jeepmor,
"Buying a dog with a known "killer" reputation is just plain bad news in my opinion."
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Take a look at the costumed "killers" here-
http://www.aphelionart.com/fco.html . From the top: Elsie The Cow, The Great Pumpkin, Elton John, The Cowardly Lion, Mardi Gras. Filas are an old breed that came into being several hundred years ago in Brazil from a combination of mastiff, bloodhound and others. Their historical uses were as cattle herders, farm guard dogs, trackers, hunting dogs for jaguar, etc. 'Filar' in Portuguese means 'to hold.' Filas are legendary in Brazil and in circles in other countries where thay are known, where the byword for them is 'Faithful as a Fila.'
"And apparently, these dogs are known to turn on their owners."
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Not at all. A properly bred Fila will tolerate ANYTHING from its people, to include having food literally taken out of its mouth. Filas have been bred for centuries to be stable with their owners and responsible breeders today will instantly put down a dog that shows any degree of instability. Yes, some Fila _crosses_ have been known to be dangerously unstable, that's why anyone who knows anything at all about them strongly discourages crossing Filas with other breeds. Filas are loveable goofballs at home, as companionable a breed as I have ever seen. They don't want their people to be out of their sight. Filas don't lie at your feet, they lie ON your feet.
"I do not put that much effort into my dogs personally."
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We do.
We WANTED a dog that does what Filas do. Filas a born with an innate distrust of strangers, that being anyone they don't pretty much live with. They are protective of their people and their place. Filas have to be socialized, as does any dog, and they have to be obedience trained. But they DO NOT have to be trained to be protective- that is instinctive with the breed. It's not necessary to do 'attack dog training' with a Fila. Depending on the dog's individual temperament, which is mostly based on its breeding, a Fila is going to be protective to the point of being willing to bite an aggressor by the time it's about a year old. Some pups start earlier, and a few much earlier. Some never develop or display proper temperament, they may be fear biters but they are not protective, and some few are in fact outright cowards. These Filas should not be bred. The breed standard calls for Filas to pass a temperament test if they are to hold a championship title. Filas are not trained for a temperament test except for the normal socialization, obedience training and exposure to the wide wide world that any Fila owner who wants to have a well rounded dog will provide.
A temperament test (TT) is a judged affair, which presents the dog with a number of stages that range from passing close by a group of disinterested strangers, to encountering odd noises made by people nearby (marbles or pebbles rattled inn a plastic bottle is a favorite, as is someone shaking out their newspaper), to walking on uncertain footing (bubble wrap sheets, tarps, sheet metal, etc) to unexpected intrusions in its space (often a spring loaded umbrella), to gunshots (starter pistol), to a genuine agitator in a bite suit who makes threatening moves toward the dog (restrained for this stage on a steel cable) and its person. You can see some TT pictures at
http://www.aphelionart.com/ftt.html . Very rarely do people do bitework with Filas in the traditional sense- it just isn't necessary (and, it's hard to get trainers who want to repeat the experience). Owners DO want to know their dogs' temperament, so they are tested in both basic TT and 'High In Trial' (HIT) events. HIT is sort of like IPSC or IDPA for dogs, presenting them with scenarios far beyond the basic TT like multiple agitators, even more uncertain footing, distractions an order of magnitude larger than the basic TT etc. Pictures from the HIT at last year's FBCA Nationals in Charlotte, NC are at
http://www.aphelionart.com/fit.html . Note that what is happening in the pictures is not training- it is testing.
"...I'm at a point in my life that a "killer" dog would just be a hassle and frowned upon in my community."
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I hope I've adequately addressed the 'killer dog' language already.
I'm old and tired and retired, but my wife still works- so I am home most of the time. We both spend lots of time with our dogs (we have a Brittany too). Ours is the only Fila in the area we know of, she was the first one in our vet's practice and he has been in business for a long time. No one we've encountered locally knows what kind of dog she is, but lots of people think she is really pretty (for some folks Fila looks are an acquired taste, admittedly).
Granted we live in an extraordinary place (
http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/viewtopic.php?id=2438 ) but it is a place where thieves and outlaws are refered to as 'rogues' and are apt to get shot at, a place where people genuinely like working dogs, hunting dogs etc. For example, the white-truck delivery man (as opposed to the brown truck delivery man) came up to the (locked) gate a few weeks ago. Both dogs were in the yard, the first time they had been outside when he made a delivery. The Brittany (all 35 pounds of her) was barking her head off, reared up on the gate. The Fila was shadowing me and not saying much, just a WOOF! once in a while.
There's a hard-to-miss Beware Of The Dog sign on our gate (and others around the fence, combined with Posted No Trespassing signs) at our attorney's advice.
Mr. White Truck passed my my package over the gate, indicated the Fila with a motion of his chin (physical gestures are very low profile around here, you should SEE the road repair crews directing traffic with waving fingers held waist high) and asked, "That the dog the sign is for?" as he was leaning on said sign.
Yup, I said.
She bite?, he asked.
I'd bet on it, I replied.
He looked her over for a long moment, nodded approval, and said GOOD DOG- to her, not me. Then he wished me a good afternoon and went on his way.
"...the law is always on the side of the abusive kid that instigated the dog..."
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The only kids around our dogs belong to our next door neighbors (our only neighbors, about 300- 400 yards away). They have been around the dogs since both were puppies. The neighbor's little girl (who just turned seven) is one of our Fila's people, just as if she were family. The child has always spent a lot of time here. She always calls before she comes over- the 8000 volts in the electric fences (theirs and ours) discourage casual visits from anyone (or it has so far anyway). That kid could do anything she wanted to the Fila and not get hurt, and she knows not to bring anyone else here the dog doesn't know. NO ONE the Fila doesn't know quite well comes around her here in our home or on our property while the dog is out of her kennel- we wouldn't let that happen because we know it might go badly if that stranger made what the dog interpreted as a wrong move toward one of us. Yes, it does require attention on our part, but it's worth the tradeoff. By the same token, there's a loaded pistol in my pocket as I type this, and a loaded shotgun around the corner behind the bedroom door. Those require the same level of responsibility and attention on our part as the dog does as far as I see it, I didn't call her a 'loaded dog' earlier for nothing. We pay attention to who's around when the dog is out of the house, because most of the time we are out with her. That's how she wants it anyway, Filas generally don't stray too far away from their people- it isn't in their nature.
By the way, I am not trying to 'sell' the breed to anyone, this definitely is a breed that needs a lot of forethought and dedication on the part of owners, and they are not for everybody. But a lot of people have the wrong impression about various breeds (note that I'm not picking on you for saying you'd like to have a pit). Too much of the wrong sort of attitudes show up all too often in breed specific legislation (BSL) aimed at certain breeds because of misinformation or misunderstanding. I don't want to see that sort of thing happen to Filas, because I don't ever want to be without one or more Filas for as long as I can handle them. Read what responsible breeders say about the breed, read the breed standard and you can better understand these remarkable dogs.
Regards,
lpl/nc (proudly owned by a Fila and a Brittany)
. I just wish I could talk his owners into giving him to me.
