Banned dog breeds in Germany: the federal import ban

The relevant law is the Hundeverbringungs- und -einfuhrbeschränkungsgesetz (HundVerbrEinfG). Its § 2 is the operative provision, and it is short.

Dogs of the breeds Pitbull-Terrier, American Staffordshire-Terrier, Staffordshire-Bullterrier and Bullterrier, as well as their crossings with one another or with other dogs, may not be imported or brought into the country.

The crossings clause is doing real work. A dog that is part Staffordshire Bullterrier is caught by the wording even if it is not one of the four named breeds.

Source: Gesetze im Internet — HundVerbrEinfG § 2, Einfuhr- und Verbringungsverbot, read 25 September 2026.

This is the distinction that causes most confusion, and getting it wrong is expensive because it bites at the border rather than later.

The federal law above governs bringing a dog in. Whether you may keep a particular dog, and under what conditions, is set by the individual Bundesland — and those lists differ from state to state. Germany has no single national ownership list, in the same way it has no single federal list of public holidays.

So there are two questions, and a relocation has to answer both: can the dog enter at all, and does the Land you are moving to permit keeping it.

If your dog is one of the four named breeds or a crossing involving them, the federal answer is that it cannot come. That is not a permit problem to be solved with paperwork — the statute prohibits the movement itself.

If your dog is a breed restricted only at Land level, the question becomes which state, and the answer varies. Check the Hundeverordnung of the specific Bundesland before committing to a city, because two offers in two states can carry different answers for the same animal.

The law also provides for customs involvement and penalty provisions, so this is enforced at entry rather than discovered at registration.

Source: Gesetze im Internet — HundVerbrEinfG § 2, Einfuhr- und Verbringungsverbot, read 25 September 2026.

To be clear about scope: we do not arrange pet transport, import permits or animal liability cover. We are an insurance introducer for international health and life cover for people.

What we can do is the human side of the same move — health cover that meets the rule your German route sets out, cited and dated on the Germany hub. Pre-existing conditions are excluded and cover is governed by the Regency Assurance policy wording.