1. No screeds.
2. No Fila Brasileiro owners. It’s not that I don’t like them. I just don’t like their owners’ attitudes. You guys can go screw yourselves, and if your dog winds up banned everywhere, it’s your own fault.
Yes, I know what drives are. Most working strain retrievers have very high prey drive. If you don’t breed for prey drive, you don’t have a real retriever.
I will NOT receive lectures about dogs by young macho men who think super aggression is cool. It’s not. We don’t live on eighteenth century Portuguese Brazilian latifundia. We live in the modern world, where we have tort laws. And we also have hysterical people who will ban any dog that has as tendency toward aggression. If you are breeding for super aggression for urban or suburban dogs, you are asking for BSL.
Now, I generally approve comments for other issues, but I am aware that there are cranks out there, like this person, who apparently is still working with a nineteenth century mindset. Yes, I bet that person thinks we can improve the lot of humanity if we just stopped breeding that criminal element!
I assume you’re not being completely literal with #2 there. I’ve met at least one Fila owner who isn’t a macho asshole.
Secondly, about that link: LOL. Anti-blog blogs are always HILARIOUS. Fugly Horse of the Day has one, too. Everyone needs a hobby, I guess…
Well, if one does leave a comment with real concerns about this breed’s temperament, I’ll be happy to approve it.
Virtually all other large Molossers are bred for a more modern temperament. Neos have changed a bunch in just a few years. I think these dogs need to have their temperaments moderated through selective breeding. It’s just not the same world. We can’t have 150 pound super-aggressive dogs anymore.
I have one exception:
I can see what Ovtcharkas have their temperament, and I can think of places where their temperament is very useful (Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho or any place with wolves). I’m okay with breeding for that temperament, provided these dogs don’t wind up in the hand of suburban weenies who can’t handle them. Like this breeder does:
I’ve seen this documentary before. And yes this guy is a total asshat. This is a lawsuit in the making when the dog finally breaks from him and gets to maul what it wants to.
You should check out what a lot of these people are breeding for in their dogs. It is insane!
Ojeriza–http://www.mindspring.com/~anableps/Image%20Pages%20folder/Ojeriza.html
What a hoot.
I see that the brave, brave Terrierman hater won’t even identify itself with a screen name, much less a real name. I wonder if it rides out with coconuts and minstrels?
Now I see why Patrick moderates comments. Hope I never have to, but if I have to, I will.
Here’s another one: http://blogforshowdogs.blogspot.com/2009/04/wolves-of-royale-isle-implications-of.html
These people need Strunk and White’s Elements of Style in very bad way!
And second of all, they need to look at what the actual science says.
But then you’d have to leave that bubble of fatuous dittoheads who make up the poobahs and mandarins of the dog fancy.
It looks as if it is by the same anonymous coward as the other one.
Some of the posts are the same.
Indeed, it is the same person– a person who needs Strunk and White ASAP.
My friends maintains Fila Brasiliero on his farm in Brazil. But by no means are they bred for aggression towards humans or his livestock. His are Working dogs without the exaggerated skin folds and huge heads. I guess you encounter mind-warped individuals from every corner of the globe. And if they are so inclined to comment that they are doing humanity and society a favor by conditioning and breeding for the aggression then they are best described as asshats.
Did a specific incident inspire your fila-owner ban? Did an argument break out in one of your past posts?
I received a bunch of nasty comments within about two days on my Ojeriza post.
Ah. Hopefully those were people who live in the boonies, and whose antisocial dogs would never have contact with civilized society. Seriously, people breeding for that trait scare the crap out of me.
Hopefully, they live on the last of the latifundia in Brazil.
WOW! I laughed, hard, at the start of your post. I had never heard of the Fila breed before, but did a search – what beautiful beasts. What made me laugh was your oh-so-blunt statement about what the breed owners could do – you’re a hoot!
Anyway, you know me, I write over on Steve’s blog, and raise livestock guard dogs on our ranch here in Wyoming. Our main breeds are Akbash and Anatolians, and now we’re trying the Ovcharkas. Things are going well with the Ovcharkas, but that is in large part because their aggression is targeted at predators – not at people. Our dogs are reserved around people, which is what I consider near-perfect behavior.
In contrast, the dogs in that video are simply terrifying. I’ve never seen a livestock guardian behave like that toward people, and wouldn’t allow that behavior to remain in the gene pool – at least for working livestock guardians.
Best,
Cat
There are parts of the world (probably most of it) where the concept of tort law doesn’t exist.
In addition, attitudes towards the actions of guard dogs can vary wildly across cultures:
http://www.amcostarica.com/020706.htm
(…)
Both are incidents where Nicaraguans were killed on Costa Rica soil.
The most famous is that of Natividad Canda Mairena, a burglar who was attacked by a rottweiler guard dog in Lima de Cartago Nov. 10. Police officers stood by and did little while the dog continued to maul the man for as long as 90 minutes.
The second individual is José Ariel Urbina Silva, also Nicaraguan. He was shot Dec. 4 when he got into an argument with Costa Ricans about the dog case.
The mauling by the rottweiler sparked a wave of jokes at the expense of Nicaraguans, and those citizens of that country living here said discrimination and bad treatment increased substantially after the dog case.
Follow up:
http://www.amcostarica.com/091208.htm
(…)
A Cartago court has acquitted 10 men in the death of a sneak thief who was killed by two guard dogs while police and others watched. The decision was expected because prosecutors told the court earlier that the case against two Fuerza Pública officers could not be proven.
The two were accused of failing in their duty as the man was being attacked by two Rottweiler dogs. The dead man was Natividad Canda Mairena. The incident took place Nov. 10, 2005, in Lima de Cartago at a salvage yard and was filmed for later showing on local television.
In addition to the two policemen who responded first, other policemen, firemen and rescue workers had been accused.
The court did award the mother of the victim, Juana Francisca Mairena, 10 million colons,about $18,200.
This happened in a country with a long history of democracy and stability. None of the reports I’ve seen indicate that anything happened to the dogs or the owner.
Not meant as a defense of Fila owners-the only one I’m even mildly familiar with (solely via the internet) is Steve Sailer.
I was talking about the US, and US breeders of said dogs.
It might be okay in Latin America or latifundia.