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A SURPRISED FRIEND by Paul Schuetz Turtletown Tennessee
This story shows the "Special Temperament" which is called "OJERIZA", and no other dog has it. A friend of mine named Bill, was over one Saturday and we spent the day working around the dogs areas. With us was a pregnant female a week away from giving birth. She stayed by our side all day and we were both petting her. When we took breaks there she was right there looking for attention. Now she has seen Bill around for the past five years, and knows him by sight. He was petting her and thought he made a friend. About four that afternoon we were about to quit. I had just bought 400 pounds of whole chickens packed in ice and told Bill to go in the house and take some home with him. I went around the back of the house to shut off a water hose. All of a sudden I heard Bill yelling for help. I ran around the front and there was my female blocking the front door and growling fiercely at him, to the point he was afraid to move. She was holding him at bay. The word Fila means "to hold", and she was doing exactly what she was bred for. The minute she saw me she stopped growling and went back to her normal "I want some more pets" mode, and we went in the house. Bill was definitely shook up, as Filas are quite impressive when they go into the "PROTECT MODE". He made the comment "I am finally starting to understand this "TEMPERAMENT STUFF" you have been telling me about for so long. I know now that I can never make friends with your Filas. I've was petting her all day long, and she took me completely by surprise when she started growling. "There just is no making friends with them is there". I laughed a little, because I had told him this over and over for years, but after this experience it finally sunk in. I still find this the one of the most difficult things to get across to people. Most people think they can make friends with any dog, and once they get to pet it, the relationship is established. However, it does not work that way with the Fila. Just because the dog may allow pets (while your present) from someone or is friendly, it will not become their friend. My wife and I have been publishing FILA TALK MAGAZINE for three years, and in doing this we came in contact with many Fila owners and hear many stories. I have never had a story reported to me about a Fila biting someone that was undeserved. There have been "attacks" called in to the Magazine, but it was always associated with a threatening situation to the dog's owners or property. A robbery, a physical attack to the owner and/or his or her family, a rape, or someone pulling a gun etc, and only in a few cases did the dog reacted to the point of biting the attacker. It generally held the person at bay by fierce growling, which when witnessed is more then enough to put the "FEAR OF GOD" in any attacker. Filas give the appearance of being a big old laid back dog, not capable of fast movement, however nothing could be further from the truth. They are not only lightning fast, but can go from a deep sleep into the protection mode at an instant, just by hearing an unusual sound. Their hind quarters are wide, heavy, very muscular, and cat like in structure, and higher then their shoulders. They can move extremely fast and their jaw are powerful enought to crush "Round Steak" bones. I am 100% convinced from my own personal experiences, and what I’ve heard from talking with other breeders, that there is "No dog on earth that can take on an Adult Fila". I know people that own and raise 2 and 3 different breeds, including Mastiffs, Presas, Tosa's, Pit's etc and they all agree. Nothing can match the Fila, they are like owning a Jaguar. The power and speed of the dog is awesome, and until you see one in action you really have absolutely no idea of what you own.

SUPRISE AT 6 MONTHS by Rock Arkie of Mars PA.
A new Fila owner that bought two older dogs (male and female in the 6 month old range) decided after he had them a couple of weeks to take them out for a walk. They were leashed and he stopped to talk with some neighbors, not too concerned about temperament yet, and said the dogs sat quietly at his side while he visited. Everything was going fine until a car pulled up and its occupants came walking toward them. Both Filas immediately started growling and tugging at the leashes. The newcomers hesitated and stayed their distance. His neighbor was so impressed by the dogs protective behavior that he followed their owner back to his home to get some literature on the breed. When they came to the front gate the owner casually reached out to hand one of the leashes over to the neighbor in order to open the gate. The instance the neighbor reached out for the leash the Fila went for the his groin, assuming the neighbor was making an attack on his owner. Luckily it just caught the man pants and no damage was done. Even though this Fila owner had read up on the Fila and talked to other Fila owners and breeders before he bought his dogs, he had never seen them in action. He called up quite impressed at their lightning speed, courage and protective instinct even at this young age. He also now said he realized the responsibility of owning one.

