How accurate are dog breed identifiers?

[DaphneLaurel]

Sister and BIL have a new dog (rescue). They said he was a Staffie cross. I put some photos of him into a couple of dog breed identifiers online and they've both come out as over 80% certainty American Pit Bull Terrier. Apparently this is a banned breed (but maybe not if he is crossed with Staffordshire)? How accurate are these breed identifiers ? Could he be majority staffy instead ? Bit worried as we have a very young child in the family and they are hoping to start a family too. It's a very big and seemingly very anxious dog. I did not feel safe around it, but I hadn't even looked into the breed at that point.

I've definitely seen suspect bull breeds called staffy crosses on rescue sites. A real staffy is small and these dogs are very much not. I do think some of the smaller rescues can be a bit blind to the danger these dogs are capable of, probably because they end up with so many of them and it's either love them or give up. I think since the xl bully ban there's a lot more bull breeds being abandoned. My unpopular opinion is that an anxious very powerful bull breed that hates other dogs and is nervous of people they don't know (a profile I see too often) isn't really suitable to be rehomed.

@Unluckycat1 Thanks for your response. That's what I expected.

The short answer is 'not at all'. I've just uploaded a couple of photos of my Lab/Cocker cross into different web-based apps, and one decided he was a Vizla, while the other thought he was 40% American Staffordshire Terrier and 35% Staffordshire Bull Terrier. He looks like a shortarsed Lab with a long nose, btw.

Even pure-bred Staffies divide opinion. I would personally pay more attention to the dog itself than the breed - some academics in the US have been studying Labs that are bred as service dogs and found a vast variety even within litters in terms of temperament, personality and cognition. If your instinct is that the dog is not safe to be around, then don't introduce your kids. My pup loves kids, and has been socialised to them since birth, but can still be overwhelming and needs constant oversight.

Ha that's really interesting it was so inaccurate. Thanks for letting me know.
I think unless the dog starts seeming significantly less anxious and strung out then I won't be feeling any kind of trust towards it. It's definitely a big dog.

Wildly inaccurate. Also, they are mostly US based so anything with a blocky head is likely to be labelled pit bull as they are overwhelmingly common and present in 99% of mixed breeds over there. The IDMyDog and DoggyDNA Subreddits are really interesting for this stuff.

The only really accurate DNA test for dogs is Embark at the moment if they were desperate to find out.

Get a DNA test done, the way to be sure

I just tried this for a laugh with my mixed breed rescue dog and with one photo of his full body I got Irish Wolfhound and one of mainly his face I got Tibetan Terrier so I'm gonna say it's not very accurate

(We don't know what he is but most likely a Mioritic sheepdog cross)

On your more important point I would agree it's right to be very cautious whatever the breed. Large dogs with small children are a bad mix.
We recently had my young niece and nephew to stay at Christmas and although they are used to dogs and live with two they definitely stressed my dog (who is not used to small children shouting and running) and I had to be very careful with supervising him around them and keeping him away from them. He barked at them and made it clear he was uncomfortable so it was very important to recognise those signs and remove him/ them

About accurate as the kennel staff hazarding a guess. Appearance is affected by so many factors. DNA isn't any better to narrow down breeds, as it's all one species and almost all breeds were created by crossing existing breeds.

What kind of rescue is the dog from? Most will not rehome dogs where there are young children unless they have good evidence the dog is placid and not a risk.

was it a reputable rescue?

I've just tried one of these apps with my 100% springer - it tells me he is a pointer.

I've just put a picture of my springer/poodle in and it came back as shih tzu or wire haired fox terrier! My friends border collie x Dalmatian (DNA tested) came back as probably a pit bull with some Great Dane. So not very accurate at all would be my guess 🤣

I just went and tried one for the sake of it, my collie comes back as all sorts depending on which photo I use, husky was one, toy terrier and corgie others.

My other dog came back as varying percentage of dingo depending on which picture, I don’t know exactly what he is, but I feel dingo is fairly unlikely as I do know he’s never been anywhere near that side of the planet 🤣

I've just tried with my dog (a whippet) came back as Italian greyhound or whippet (plus saluki) depending on pose.
I'd be worried about a large rescue dog rehomed in a house with a very young child.
I think you possibly need to step in. Being over cautious around dogs is never a bad thing.