UC Davies offers a DNA analysis for pets, this could get you some paperwork, which helps identifying the heritage of your dog. Other than that make sure you have the European chip in your dog. There is a difference between the US and European chip. Then get the official paperwork from USDA and a flight approved shipping container (cannot be open by the dog from inside). For the size to determined, the dog must be able to turn around in the kennel freely. This is a good investment, because you can use it in your new home as a place of comfort. Make sure your dog feels comfortable in it. Also pack some food for the dog to be fed after arrival. Should you encounter a diarrhea problem after arrival, children immodium helps in that case.
Help! I am trying to move to Marseille this December 2021 on a student visa. I have a psychiatric service dog (Louis) verified in the US. I trained him myself and I am not a professional dog trainer. He has a AKC certificate but he is not a registered pedigree because he is a rescue dog from a shelter. He has passed the PAT (Public Access Test) and I am hoping to get him certificates for Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog.
Even with all the proper documents, I am worried the vet at customs will misjudge his breed. He looks like he could be mixed with Terrier but his vet paperwork and AKC non-pedigree certificate say boxer and lab. Even my doctors note says he is a lab mix. It seems like itâs totally subjective upon arrival, tho! Does any of his documentation matter if the vet at customs can determine his breed a Cat 1 or Cat 2? Is it even worth the risk to take him?
@David_Spardo When the first two vets judged your dog, where they going to take him away from you? Would you and your dog be able to fly back home? What is the process of your dog is labeled Cat 1 or Cat 2? I am so worried they will take him from me and potentially euthanize him 
@Iffer Were you able to get your dog into the country?
Did you have any luck? I am trying to take my dog by December this year.
Hello Kate, I think you may have got the wrong end of the stick about my encounters. In France, Category 1 dogs are within a laid down list of breeds of which Rottweilers are one. As my dog was listed in his passport, and so obviously by his appearance, a Rottie, there was no need to prove or otherwise his categorisation.
The law with such category dogs is that they must be assigned a Level of Dangerousness with Level 1 being the least dangerous and 4 the most. Such dogs need 3rd party insurance as they are not included in house insurance policies whereas uncategorised dogs are.
In order to determine this Level it is necessary to get a decision by one of the vets specifically licenced for this purpose. That was what I needed the 2 vets for, they had no powers to do anything other than give me their professional opinion. I only used the 2nd vet because I thought the first one had been grossly unfair. Sadly the 2nd one turned out to be a charlaton, saying one thing and doing another.
The only way it impacted me was that my insurance company refused him the insurance cover I needed to obtain a certificate from our Maire allowing me to keep him at my home. Without that certificate my dog would be in danger of destruction.
As I am resident in France and the vets concerned were reasonably local, there was no question of me âflying homeâ or anywhere else.
I am not an expert on the laws regarding importation of Category dogs to France, but I would think that if you do not have a certified professional opinion of the breed of your dog, it would be unwise to risk bringing him if his appearance coincided in any way with that of banned or restricted breeds.
The whole thing fills me with anger, there is no such thing as a dangerous breed but, as long as idiots control the law regarding such things, I would not myself risk my dogs life on a chance.
As an aside, I have transported dozens of Dobermanns from Spain to France. The reason is that Spanish idiots disagree with French idiots and Dobies are only dangerous south of the border. I have never had to bring a Dobermann from Portugal however, because Portugal apparently agrees with France. 
Thank you @David_Spardo !
I have paperwork that determines his breed as Boxador (boxer/lab). But he doesnât have a pedigree because he is a rescue dog from a shelter. I am worried that means the papers are invalid. Where were you able to locate the vets in the US? I know he needs his international health certificate and pet passport. I am not sure if that is enough to prove his breed at customs. It sounds like the vet at customs trumps all decisions no matter what paperwork they make us get before getting into the country.
I appreciate the help!
I am sorry Kate, but either you are not reading my words or have mistakenly directed your question at me.
I live in France and have no connection of any kind with the US and there was no doubt about my dogâs breed, he was definitely a Rottweiler and therefore needed his character testing according to French law. He wasnât going anywhere across any border so the opinion of any border staff did not come into the equation.
