Germany is a federal republic and therefore has a two layer legal system: federal and state.

Two Staff-mix killed a kid about a decade ago and sparked a huge debate ending in a federal ban on breeding or importing a handful of breeds including pitbulls and staffords. On top of that do states issue laws on personality test, owner requirements and so on for the existing dogs. You are considering to move to one of the states with the strongest legislation.

I do not think you will find a legal way to bring your dog with you to "the home of SAP"...

Yep, so ive heard about the kid story. The thing is, that could have been a German Shepard (which I own as well), or any other strong dog - pretty short sited approach to a problem.

You can say that again, you won't believe the hoops we had to jump through for our boy...

I will keep checking if there are any other options, but I fear as the Germans are usually quite sticky with rules, that it will be near impossible.

That's BSL for you... Blame the owner not the breed! That's what I say.

hello roostermike and all dog lovers (dangerous or not ) !

a couple of months later I just wanted to THANK you again, very very much for your support with my issue regarding the neighbours staffies - I'm not exaggerating if I say that you helped improve my quality of life here

your comments and concrete suggestions have helped me put the issue in a realistic context and be much less afraid, or at least think a lot less about it and feel in control.
if all dog owners were like you friendly bunch... but I realise that it was really worthwile to try and eliminate prejudice on my part as a "non-dog person", too!

so I wish you a lot of fun in the still nice weather with your four-legged companions

wow, what awesome feedback. Nice to see some non staffie people see the joy in this breed - awesome stuff

Glad we could be of help! Once you eliminate prejudice, you will have no problems with dogs in general.

I fully agree in the sense that I have played with a pitbull that was the most patient and best behaving family dog I have ever met. But actually is it an effective law. The truth is that as least over here certain types of owners are atracted to certain types of breeds. And sorry to generalize but certain strong dogs seem to attract people who "had issues".
For me was the causal connection between the various cases always the anti social background and criminal records of the owners - let alone their obvious inability to educate and take care of a dog... and not the specific breed. (This is btw taken care of in the laws as well: If you have demonstrated to be an unreliable person, even only by driving drunk... are you not going to get a license for a dangerous dog - that's the breeds that are controlled but not outlawed)

On top of that is there little doubt that the strength of the animals did make the attacks worse. I'd still prefer to see the muzzles on those owners instead of their dogs.

"I'd still prefer to see the muzzles on those owners instead of their dogs." - hehe I like that one.

For the record over here in South Africa where crime is very high, sometimes has an impact on the dog you choose - for instance I have a German Shepard (trained) where people who would like to invade your premises would rather go somewhere else. I also have a Staffordshire Terrier, which is probably the most useless watchdog in my mind, who would rather think that an intruder is coming around to play.