Are Any Dog Breeds Banned or Restricted in France?

SHORT ANSWER

Yes. France bans the import of "Category 1" attack dogs: dogs without a recognized pedigree that physically resemble the American Staffordshire Terrier (commonly called pit bulls), the Mastiff (commonly called boerbulls), or the Tosa. Bringing one into France is a criminal offense punishable by six months in prison and a €15,000 fine. "Category 2" guard and defense dogs, which include pedigreed American Staffordshire Terriers, Rottweilers, and Tosas, plus Rottweiler-type dogs without papers, can enter France. Their owners must then get a detention permit from the local town hall and keep the dog leashed and muzzled in public. Every other breed can travel to France under the standard EU pet entry rules.

Which Dog Breeds Does France Classify as Dangerous?

France does not keep a long list of banned breeds the way some countries do. Instead, French law places certain dogs into two regulated categories, and the official Service Public guide to categorized dogs, published by the French government's Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information, spells out who falls where.

Source: Service Public, "Avoir un chien de catégorie : quelles sont les règles ?", verified by Service Public on November 7, 2025.

If your dog is not on either list and does not resemble one of these breeds, France's breed rules do not apply to it. The Service Public guide does add one caution: a dog outside both categories can still be declared dangerous based on its behavior.

Why Your Dog's Pedigree Decides Whether It Can Enter France

The single most important fact in France's system is that the same-looking dog can land in different categories depending on its paperwork. Under the Service Public guide, a dog counts as purebred only when it is registered in the Livre des Origines Françaises (LOF), kept by the Société Centrale Canine, or in another country's studbook that the Société Centrale Canine recognizes.

That creates a sharp line for American families. An American Staffordshire Terrier with recognized pedigree papers is a Category 2 dog and can move to France. A dog with the same build and no recognized papers is a Category 1 dog and cannot. Before you assume your dog's registration papers will carry over, confirm directly with your breed registry or the Société Centrale Canine that France recognizes them.

Rottweilers work differently. A Rottweiler is Category 2 whether or not it has a pedigree, so a Rottweiler-type mix is not banned from entering France. It does bring the full set of Category 2 owner obligations with it.

What Happens If You Bring a Category 1 Dog Into France?

According to the Service Public guide, importing or introducing a Category 1 dog into metropolitan France, the overseas regions and departments, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, or Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is punishable by six months in prison and a €15,000 fine. A court can also order:

• Confiscation of the dog or dogs involved
• A ban of up to five years on the professional activity used to commit the offense
• A ban of up to five years on keeping any Category 1 or Category 2 dog

The rules for people who already hold a Category 1 dog in France are just as strict. The dog must be sterilized, and France bars certain people from keeping one at all, including minors, adults under guardianship without a judge's approval, people with certain criminal convictions, and anyone who has previously had a dog taken away. Keeping a Category 1 dog without authorization carries six months in prison and a €7,500 fine.

For a U.S. family planning a move, the practical meaning is simple. There is no permit, exemption, or paperwork path that lets a Category 1 dog relocate to France. If your dog falls in this group, the move plan has to change before anything else is booked.

What Category 2 Dog Owners Must Do After Arriving in France

Category 2 dogs can enter France, but the obligations begin once you settle. The Service Public guide lists the following requirements for owners of categorized dogs:

1. Identification. The dog must be microchipped and registered in France's national pet identification database, the Icad.
2. Rabies vaccination. The dog must stay vaccinated against rabies even if you live in a rabies-free department. Only an EU pet passport issued by a veterinarian is accepted as proof, even for a dog that never leaves France.
3. Owner training certificate. You must complete a one-day course covering dog education, behavior, and accident prevention, then receive an attestation d'aptitude. The training is at your own cost, and your town hall or departmental animal protection office (DDPP) can provide a list of approved trainers.
4. Behavioral evaluation. Between 8 months and 1 year of age, the dog must be evaluated by an approved veterinarian.
5. Liability insurance. You need civil liability insurance covering damage your dog might cause to others.
6. Detention permit. The mayor of your town (or the Paris police prefecture if you live in Paris) issues the permis de détention using form Cerfa n°13996. The permit is free, and each dog needs its own. A dog under 8 months receives a provisional permit valid until it turns 1.

