This is wrong, if we used your example of a Chihuahua that somehow grew large and measured to over 20" at the withers, you would just have a large Chihuahua not a dog classed as an xl bully because it would still have the characteristics of being a Chihuahua...but big. This is why you can have a dog like a husky or a doberman or a German shepherd, all of which will likely be over 20" tall at the withers, there is a list of government guidelines published on their website, that states what characteristics makes a dog an xl bully. People can still get big dog's that looks somewhat similar to an xl bully that are that are cane Corso or bulmastiff or boebel for example.

Id bet that if you put a standard boebel and a classic American xl bully together, I reckon 50% of the UK population would not be able to tell you which one is which. They would have almost the exact same measurements and it's quite likely the boerbel would be the heavier one. They would both measure similar, both be muscular and well defined likely both have a short, single, glossy coat, But the boerbel is not illegal. It would take a specially trained person (DLO) to define the difference and that person's opinion is also largely open to interpretation as well.

There is no exact number or percentage of these characteristics that a dog needs to meet to be classed as one either. The law simply states if the dog 'meets a substantial' number of the characteristics then the dog may be considered an xl bully. So there's no minimum or maximum number of single measurements that make a dog an xl bully, the law is very ambiguous and open to interpretation. Which tbh makes it somewhat floored.

That's not strictly true, there are lots of cross breeds that are taller than 24", that aren't classed as an xl bully. The government's website lists other factors that need to be considered such as the head being large and broad, with prominent wrinkles on the face, the dog's coat needs to be glossy, smooth, close and single, the dog's body should be heavily muscled + many more traits.

Your average unidentifiable launcher mix would be >24"... that don't automatically make them an xl bully. Stop telling people on the Internet that.

A Labrador/ Corso mix would likey meet some of the criteria but not all. And if the dog was suspected or looked into by the police for some reason, it would likely be temporarily seized and be up to the local Dog legislation Officer to decide whether it counts as an xl or not. This is a problem, because the law does not define exactly how many of the traits the dog must have and one DLO's views of what classes as an xl may differ from the next. For example, there have been reports of one police force seizing a dog, then releasing the dog after the DLO decided they don't count as an xl, then a different police force from a different county seizing the dog again and a different DLO classing it as an xl.

The law is hugely ambiguous, because of this a lot of owners have had their dog classed as an exempt xl, just to play it safe and have been left with no way to get the exemption removed or proved as ....not an xl bully. I feel sorry for these people and the restrictions it's put their lives.

Police forces are turning up at people's houses and taking a loved family member away, ( even dog's that look nothing like a typical xl bully) with the goal of having the dog treated poorly in kennels and ultimately killed. The dog's that don't really look like xl bully usually get returned, but it comes down to one guys opinion (the DLO). It's wrong on so many levels. An dog owners should really have to put up with it.