Will my dog be classed as a ‘type’?

[Worried2024]

Hi. So I have a staffie cross called Nova. She’s a lovely dog, I got her through a rescue 6 years ago and she lives happily alongside my 10 free ranging chickens, 3 cats and a wild toddler. I am concerned she will fall into the XL bully type classification because she’s large for a staffie and she obviously has bull breed characteristics. She measures in at 49cm whereas the gov.uk says a minimum of 48cm alongside a list of characteristics which I feel would fit lots of bull breeds generally speaking.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/official-definition-of-an-xl-bully-dog/official-definition-of-an-xl-bully-dog

I feel like we are in limbo and it sucks because I don’t know what to do. If we apply for an excemption then she loses her ability to walk off the lead, etc which would be a shame. She has excellent recall and I seldom require a lead so would be a big change for her. Whereas if we don’t apply and she is deemed a type, we risk losing her and her safety is paramount to us at the end of the day. Is there anyone I could go to who could clarify whether or not she would be classed as a type? I did consider a vet but I feel like they would just be reading the same guidance as me and she’s such an in-between case. Any advice? Thanks

OP ignore it, it is clearly full of shit and trying to add fuel to the fire, which isn't helping anyone. At all.

The legislation is absolutely ridiculous and I can fully understand that you're in in a dilemma in terms of how to move forward. Your dog is gorgeous, I'd say she was bull lurcher ish, she's nowhere near XL Bully and anyone who had the faintest clue and wasn't trying to jump on a bandwagon they had no business being on would know that.

Hopefully someone will be along who can signpost you in a helpful direction rather than increase the hatred, because that's not really what we need in the world right now.

I’d say your dog looks like a staffy cross.

Has anyone else tried that breed identification app? I just tried it on my own dog, who is a cross between three breeds (according to DNA testing). After several attempts it eventually guessed 9% chance of one of the 3 breeds, so it did worse than most people we meet in the street!

@Work2live sorry for your loss. R.I.P

Yes I’ve just put my show standard dog through it. It’s not a breed that can be easily confused with any other, and I’d say the vast majority of people would correctly identify his breed on the street, unless they were clueless about dogs generally.

it says “mixed breed”, with about 30% his actual breed.

if it’s us as well I’d have even less faith, as it seems to me that colloquially anything bull type is a “pittie” over there.

This isn’t an evil response. It is a fact that in shelters there are activists that believe any animal being PTS is the most heinous crime and will do anything and everything not to PTS a dog even if it is potentially risky. ‘It’s the owners not the dogs’ mantra is incorrect. Some dogs are just too reactive, to aggressive, too anxious, too dangerous and no amount of trained owners or careful placement is going to work.

and let’s be honest few owners that abandon their dogs are fully honest as to why they’re abandoning the dogs there.

my own local shelter offers many dogs as ‘not for homes with under 12s’ or ‘must go to a home with children age 16+’ ‘female home only’

im glad the shelter is switched on to these dogs being risky and placing them with families who can hopefully keep them calm and integrated but they’re also knowingly placing potentially risky dogs into the community with owners who aren’t necessarily vetted well and where, once the adoption has taken place the shelter has zero control over the dog, it’s home or anyone who moves onto the home or where the dog moves to etc. it’s adopted therefore a success.

we have to be honest about this stuff to prevent some of the really awful things that can happen.

despite having no small children I refuse to take on a dog that can’t be housed with small children (I live next to a play park) one with a high prey drive (I have foxes, birds and cats visit the garden ) one that can’t be around adult males (teen DC will soon be an adult male), who isn’t reactive to other dogs (field outside is used by dog walkers) and these are all dogs the shelter has recommend to me despite me being really specific about needing a small family friendly chill as fuck dog that can cope with my ND Dc. They do exist but not, ime, in shelters sadly.

I don’t trust my shelter’s recommendations because they just want to move dogs out quickly and I have been vocal to the management that shelter staff aren’t listening properly to my needs and recommending dogs that don’t fit my location. I’ve stopped looking and I’m sticking to guineas. Still fun but less risk for my circumstance.

Is your dog dangerous? Ive never met it but you should remain cautious, because it is a dog and an animal and no matter how well cared for or loved still hold the potential to be unpredictable or a risk. This would apply to all dogs.

@Mitherations That's nothing like a bull lurcher, it wouldn't even pass as a 3/4 bred bull lurcher

Yep, they are pretty much nonsense.

We were curious about our rescue so we did a DNA test and he came back as ‘village dog’ with short chains of German Shepherd DNA and a very short stretch of gasp APBT! He just looks like a kangaroo. I was shocked to find no sighthound DNA in his results as he is built like a whippet, and regularly keeps pace with most sighthounds.

It's in the eye of the beholder when you're dealing with cross breeds. I don't think we could say it's "nothing like" a bull lurcher, but there we have the issue at the heart of this, the whole thing is a subjective sham. She's certainly "nothing like" an xl bully to me, but then someone else would say she was.

