Evening all. I have an Amstaff that isn't KC registered, which means legally he's considered a 'Category 1' dog, but I'm wondering if I might be able to get him reclassified because of his size. When I got him at 2 months old, he weighed about 16.3 lbs and stood at 36.5 cm at the withers. At 3 months, he was 25.6 lbs and 40 cm. By 4 months, he was 40.6 lbs and 46 cm, and finally, at 5 months, he weighs 47 lbs and is 49 cm tall. Personally, I think he looks much more like an American Pit Bull Terrier type because he's very lean and leggy, you can see his frame. Will I be able to have him reclassified when he's 8 months old? I've read that the dog needs to be over 50 cm to be reclassified and I'm certain he'll pass that. If so, how does it work? Does he move into 'Category 2' or is he taken off the list entirely? Thanks in advance!
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Thanks a lot to both of you! And yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking Gsd. I reckon if I can find a good vet and once my dog is a bit bigger, it’ll be fine – well, I hope so! At the moment, his chest measurement is 62cm.
And let’s be honest, vets pretty much do what they want, and the admin lot don’t really bother themselves with it. I knew some vets who would reclassify Category 2 dogs simply because they didn't meet the specific measurements (which don’t cover the whole breed standard anyway), as long as they had a good nature, and there were never any issues. At the end of the day, I think you just need to find the right vet. :/
Then again, if he’s bigger than the legal description, he’ll likely be heavier too, and the chest girth will be proportional to the dog’s size. I personally reckon several points will be fine.
If the whole "two points" rule is true, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get him de-classified, unless I’m missing something that doesn't fit these criteria:
If he's an American Staffordshire Terrier type (commonly called a Pit Bull):
- Appearance: Small mastiff-type, various colours.
- Build: Muscular dog with a short coat, powerful looking, heavy-set front with a comparatively light rear.
- Weight: approx. 40 lbs to 88 lbs (about 2 st 12 lb to 6 st 4 lb).
- Height at the withers: 35 to 50 cm.
- Chest girth: approx. 60 to 80 cm.
- Head: Slight stop. Muzzle the same length as the skull but narrower. Nose protruding past the chin. Strong jaws with bulging cheek muscles.
Do you think some vets will de-classify a dog based on just one criterion? Or do they look for one thing that doesn't match and then really nitpick to find a second one?
Oh, I wasn’t aware of that bit about the two points in the description :/ nobody ever mentioned that to me, and several of my friends have told me their dogs were de-categorised just because they were a few centimetres taller at the withers and nothing else. Hopefully Bee-cool will pop by to clear things up a bit more for me. Thanks for your replies.
I think a dog only needs to fail to meet two points of the breed criteria to be de-categorised, and then they no longer fall into the category 1 or 2 classifications.
I'm pretty sure Bee-Cool replied to a post about this last week or the week before – worth doing a search for it.
It’ll depend on the vet who examines him, but usually if he’s outside the measurements set out by law, he should be able to be fully de-categorised, as far as I’m aware.
The vet will issue an official written report certifying the dog’s de-categorisation, and I think that’s all there is to it (best to double-check though, as my only source is my work placement).
Other members will be able to confirm or correct me on that.
