by battaniya on Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:40 pm
Hi, new to this site and saw the topic so had to reply. Having owned a Fila for 10 years, I don't ever want to be without one. These are wonderful dogs. When I read elsewhere that they are banned in some countries I was shocked! If socialized properly, this breed is as friendly and interactive as most other dog breeds. Boomer was 6'3" on his hind legs (taller than my husband), and weighed 230 lbs - all muscle. He was bred by a responsible breeder, a veterinarian who was interested in the breed and not making money. Boomer was a sweet lapdog - he tried to be anyway! He was attacked once in our front yard by a stray dog whos owner allowed it to run loose - he came into our yard where Boomer was dozing. I was gardening next to him. The dog was about 60 lbs, and jumped at Boomer, latched his teeth into Boomers jowl. Boomer let out a little yelp, shook his head and the dog was thrown across the yard (a half acre yard on our farm). He stood up dazed, shook himself off, looked at Boomer and ran off. Boomer THEN stood up, turned to look at me when I ran to examine him and found his jowl (upper "lip" skin) bleeding from the bite wound, and he wagged his tail and looked at me rather confused about what had happened. The vet said the teeth went thru his skin but no major damage done otherwise. This is the same dog (my Fila), that wouldnt let the contractor set foot inside the house when he was coming to replace our furnace, even though he'd been at our house for the past two months working on renovation, and is also the same dog who walked up to the strangers with small children in a family walking past our road, wagging his tail and quietly letting everyone pet him, even though he'd never met them. I took him to baseball games my kids were involved with and every stranger that came up to him was greeted with a wagging tail. Because he was so friendly my husband thought there would be no problem with letting the contractor in the house, but I told him it wouldnt happen, and the contractor called, we had to come home from work, and the dog then greeted the man as a great friend. But the contractor said he acted like he was going to rip him apart when he tried to set foot inside the house the dog was guarding. This is also the same dog who was terrified to move when we had our eight week old kitten walking all over him while he was trying unsuccessfully to nap. He didn't want to hurt the kitten! This is the same breed that has been bred for brio or ojeriza. As I said, any breed of dog can be aggressive - my mothers maltese is more vicious than my Fila! The are wonderful dogs - if any of them have a bad rep its due to the owner or handler, not the dog. Unless they are in "guard" mode, and are socialized, these dogs are the equivalent of a basset hound with long legs! I plan on having at least two more in the near future,and as I mentioned, never want to be without one again.
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