American Staffies in the UK

Hi
I need some advice. I am currently living in Ireland, I work for a charity group called D.A.W.G (Dog Action Welfare Group) in Cork, me and my boyfriend do a lot of fostering and I work at the kennels with the strays. We are advocates for bull breeds with this charity and are one of the only couples that will take them into foster or adoption. We currently have 4 Staffy cross breeds (1 foster girl) and an American Staffy. We took him into foster after he was running around homeless for 3 months and no one would go near him because of his breed. Its safe to say we fell in love with him and kept him, at the time he was only 7/8 months and we thought he was just a normal staff, turns out he had a lot more growing to do ha ha.

I am Irish but moved to the UK in 05 and was there for 5 years where I adopted my first 2 Staffies, we moved over to Ireland in 2010 and are planning to move back in October next year, we are very worried that our boy will be seen as a "Pit Type" dog and seized, he is a great dog with an amazing temperament and loves playing with puppies and generally being a little softy ha ha but unfortunately we know that this doesnt matter and his looks will get him into trouble maybe. We have a last resort home with my brother and we would be extremely upset to say goodbye to him but rather that then him getting destroyed in England.

We were just wondering what the options are and whether or not he would be in danger? Any help and advice woud be of great help. He is the Fawn boy at the front of the picture.

Hi and welcome from us and Suki. I'm not famaliar with the UK laws but I believe that as long as he is well behavied and socialized you should be fine.

There will be someone with more specific advice and experience along in a minute

Thanks jstaff

as you can imagine we are very eager to get all the info we can to keep our precious boy

He looks like a Stafford to me rather than a Pit type. When a Stafford smiles their grin is wider and the top of their head looks flatter if you get my drift. There are many experts on this forum

haha which dog are you referring to as by the pics shown i cant see you having any problems as if you say he great natured which i dont doubt as you wouldnt be able to have a brood of 4
worse case keep your breed secret and class as staffy x you should be fine

PS
great pictures thanks for sharing

Ha ha thanks so much guys we are just paranoid and trying to get as much info as we can to prepare for the move.

He looks staffy to me, so try not to worry! As long as you are doing the right things and he is a well behaved dog you should not have a problem, if the worst does happen his temperament will be the key factor!

Hi & welcome to the forum. You're doing a great job with the bull breeds - well done!

Looking at the photo (gorgeous dogs, by the way) he looks like a large stafford, so all I'd tell anyone is that he's a stafford cross! With what? Who knows? Who cares?

If you get a pet passport for him, make sure the vet puts 'Stafford cross' in the description. He's already neutered & microchipped, I assume? Other than that, just make sure he's well behaved & you'll probably never have a problem.

Aww its so great and reasuring to get some good feedback, we have been warned by many people that we might not get away with it. He is neutered and microchipped and we will have a passport for him by the time we go.

Thank you all so much for the advice and I very much look forward to being a part of this forum more often. I am currently doing Canine Studies in college here and hope to make a career out of my grooming and set up my own rescue somewhere in the future, I am hoping to do an aggression rehabilitation course back in England and am very much looking forward to volunteering or maybe getting work for Babbington rescue in Nottingham as they work closely with Staffs and Bull breeds.

Seeing as though Im on the video section (not great with forums yet ha ha) here is my favourite video of our boy playing with a 7 week old German shepherd/collie pup that we were fostering (who went to be rehomed in the UK)

He looks staff to me, but I'm definitely no expert.

Love the video .. he's gorgeous

Love the 2 in the background
He looks a lovely boy

What a fab family, I hope you don't mind but I moved your topic into chat Xx

All gorgeous dogs

I think even if he was classed as a pitbull type, it only really comes under attention if they're not well-behaved, so if he is, I doubt you'd ever have any problems. Plus like everyone has said, put him down as another Staff x and he should be fine

He does look like staffu to me as well but in the UK if any police officer that may see him thinks he is a pit x they can take him away and then its up to u prove that he isnt a banned breed or cross with a banned breed and there is prejudice with dogs from Ireland as pits get in England from Ireland. Go on the defra website. You might come and nothing happens but you might come and something does happen on the website thisisbristol back in april this guy had police vans out his house because police thought hos dog to be a banned breed. I think he got his dog back luckily. If anything does happen contact deednotbreed. You can also ask them advice about your doggy. They helped so many people with the same problem you have.

He looks like a big Staffy , end of !! And he is a great looking boy BTW

wow, he's absolutely beautiful. i live in South Africa and i'm just so glad that we don"t have laws that discriminate against breeds, because we all know that its how the dog is raised on not the breed, that causes problems. i've been bitten by a poodle but never by a staff, amstaff or apbt.

He looks like a big staffy ,nothing like an amstaff ive seen loads of them in France, he is gorgeous !