In public, a Category 2 dog must be leashed and muzzled on the street, in the common areas of apartment buildings, in public places, in businesses open to the public, and on public transport.

The passport requirement surprises many American families. U.S. pets usually enter France on a USDA-endorsed health certificate, not an EU pet passport, so a Category 2 owner should plan on getting a passport from a French veterinarian soon after arrival. Our guide to whether your pet needs an EU pet passport to move from the U.S. to France explains how that process works.

Can a French Landlord Refuse Your Dog Because of Its Breed?

Breed rules follow you past the border and into your rental agreement. According to Service Public's page on whether a lease can ban animals, a tenant who rents a home as their primary residence is allowed to keep pets, as long as the animals do not disturb the neighbors. The tenant is responsible for any damage or abnormal disturbance the pets cause. There is one exception written into that protection: a landlord or rental agency can include a lease clause banning Category 1 dogs.

Short-term furnished tourist rentals (meublés de tourisme) work differently. The owner of a vacation-style rental can ban all animals in the rental contract. That matters for relocating families, because many people spend their first weeks in France in temporary housing while they look for a long-term home.

On a recent episode of Starwood's Pet Travel Insider podcast with Haven in France, the panel pointed to temporary accommodation as the place where pet owners most often get caught out. Short-term rentals set their own pet policies, and a standard long-term residential lease in France can work quite differently from what Americans expect. Buying a home gives you more freedom, but the panel stressed checking whether a property genuinely works for the animal day to day, such as secure fencing in the countryside or neighbors with allergies in a city apartment building.

Service Public also notes that a landlord or co-owner who believes a dog living in the building is dangerous can report it to the mayor. For owners of a Category 2 dog, that makes a clean paper trail (permit, evaluation, insurance) worth keeping on hand from day one.

Mixed Breeds and Lookalikes: When Appearance Decides the Category

France classifies Category 1 dogs by their physical characteristics, not by their DNA or what an adoption record says. That puts many mixed-breed and rescue dogs in a gray area, especially bully-type mixes with a broad head and muscular build.

The Service Public guide states that only a veterinarian is qualified to determine a dog's breed type. When there is any doubt, it recommends getting a veterinary attestation that you can show to police or other officials if your dog is checked. A DNA breed test can be useful background, but because France's categories turn on resemblance, a written veterinary assessment of your dog's appearance is the document the French guide points to.

What Pet Owners Are Saying on Reddit

The lookalike problem comes up again and again among Americans planning a move. In an r/AskFrance thread titled "Moving to France with a dog?", the original poster wrote: "I'm planning on moving to France with my dog who happens to look like a staffordshire even though she is not pure breed" (r/AskFrance discussion). The thread drew more than 40 replies, which shows how often this exact question stops a move in its tracks.

As Georgiana Strait, Marketing Manager at Starwood Pet Travel, puts it: "The breed question is the first thing we want settled for any family moving a dog to France, because it is the one problem paperwork cannot fix later. If there is any chance your mixed-breed dog could be read as a Category 1 type, get a written assessment from your veterinarian before you book a flight or sign a lease. Vaccines and health certificates follow a set schedule. Proving what your dog is not takes planning."

How to Check Your Dog's Category Before You Plan a Move to France

Work through these steps before you book flights, schedule vet visits, or sign a lease:

1. Check your dog's papers. Confirm whether your dog has pedigree papers that France's Société Centrale Canine recognizes. This alone can move a dog from Category 1 to Category 2.
2. Get a written breed assessment. If your dog is a mix or a rescue, ask your veterinarian for a written assessment of its breed type, as the Service Public guide recommends.
3. Stop if your dog could be Category 1. There is no permit or exemption for these dogs, so rethink the move before spending money on travel prep.
4. Plan for Category 2 obligations. Budget time after arrival for the owner training course, the behavioral evaluation, liability insurance, an EU pet passport, and the detention permit.
5. Read every rental contract. Look for animal clauses in both your temporary housing and your long-term lease.
6. Meet France's standard entry rules. According to USDA APHIS, your pet needs a working microchip before the rabies vaccination that counts for EU travel. For the full sequence and timeline, see our complete guide to moving your dog or cat from the U.S. to France.

Airlines also set their own breed policies that are separate from French law, so confirm your carrier's current rules for your dog's breed before booking.

Frequently Asked Questions