If you are still in the US, then contact UC Davies for a gen analysis to verify the heritage to make sure your dog does not have any problems!
Your dog needs also an European chip, because the US chip is not readable with European scanners. In the end USDA will get you the paperwork necessary besides the passport!
Dobermans are very loving Family dogs! However the French allow Fila Brasilero to be bred and sold and if you have that dog in the neighborhood, you better have high fences, because the bite from those dogs are very painful. If the owner is a lawyer no chance to get the dog put down!
The bite from any dog which does it in anger is very painful, and possibly fatal. I do not know what a Filo Brasilero is, presumably a large breed like the Dogue Argentino, but I do not waver from my own firm opinion that no dog is dangerous purely because of its breed. It all depends on the way it is brought up by humans and taught by them, apart of course, from the rare one which has a brain flaw just as there are humans like that too.
Hi I am new to this group. I discovered it while trying to find out information on whether I can bring my dog with me to France. My husband and I intend to retire in France in the next few years and I want to make SURE I have all of my doggieâs paperwork in order to get him safely into France. Iâm VERY confused about the entire process of what type of dog is acceptable and what isnât. My dog is mixed with many breeds, chocolate lab, chow, australian shepherd, American Staffordshire. Weâve had him since he was 4 weeks old. We rescued him from a hoarding situation. Is my dog considered a breed thatâs not allowed? I have no clue.
Hello, and welcome to the forum!
These websites are clear and informative
https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/france/family/pets-animals/dangerous-dogs
This is the official (less clear!) French site
It doesnât sound to me like your dog would be classified Category 1 but possibly Cat 2 depending on how he looks.
Even so, try consulting your vet because he will be doing paperwork for you at some point. There are requirements for entry to France for all dogs that must have been completed to present correctly at the border.
I wish you every good fortune for your plans, and am sure other members here will also have advice. Kudos for thinking well ahead!
Hi Susannah thank you for responding. I read those sites before I came here, I still wasnât sure what category my dog was in,
Lovely dog! Looks as though he is very busy doing due diligence.
I see your dilemma. France seems to adjudicate according to âtypeâ, going by looks, not just breed.
I would ask the vet where you are and tell them you want to visit France. (It may be worth trying a visit first, via ferry or tunnel entry if you are in UK? )
Hopefully, another SF member may have actual experience that may better help you.
As does the UK I believe, the whole thing is a farce and I am pleased I have never been involved in it apart from my Rottie who never crossed a frontier with me but had originally been imported from Spain with a Dobermann, both rescued by PAD. (Dobermann Association).
I believe that vets in England and maybe France have to measure certain aspects of the dogâs head and jaws to determine the breed dominance of a âdoubtfulâ dog.
I have nothing but contempt for the process which is born of complete ignorance. I would happily transport any dog of any appearance and would only be on my guard by its attitude to me. In more than a decade of transporting dogs across the whole of the then European Union I have only been bitten 3 times, by a Pyrrenean Mountain Dog, a Great Dane, and a Collie. None of which is on the dangerous breed list. On the other hand I have, as I said before transported dozens of Dobies (dangerous in Spain), Rottweilers, Staffies of all crosses and many more and have received nothing more than cuddles from them.
What a gorgeous dog!.
We had similar concerns with our staffie. We went to our UK vet with the above categories, and got him to write out a nice looking certificate in French and English, covered in official looking stamps, to confirm the staffie wasnât a Category 1 Pitbull, Tosa etc. We found it quite frustrating not be be able to find anything more precise than the above linked article to reference⊠Needless to say, nobody from Customs ever showed the slightest interest in our staffie during any one of the numerous visits we made to France.
The problem is far less to do with the dogs themselves than with the sort of people who generally choose to get a dog of a banned breed, of whatever sort, they tend to be nightmares who want to look tough and are vile to their dogs because they see them as an accessory like a flicknife or machete or whatever and donât know how to look after them, and as we canât legislate against that it is the dogs who suffer.
In a nutshell. 
The problem is almost always at the other end of the lead. The problem is that the people who wish to have dogs that behave dangerously always choose the dogs on the list, and train them thus.