I’m glad the app didn’t work for anyone else, it tried to blame my photography skills!!

I did it with 3 different photos. It came back as variously, mostly an Italian greyhound, a great Dane and a Chihuahua. We are just waiting for a DNA test as he's a rescue and beyond 'a bit staffy' we have nothing else. In some ways we're in a similar position as @Worried2024 The rescue, vets etc don't think he'll be classed as an XL, they have quite a distinctive look, but he could get to a size whereby that's how's he's seen.

Sadly DNA results don’t count for anything (and wouldn’t identify an XL Bully anyway) so you need to be clear that your dog doesn’t fall within the prescribed measurements or apply for an exemption.

I thought this too.

Utterly absurd thing to say to someone who is simply quoting stats from a journal article. The poster quoted that some shelter staff lie about breed to avoid dogs being put down, so therefore you might not know the breed (and you’ve literally admitted that you don’t know for sure the breed, so…? How is that different from what your entire thread is about?). She didn’t say that she thinks dogs should be put down. Just that shelter staff don’t want them put down, and lie. Reading comprehension!

If you can’t communicate civilly, don’t post online. Simple as. Calling someone evil is unacceptable. Take a look at yourself in the mirror. Disgusting behaviour. You don’t know how someone is feeling or how your words could affect them.

Me too. Body shape very similar to my working lines lab

I’m sorry you are caught up in all this @Worried2024 . I’m a vet and my biggest concern is all the staffy/mastiff cross dogs that will be affected. Whilst we are not allowed to officially say if a dog meets ‘type’I would say Nova has a longer muzzle, slimmer head and is much too lightly muscled to be considered an XL. I haven’t had much to do with them until recently but had to castrate one and euthanase another due to the new rules and up close they are very distinctive - huge head with tiny wide set eyes, incredibly muscular physique, broad chest. There have been no additional resources given to the DLO so access to get an opinion is very difficult. The legislation is clear that there will be a mechanism to un-exempt later if a DLO agrees a dog is not type so the line taken by Trevor Cooper and the Dog Law practice is if in doubt exempt now and rescind later. If an unexempted dog is seized the emphasis is then on the owner to prove it is not an XL which might be difficult and costly. It remains to be seen whether there will be a police/dog warden campaign to seize in exempt dogs or if it will just be a stick to beat someone with if the dog causes trouble and the law abiding will be left alone.

Actually with regards to reading comprehension, the poster stated, ‘Unfortunately, a large number (41%) of shelter staff are willing to lie to avoid illegal dogs being put to sleep.’ The word ‘unfortunately’ would indicate that they are in favour of dogs to be put to sleep based on how they look and whether or not they conform to a certain measurement. I happen to believe that is evil, and it would take a truly bitter and twisted individual to wish perfectly healthy dogs with no aggressive tendencies to sleep. Yup, you are right in you never know how folk are feeling, and I can only imagine how the dogs and people caught up in this shit show are feeling.

No, not at all. I feel the same about cocker spaniels.

I think I'd get the dog exempted to protect it. I'd walk with a muzzle. I know it's restrictive but better than someone reporting it for being off lead with no muzzle and it gets seized away from you.

Why have you left it until after the law has changed to ask this question?

@Wolfpa in scotland

I would argue that it is evil to lie and adopt out potentially lethal, and illegal, pitbulls to unsuspecting members of the public. There have been numerous cases in America where newly adopted pitbulls have killed family members.

Your prioritising of a dog's life over public safety seems completely deranged to me.

As i said in a previous post, I would be very wary of allowing that dog anywhere near your 3-year old child.

Your child's safety should be your only priority and not the dog (which i am fairly certain is an illegal pitbull).

Unfortunately, I don't think you'll pay any attention to my attempts to highlight the potential risks you're exposing your child to.

Everything will probably be okay and the dog will live a completely incident free life - but what if you're wrong?

There's a reason that pitbulls are illegal. Just look at the statistics from America. We don't have those problems because they're banned.

Pit Bull Attacks in places where they are fully legal are depressingly common.

The propensity to suddenly 'turn' without warning [having been seemingly OK for years] is a common theme with Pits and their crosses.

This little toddler was attacked by a neighbour's dogs. {Three Pits}

They are good jumpers and escape artists.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12566699/JJ-Rodriguez-toddler-pitpull-dog-attack-12-surgeries.html#:~:text=Jose%20Rodriguez'%20son%20JJ%20%2D%20short,apart%20and%20his%20skull%20exposed.

Aye, she’s a ticking time bomb this one 🙄😂

Does look very Pit Bull type there..the long legs and head shape.
A Facebook group are advising everyone with a dog that could fall under the ban {one has existed for Pit types for years} to register their dog because dogs can be seized if they look to be 'of type' and are unmuzzled.
The Pit in this attached pic is extremely athletic, but shows the leaner type well.

You are terrifyingly complacent.

Please watch this video.