The Fila Brasileiro:
See my post on the ojeriza temperament for exactly what I’m talking about.
This temperament makes sense in parts of Brazil, where the crime rate is insane.
In America, it’s a lawsuit on four legs.
Very few people think it’s such a great idea to breed for super aggression, even breeders of protection dogs.
When this level of aggression becomes the defining characteristic of the breed, you have a problem.
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We all know who to blame if there’s a surge in imports of Filas. Oh wait… my city outlaws them.
Steve Sailer once said that he had a Fila -but gave no details on its temperament. He does have a lot of enemies, but my guess is that they’re mostly of the p*ssy antifa variety.
Breedist tripe. Dogs, no matter the breed, are reflections of their owners and their socialization.
If ojeriza was somehow a real thing that could be part of a dog’s DNA, then how could all the Vick dogs have become such amazing pets and ambassadors?
Because orejiza is like livestock guardian dog behavior.
Pit bulls don’t normally attack because they bond with one person and hate everyone else. And there is a big difference between dog aggression and aggression towards people.
These dogs bond with just a few people and hate everyone else.
You can selectively breed for this, too, which the Brazilians definitely did.
If dogs are merely reflections of their owners and their socialization, then Vick’s dogs should want to eat every human and dog they come across. Not the case. So there must be some underlying component, no?
What pit bulls do and dogs with this type of aggression have are entirely different.
For one thing, the old school dog fighters selected for pit bulls that could be separated in a ring while still fighting.
Not all pit bulls are like this, of course. I think a lot of what pit bulls do is actually modified predatory behavior. They hunt other dogs with them. That’s probably why pit bulls can fight and then be seen licking each other’s wounds. Predatory behavior isn’t that hard to correct, and that may explain why the Vick dogs turned out so well.
The average pit bull is a quite sociable dog. (Google temperament tests on pit bulls. They score very well on average.) That’s probably why they do so well on temperament tests. That’s one reason why I never rag on pit bulls. There are just too many friendly ones.
These filas and others– typically real livestock guardian dogs– have a tendency to bond to just one person or just a few within in a family and detest everyone else.
You can socialize the dogs out of this behavior a bit, but within this breed, it’s seen as a virtue for the dog to have these tendencies– even in the show ring. Judges aren’t supposed to touch these dogs, and aggression towards people in the ring is not frowned upon.
Now, that’s only one registry system that encourages this. There are other more responsible registries. But this is the big one in filas.
I can’t imagine that any purpose that a pit bull was ever bred for would require the dog to have anything like ojeriza. Pit bulls and their kind are Western dogs– and they had lots of use besides fighting.
Filas guarded estates and tracked down runaway slaves. (Brazil had slavery until the late 1880’s).They were bred to have very sharp temperaments. There is some debate on whether these dogs always had this ojeriza temperament, but there is so much romance about it, that it’s the only breed I know of that has this kind of temperament enshrined in its breed standard.
You’re right actually.
I can’t even make a coherent fake argument.
There are sh*theads selecting and breeding for all sorts of aggression every day in every state.
One example from yesterday: http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/184148/8/Deputies-Pinellas-dog-fighting-bust
It’s a problem to most people right up to the point that the dogs end up in a shelter or the litter mates end up sold in a newspaper ad and brought home as pets.
Then it instantly becomes “don’t balme the dog, it’s all how you raise them” and “what did the 4 y/old to to provoke the dog?”
The dog in the video doesn’t look all that different in attitude than other young dogs being trained for protection-sport work. It’s more unusual, I think, to see that unprotected an agitator.
Yes, I agree that breeding for unprovoked aggression is not a good idea, especially in the US. On the other hand, there were a number (and still are a lesser number) of Australian shepherds on ranches who would not let visitors out of their trucks until a family member told the dog to allow it. My young aussie is friendly to visitors, but she is indifferent to non-dog-oriented strangers when out and about.
The problem with this breed, compared to the rest bred for protection, is that this one hasn’t been selected for an off-switch. You can train them, but I guarantee you that aren’t as biddable as shepherd of any sort or a rottweiler or a banddogge.
Not enough arguing on the blog lately?
Nope. And I’m grouchy this evening.
Well I have been reading what I can about this breed for some time and from and understand what is considered a typical Fila (good) temeperament 1.The dog have to be put away in a kennel or a locked room if you get visitors
2.I have read quite amusing discusions in forums if
a fila still have the correct temperament if you can walk it in a city street……
Well basicly what retiriverman was saying….
To me this “real” Fila have almost taken on mythological proportions….
When I was young and dumb I took a job decoying a kennel full of Filas. I learned allot about working dogs with very low thresholds of defense. Most of them had absolutely no working ability and I doubt they had the nerves to track either.
I saw HUNDREDS of Pit Bulls working in boarding kennels and vetinaries–never had ONE that was very human aggressive or that I couldn’t eventually make friends with(not that there aren’t exceptions–there are ALWAYS exceptions!). I also, by chance, had friends that raised Filas for years. I got invited over to their place a lot, I think because I was about the only person who would risk it! I NEVER was able to befriend those dogs, despite my regular visits and continuous attempts–indeed, some of the Filas HAD to be put away when I came. I am not much intimidated by many dogs–these guys were quite scary. They had one HUGE male that was the “friendliest” of the bunch–he “greeted” me by slamming into me and punching my abdomen with his muzzle–just short of actually biting and disemboweling me–not much fun! My friends were constantly telling the dogs to “out”, but they didn’t pay much attention–things could have gone South for me very easily or quickly, I always felt. I had one real protector there that I could depend on–a Rottweiler bitch that, though half the size of the Filas, was TOTALLY dominant over them all–she had been there first and raised the Filas as puppies. SHE was my pal, and guarded me closely, keeping the Filas back, and putting them down in dominance rolls and pins every time they went for me. Yeah, I made SURE to keep that Rottie close whenever I visited those guys!!!!!