HUNTING WILD BOAR by Glen Hunter of Hamden OH.
I am writing you in regards to the hunting ability of the Fila. I too have talked to many breeders who say my Fila is not a hunting dog. That Filas don’t hunt, but they are great protection dogs. I say there are a lot of breeders that don’t know what they are breeding. I have been hunting BIG GAME for seven years, Wild boar, Black Bear, and Florida Gator’s. I purchased my Fila in 1995 at 10 weeks old. I wanted her as a house dog, but one day I was out feeding my pigs and when they started screeching here came Angel at 9 months old. She jumped a field fence and grabbed my 500 pound sow by the nose and the ride was on. She was slammed on the ground, but she still didn’t let go. I knew then that I had a "Boar hunting Trainee". At this time Angel was 90 pounds. So one Saturday I loaded up my boar dog, along with an Argentina Dogo, and my Fila Angel jumped in the front seat with me. We went to Tar Hollow in Vinton County, Ohio. Three hours later the hunt began. Angel was running with the pack and it took about a half hour before the dogs picked up the scent. I saw them running across a corn field and then vanish. By the time I caught up with them Angel, my Fila and my other two dogs had a 240 pound young male boar. Angel was baying the Boar until she heard me scream "GET HIM", and she found her a place to grab. She got the crap beat out of her, but she didn’t let go until I got my shot off. After that day I took her out one last time and Angel got hurt on the front leg. From then on she decided it was best to bay the Boar then to catch it. So PLEASE don’t tell buyers of Filas that they won’t hunt. What you should say is "I DON’T HUNT WITH MY FILAS".

TRACKING by Jene Hemphill of Cibola Arizona
Splash, my Fila leads me by the hand where she wants to go. She actually gets me up in the morning and puts me to bed at night. She will take me walking down our dirt road, if she wants to go for a walk. She will take me to the green machine if she wants to go for a ride. (The Green Machine is a piece of farm equipment). Most of the time she takes me to the cookie cabinet (dog cookies). She is so smart, if I or my husband won’t get up to give her a cookie, she will go scratch on the back door to go potty. When I get up to let her out, she will take my hand and lead me back to the cookie cabinet. She knows the sure way to get us up is to act like she needs to go outside. If you want to here a tracking story, or when "The Bloodhound came out in Splash". We have chickens running around our yard. One day last week, I saw a hen come from under a tree right in front of my living room window. She had about 8 or 10 baby chicks with her, and she started flying and attacking all three of my Filas. The next morning I heard a baby peeping desperately. I went out to see, and I found it all alone in some tall grass. Then I heard another one on the back patio, and I put them both back in the nest under the tree, hoping they would call the mother back to them. But she never came. I started looking around the nest but all I found was a bunch of feathers. Now, you need to know we irrigate our whole property using water from the river, and we do this once a month. We had irrigated the day before, so the area from our house to the street (about 70 or 80 feet) was about 10 inches under water. I called the dogs to the nest and made them smell around. Splash went crazy running up and down smelling around, and finally she found the scent at the edge of the water. She then went along the edge of the water all the way to the other side by the street until she picked up the scent again, then she followed it across the street. I yelled at her to get home, as they are not allowed by the street, and they know that very well. I went out to the street to see what was bothering her and saw her wet prints cross the street. I then found perfect Coyote tracts across the newly finished black asphalt. The coyotes feet were wet from our yard, and when he crossed the 10 to 15 feet of dirt on the shoulder of the road, he picked enough dirt to make perfect tracts across the road. I followed them across and down the road to the spot where Splash had stopped. There I found the rest of the feathers from my hen. I wish I would have had my 3 Filas loose that night. It would have been the end of missing hens and their chicks. Twice before something had got to our hens and babies, but we always thought it was owls. Splash proved we were wrong.