I think you would be better off seeking advice from the Am Staff forum.

she ok here if she join another forum they wont know what the uk laws are because american staffy are banned in the uk

Steve wrote:she ok here if she join another forum they wont know what the uk laws are because american staffy are banned in the uk

Without trying to be over dramatic, this really is a life & death situation.
I would consider the Am Staff community would be more aware of the B.S.L laws concerning their breed in the U.K. than people outside the breed.
Also I would consider the Am Staff communities opinion as to the identification of the o.p's dog to be more informed than those who don't appear to be familar with the breed.

it's very unlikely any amstaffy forum will have any uk users

You can find the laws concerning dogs on gov website or defra website but theyr pretty straightforward. Your dog does look like a staffy especally his nose is typical of a staffy as pits tend to have it slightly more pronounced. Take more pictures and post them.

pedro wrote:

Steve wrote:she ok here if she join another forum they wont know what the uk laws are because american staffy are banned in the uk

Without trying to be over dramatic, this really is a life & death situation.
I would consider the Am Staff community would be more aware of the B.S.L laws concerning their breed in the U.K. than people outside the breed.
Also I would consider the Am Staff communities opinion as to the identification of the o.p's dog to be more informed than those who don't appear to be familar with the breed.

There are AmStaff owners on here - at least one has already given his opinion in this thread.

As far as I know there aren't any UK based AmStaff forums, and the American ones would have little or no true idea of the state of the BSL laws in the UK.

Corinne wrote:Aww its so great and reasuring to get some good feedback, we have been warned by many people that we might not get away with it. He is neutered and microchipped and we will have a passport for him by the time we go.

Thank you all so much for the advice and I very much look forward to being a part of this forum more often. I am currently doing Canine Studies in college here and hope to make a career out of my grooming and set up my own rescue somewhere in the future, I am hoping to do an aggression rehabilitation course back in England and am very much looking forward to volunteering or maybe getting work for Babbington rescue in Nottingham as they work closely with Staffs and Bull breeds.

Seeing as though Im on the video section (not great with forums yet ha ha) here is my favourite video of our boy playing with a 7 week old German shepherd/collie pup that we were fostering (who went to be rehomed in the UK)

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww im so in love with him he is so cute

Caryll wrote:

pedro wrote:

Steve wrote:she ok here if she join another forum they wont know what the uk laws are because american staffy are banned in the uk

Without trying to be over dramatic, this really is a life & death situation.
I would consider the Am Staff community would be more aware of the B.S.L laws concerning their breed in the U.K. than people outside the breed.
Also I would consider the Am Staff communities opinion as to the identification of the o.p's dog to be more informed than those who don't appear to be familar with the breed.

There are AmStaff owners on here - at least one has already given his opinion in this thread.

As far as I know there aren't any UK based AmStaff forums, and the American ones would have little or no true idea of the state of the BSL laws in the UK.

www....world wide web. People are more informed to all types of issues they are interested in.
I'm certain Am Staff people from all over, Europe for e.g. would be well aware of the U.K. B.S.L. laws.
I'm not terribly confident ''it looks like a staffy to me'' is a good enough assurance to take the risk.

Related question.
If the O.P. did travel to the the U.K. with the dog & was then told it is an banned breed, would he/she have the option of immediately returning home with the dog or would the dog have to be surrendered?

He's lovely! As are all you're doggies! My friend had the same problem. He has an overgrown Staffy too. Thick as they come and very friendly, but the Police seized him anyway........ Because he was such a good boy he was deemed to be most likely staffy, but his his size said maybe pitt, so.... They made him have the dog chipped and they had to have him put on the dangerous dogs list or he'd be destroyed. As you can imagine his owner was very upset but did what he was asked. He has never caused a problem so has been left alone ever since. They Police don't even look at the dog when they go past him now........ I hope they stop eyeballing my Lexi soon lol. I'd talk to a vet in the area you're hoping to move too, see what they say.... That way you can't be accused of being irresponsible because you have all bases covered! xxxxxxxx

Hi
Your boy is lovely, as to what he truly is i cant say. He certainly has alot of Stafford in him that i can say.
What would happen when you bought him over no one can say for certain. If his a model citizen like you state trouble may never come knocking at your door. Its just that small percentage it JUST might.
Before you do anything please get in-touch with Allie green at the DDA Watch the web address is www.ddawatch.co.uk They will be-able to give you the best advise of what you should do, and guide you in what is needed to bring him over safely to the UK Good luck x

Denise wrote:
Before you do anything please get in-touch with Allie green at the DDA Watch the web address is www.ddawatch.co.uk They will be-able to give you the best advise of what you should do, and guide you in what is needed to bring him over safely to the UK Good luck x

Good advice there, Denise - thanks!

How gorgeous is he?

What a great looking lovely natured dog. I don't think you'll have any issues with him, I'd love to have him in my household. Good luck x