The Fila Brasileiro Dog Breed

What is the Fila Brasileiro? In reading the description of the breed type, one of the characteristics listed is that it doesn't like strangers. This is an actual breed trait, accepted as standard. They are also described as being incredibly loyal to their families. But really, how much loyalty does one need?

The Fila Brasileiro was developed in Brazil. Aside from their unfailing willingness to protect, they are attactive dogs. This is if you combine the qualities of a mastiff, bulldog, and bloodhound in your head and you like what you see. Your mileage may vary.

They have the big jowls of a bloodhound, loose skin, and a powerful frame. Their coat is short and comes in varying colors, with a minimum of white allowed. They possess a natural dislike of strangers, a trait that comes standard with the breed. You don't have to train it into them. Some people feel more secure with a protective breed in their home.

What level of protection do you need, though, and when does the protection provided become undesirable? In the UK you need special permission to have a Fila Brasileiro. While they can be encouraged by the owners, with some success, to accept strangers, it isn't recommended they be left alone with them.

If I felt so inclined to have the experience of owning a Fila Brasileiro, I think I would just get a bloodhound and a handgun. The level of responsibility and the vigilance involved in monitoring a Fila Brasileiro would be exhausting to the point of rendering the protection pointless. Rather than having a dog that protects the owner, you would have a dog that you must protect everyone else from.

Breed bans are a hairy topic. Friends and family own dog breeds that are the subject of breed ban discussion. I find government intervention far more scary than most dogs and am opposed to it in the cases of pit bulls and rottweilers.

Knowing that aggression toward strangers is part of the Fila Brasileiro breed description scares me. Does it scare me more than the concept of a breed ban? It does, not because of the dog, but because of the owners. There is a very small percentage of people who have the time, vigilance, and expertise required to manage one. We have shelters full of dogs that people failed to manage as a testament to this fact. People often fail their dogs as it is, and the traits of the Fila Brasileiro present their owner with some very tough questions.

Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fila_Brasileiro
www.fila-brasileiro.org/