About us – the breeder behind Del Piccolo Diavolo
Since 2013 in Ostellato, province of Ferrara
A family Staffordshire Bull Terrier kennel in Ostellato (FE), Italy. One litter a year, sometimes none, on English Elitebull and Irish Lackyle lines.
What guides us
🧬 Genetic testing
All breeding dogs tested for L2-HGA and HC, or clear by parentage
🏠 Family Raised
Puppies socialized in a home environment
📞 Support
Assistance for the dog's entire life
🏆 Top Lines
Elitebull (UK) and Lackyle (Ireland)
Our story
From Crufts to Ostellato
It all began in 2005, at Crufts. I was looking for a dog with strong but manageable character: the Staffy struck me as a “miniature Rottweiler”: powerful, determined and very affectionate.
Since then I've studied the standard, traveled to UK and Ireland, met experienced breeders.
Why Elitebull and Lackyle
They are not two opposing styles, and it is not Ireland against England: they are two kennels that made the history of the breed, one before the other.
Lackyle came first, and its historic dogs are found today in pedigrees across half of Europe. Elitebull is the one that weighs now, and its pedigrees carry precisely those historic Lackyle dogs. Not two alternative lines, then: the second contains the first.
I work with them because they are documented and verifiable lines that produce predictably. That is what you need when a mating is planned rather than hoped for.
There is also a reason that is not technical. Those pedigrees carry Lackyle Diabhal Óg, Irish for the little devil, who to my mind remains one of the finest dogs of the modern era, together with everything he left behind him. Del Piccolo Diavolo is the translation of his name: the kennel is called that because of him.
Breeding philosophy
Quality, not quantity
1-2 litters per year. Every pairing is planned: we study pedigrees, evaluate genetic compatibility, wait for the right moment. Every litter born here, with parents, tests, examinations and growth photos, is recorded in the breeding diary.
Character selection
Before including a dog in our program, we observe it for months: behavior at home, with strangers, other dogs, children. It must be confident, balanced, sociable.
What you receive with our puppy
- ENCI Pedigree — FCI certificate recognized worldwide
- Microchip registered with canine registry
- Health booklet with vaccinations and deworming
- L2-HGA and HC genetic test certificates of parents
- Placement agreement with guarantees
- Puppy kit: food, blanket with mom's scent, toy
- Our number — Support for the dog's entire life
Who is behind Del Piccolo Diavolo
Paolo Boldrini has been breeding Staffordshire Bull Terriers since 2013 in Ostellato, in the province of Ferrara, under the name Del Piccolo Diavolo. Before the Staffies he bred Rottweilers, taking an Italian Champion and a European Champion into the ring.
He works with Elitebull (England) and Lackyle (Ireland) bloodlines and tests every breeding dog for L2-HGA and HC. Our dogs are also clear of DM-SOD1. With Bilquis Goddess Diabhal he won the ENCI Italian Beauty Champion title and placed fourth at the World Dog Show in Zagreb in 2024. Every puppy leaves with an ENCI pedigree and with the parents' test certificates.
The facts, data and choices described on these pages are his: they come from what happens at the kennel. For questions about puppies, bloodlines or genetic testing: contact me directly.
How I choose a male, and what I ask of families
The breeding females live here and I have known them since they were puppies. The male almost always comes from outside: it is the choice that weighs most on a litter, and I make it by looking at three things.
What the female lacks.
A mating between two Staffordshire Bull Terriers is not about adding two beautiful dogs together; it is about correcting something and fixing the rest. If a female has an excellent head and movement that could be better, I look for a male who is strong on movement, not one who is as beautiful as she is.
What lies behind the male.
Looking at the dog is not enough: I look at his sire, his dam, his littermates and what he has produced if he already has offspring. A dog can be better or worse than his own line, and the second generation shows it.
What the stud's owner can show.
Genetic test reports with the microchip number on them, not promises. If a male is not tested for everything needed, or is clear only by parentage, I know it before the mating and I write it on that litter's page: anyone reading should know it as well as I do.
Before a dog is used for breeding I watch it for months: at home, with strangers, with other dogs, with children. A dog that is not sure of itself does not enter the programme, however handsome. That is why there are one or two litters a year, and some years none: if the right moment does not come, nothing is born that year.
Of anyone who wants a puppy I ask one thing first: to come to Ostellato in person, at least once. It is the only moment when I see how someone behaves with a real dog rather than a photograph, and when they see where the puppy grew up. I ask to talk about the dog's day: how many hours it will be alone, who is at home, what happens in summer when the family goes away. Ordinary questions, and they prevent almost every problem.
Sources: This page tells the story and the work of the Del Piccolo Diavolo kennel in the first person, and cites no external sources because the facts it reports are the kennel's own. Those that can be verified are verifiable on the site: genetic test reports with the microchip number, ENCI pedigrees, show results with the judges' names.
Guides for those looking for a kennel in Italy
We tell every family the same thing: if one day you can no longer keep the dog, it comes back to us. Since 2013 it has never been needed. Where those dogs ended up is told in the family stories.
Want to meet us?
Write to us on WhatsApp and we will arrange a visit to Ostellato, to see the dogs, the house and the courtyard.
Write to us on WhatsApp