DON'T SELL YOUR FILA SHORT by M. Dowdy of GA.
I have to comment on Q’s Comments from issue 10 of Fila Talk. I think Mr. Quy sold the Fila Breed short in his description. I’ve owned Filas since 1987 and attended many shows, temperament tests and working events. Mr. Quy is correct when he says the Filas #1 job is to guard and protect its property, and do this with undying loyalty to his owners, but there is more to the breed than just that. Go to the breed standard and you’ll read "He is well directed by instinct to hunt big game and to do cattle herding". The correct Fila does have prey drive, and usually a VERY strong prey drive. Prey drive is best described as the instinct to seize a moving object; the desire to hold it is his mouth, and to possess and dominate it. This is an inherited trait and not learned behavior. The trait can clearly be seen even in young pups. Throw a soft toy or knotted sock and watch them tear out after it. The retrieving instinct is not strong in most Filas, so rather than bringing it back to you, they usually grab the toy and run off with it and settle down in an out of the way spot to chew it to bits. Some Filas may have weaker prey drives, but among the hundreds of Filas I’ve seen I would say the strong prey drive is the rule, not the exception. Since it’s inherited you can increase this drive by careful selection of parents with strong prey drive. It is the same force that motivates the Fila to possess and protect his property and owners. The same drive that makes him the ideal guardian of Brazilian cattle. The same force that keeps his nose to the track of the blood trail of a wounded deer. I have talked to Fila owners that hunt with their DOGS. Not as one would use a bird dog to find and flush out birds, but as tracking dogs to trail and recover wounded game (usually deer). I’ve known them to be used to hunt wild boar. In Brazil they are used in a pack to trail Jaguar and to tree them for the hunter, or to kill the cat before the hunters arrive (if you’ve ever seen your Fila attack something small and furry you know there isn’t much left when they are finished). As for the ability in schutzund or ring sport, many of them would do fine in the agitation. The problems occur when the helpers refuse to take a hit from the Fila. A Fila hits the "bad guy" a lot harder than most breeds. They are also less likely to bite the sleeve, and show a great desire to leap over or under the sleeve to bite the face of the "bad guy". Since their first love is protecting their owners they don’t like to be sent long distances across a field to attack, but prefer to stick close to their owners in case the "bad guy" comes to close. This is the reason they don’t chase deer into the next county, they return to check on their owner. I do agree with Mr. Quy that the Fila may not be a good candidate for search and rescue, but for different reasons. It isn’t that the dog won’t search and find the missing person, but rather the response the person is likely to receive once found. The correct temperament is a dislike for strangers. When a lost person is found, they will most likely be overjoyed to be rescued. This is often shown by grabbing the rescuer around the neck, or hugging and kissing the rescue dog. Most Filas would not take kindly to that sort of welcome by a stranger. Now if you are hunting an escaped convict, or using the dog in a wartime situation (as the Brazilian’s have done) the Fila is excellent for search and recovery work. Filas and livestock is an area of great variance. As I understand it in Brazil they are mostly used as guardians for the herd. Protecting from Jaguars and other predators along with protecting the herdsman. Some dogs are "catch dogs" and work as "bulldogs" catching or throwing the cattle to the ground, allowing the cowboy to brand or doctor them whatever. Others work as "drovers" acting to round up and drive the stock to other grazing areas. Most of the American Filas when given the chance to display their "cow" ability fall into one of these categories. My male was a "catcher" When he was given the herding test, he wanted to bunch the cows together and prevent them from moving. When he was challenged from one of the cows, he grabbed it by the nose and held on. I’ll bet with a little training he could have been used to throw the cow to the ground. His herding instinct certificate (HIC) reflects his ability as a "catch dog". Other dogs in the trials would group the cows keeping them from moving around the pen. These dogs kept at the heals of the cows rather then the heads and earned HCI’s for "Herding" aptitude. I also know of a Fila who was given a herding test on sheep. She showed working ability that unsurpassed all of the Filas I’ve ever seen. She worked like a Border Collie using the same "crouch" and "eye" on the sheep. In fact she won a high in trial beating out Border Collies. She so impressed the judges and spectators alike. Everyone asked how long she had been working sheep, the reply "This is the first time she had been used with any livestock". I agree this dog had instinct far above the average, but I do believe many of the Filas (if not most ) if given the chance would pass the HIC test even though they had never been around livestock. It isn’t so much the training, but the natural inbred instinct. I would encourage you to get out and attend one of the "working weekends" with your Fila. Give them a chance to SHOW you what they will do with livestock, tracking, weight pulling, obedience, and the temperament test. If your dog doesn’t participate, you will have the chance to see other Filas in action. You will be surprised at the versatility your dog has had all along. One last note, when I meet people with my dogs I tell them they are Brazilian Filas F.I.L.A., just like the tennis shoe. No one has any problem saying the name or understanding that they are related to the Mastiff or Bloodhound. If they are still interested I go on and explain the origin of the name is from the Portuguese verb "FILAR" which means "to seize or to catch".

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