC

I’ve just checked the microchip papers and the vet has registered her as a Staffordshire bull terrier, should I get this changed or just leave it? The vet did says she thought she might be crossed with a Labrador but we wouldn’t really be sure until she was older.

I wasn’t sure when we got insurance so put her down as a Staffordshire cross.

She is utterly gorgeous! I went squee when I saw the photo.

In case you're worried about any pit bull that might or might not be in her, go to this link for Bored Panda where there are loads of stories of pit bulls and how utterly adorable they are.
www.boredpanda.com/topics/pit-bulls/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

Here's the UK guidelines for deciding if a dog is a banned breed. I'm fairly sure I could get my JR to meet most of those.

imgur.com/a/riOJ4cB sorry, it uploaded blurry.

@EvilGoldfish

To put your mind at rest here;under British Breed Specific Legislation they do not go on DNA testing for Pit bulls so your DNA test isn't worth the paper it's written on;their assessment is on the dogs physical attributes;unless your dog physically looks like a pit bull then there is nothing that can be done.

As long as you're a sensible&responsible dog owner you have nothing to worry about;without that DNA test you wouldn't be worrying now and we don't know how reliable said test actually was.

Enjoy your dog!

I can't believe the large majority of posters on MN are saying say she is staffy or Labrador and forget test results. How would you feel if your lovely dog was startled by a child a bit them badly? These breed of dog have such powerful jaws. Talk to your vet and ask them to do a reliable DNA test. No matter how cute this puppy looks now I would be very wary of becoming attached to the dog until you are certain it is not largely American Pitbull. This is why you should never buy except from a reputable breeder who will give you long pedigree of both dog and bitch.

My parents bred German shepherds, we also had a couple of Heinz 57 one of which was mostly Rhodesian ridgeback. I grew up around large dogs. My uncle and others we knew growing up owned pits before they were banned. All were well trained, well loved dogs with not an ounce of nastiness. I own 3 large dogs myself and they're equally well trained and well loved giant soft soda, despite being the kind of dog some use as security dogs.

And the ONLY dog that has even bitten anyone in my family or indeed anyone I've ever known, was the neighbours poodle that went for my brothers face and damaged his nose, and a Jack Russell that bit my leg just for walking past it.

It really grinds my gears to see people posting such nonsense about having dogs pts simply because of their parentage.

@icelolly12 I am not referring to biting I am referring to problems relating to identification should some busybody decide to report a perfectly well trained and socialised animal because they don’t like the way it looks. Bull breeds can make fantastic companions, its irresponsible idiots that give many of them a bad rep. There was once a time that these breeds were considered the nanny dogs for their excellent natures. Yes due to their sheer strength they can do significant damage and cases involving such types attacks are often fatal but in these cases the truth of the matter is that the dogs are often badly raised or raised ‘to be guard dogs’ by idiot owners that have failed to educate themselves in their behaviour and are failing to witness subtle signs. I’m on a vet group where people come on to ask health questions and will post pictures of the dog with their kids and have to be told by the vets that their dog is displaying signs of distress and so they should be stoping their kids not taking photos its those same people who will then go on to say ‘the dog attacked unprovoked’ they were provoked you just weren’t listening to the pre bite warnings. This lady sounds very responsible and the pup sounds lovely so I have no doubt this will be a well rounded animal and her kids kept safe. Staffies statistically have one of the lowest bit levels of all the breeds.

Talk to your vet and ask them to do a reliable DNA test.

There is no such thing. Hence my "money for old rope" comment.

So let me get this straight. Some of you on this thread would look at that perfectly healthy, well behaved puppy and have it pts? Am I reading that correctly? A healthy puppy that's done absolutely nothing to any one, you'd have her pts? Or send her to a shelter where she could spend her days in a cage rather than with a family who clearly love her and her them?

Fucking hell.

@yikerspipers

All these posters mentioning being bitten by jack russells and chihuahuas amd poodles and the like are winding me up. No one ever lost their face in a frenzied jack russell attack. Who cares if they note more, they don't kill children.

Jack Russell's are well known for biting faces, they are very agile and good jumpers. People tolerate behaviour from them that they would never allow from a bigger dog. I can think of 2 patients who have had their lips sewn back on in the last couple of years.

OP, FWIW, I'm not sure I would trust the DNA test. Our Lhasa Apso is according to them, partly greyhound.

[quote nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut]**@KurtWilde whilst I'm not agreeing with the put the dog down sentiment, all dogs of course have the capacity for aggression but if you have a look at serious and fatal dog attacks in the UK, since records started being kept a couple of hundred years ago the vast majority of dogs responsible are bull-types (pitbull, staffs and American bulldogs mainly), rottweilers and alsatians.

Of course they bloody are. No one gets mauled to death by a Westie, do they?

An attack by a larger, stronger dog is more likely to be serious or fatal than an attack by a small or medium breed.

No one is going to report being attacked by that fucking pug down the road from me because he can't reach above my ankles and has no chance of seriously injuring me. Yet he is much more aggressive than the two Rotties they have. They're soft as muck. Always wandering around unsupervised but that's another rant altogether.

People see them roaming around and nearly have a heart attack at the two massive Rottweilers but its the bloody pug you need to watch out for. I'd have it put down if it were mine, fucking thing is a liability.[/quote]
Got a lifechanging facial injury report from a Westie here.

@KurtWilde

So let me get this straight. Some of you on this thread would look at that perfectly healthy, well behaved puppy and have it pts? Am I reading that correctly? A healthy puppy that's done absolutely nothing to any one, you'd have her pts? Or send her to a shelter where she could spend her days in a cage rather than with a family who clearly love her and her them?

Fucking hell.

Just goes to show that some people are just idiots and/or totally biased against some dogs.

I know 6 people that have been bitten by dogs. 5 of them were bitten by a JRT (5 different ones) and the other by a dachshund

OP, FWIW, I'm not sure I would trust the DNA test. Our Lhasa Apso is according to them, partly greyhound.

😂😂

And yet there are some on this thread that will overlook your comment and carry on posting as if these DNA tests are the gospel 😂

Enjoy your lovely puppy, OP. Train her well, be sensible with her around kids like everyone with dogs should be, treat her with kindness, respect and love, teach your kids the correct way to behave around dogs, and enjoy your years together. She's a beaut.

This all sounds like a huge overreaction to me.
A friends supposed staff cross rescue puppy is clearly a pit bull. He's an absolute sweetheart, great with both people and other dogs (shit recall bless him so only off lead in the dog park) and nothing bad has happened, no-one has tried to take him away or put him down.

Just put it out of your mind and enjoy your lovely dog.