- Fila Brasileiro

The exceptionality of the Fila Brasileiro results from the dog's amazingly complex and rich psyche, characterized by a great contrastiveness, which differentiates this breed among all other breeds. The Fila feels a clear dislike or even an aversion to strangers (ojeriza), which in particular situations can be bravely and roughly manifested. On the other hand, with respect to members of a family — the dog's beloved "Human Beings" — the Fila displays an amazing affection and devotion ("as faithful as Fila"). The extreme duality of these two dimensions of the Fila's personality makes this dog absolutely unique and impossible to compare with any other breed.

Brazilians use the term "ojeriza" to define the Fila's specific behavior toward strangers manifested by dislike, distrust, suspiciousness, or even hostility, hatred, severe aversion. Fila Brasileiro's attitude toward strangers is in every respect determined by ojeriza. Why is it considered to be such an exceptional trait? After all, among other breeds one may also find dogs which do not like strangers. That is true, but mere not liking of strangers found in some specimens of different breeds does not have much in common with ojeriza. Ojeriza does not result from the amount of experience gathered by a dog or even from the dog's individual psychological traits, but it is genetically conditioned in this particular breed — the Fila is born with ojeriza. Even the most clever dog will not learn this, what in the Fila is a mental trait.

And why does the Fila need this ojeriza? In this crazy world, there is nothing more threatening to a man than another man. The Fila Brasileiro is the breed that has a very concrete mission to fulfill in life — the Fila was born to guard the safety of his human family and of everything that is related to the family's members, their land, belongings and all other stuff. In defense of beloved people, the dog will face any kind of danger and will fight bravely and with a huge determination, even for the price of its own life. An inborn distrust for strangers makes the Fila a perfect guard and protector, ruthless toward intruders and aggressors.

A correct, mentally mature Fila will never allow for any kind of familiarity. It is absolutely out of the question that a stranger will stroke or even touch the Fila at the dog's approval. If the stranger makes such an endeavor, the Fila will warn this person with a growl or with a bark. When the stranger additionally startles the dog with a sudden gesture, he or she may get bitten by the Fila. Unfortunately, it quite often happens that strangers, enchanted by the beauty of our Filas, reach their hands toward the dogs without even asking for our permission to stroke them. An owner must be very vigilant to react appropriately fast in such a situation. More than once, during our socializing walks around the town we had to react very firmly in order to stop strangers who were eager to get into direct contact with our Filas.

Because Fila is born with ojeriza, even few-week-old puppies may object against a familiarity on the part of a person they do not know. When a stranger tries to touch them, they move away, and when grabbed by unfamiliar hands, they do what they can to freed themselves or they simply freeze. The most daring ones among the pups manifest their dissatisfaction by using sound effects such as a childish barking or growling.

Ojeriza "concretizes" within the first year of a dog's life. In this period, the Fila learns how to live with ojeriza. The aversion to strangers is such an unbelievably strong feeling that not every Fila copes with subjugating it. And here comes a great mission of an owner, who by a properly conducted socialization can teach the Fila to control the dog's own instincts. Some Filas already at the age of few months can bravely attack an aggressor, in other dogs ojeriza becomes visible a little bit later. It is assumed that the one-year-old Fila in a situation of a threat should successfully protect his owner. However, it happens that the Fila at the age of two (or even up to three) years old becomes sufficiently mature and self-confident to bravely and correctly attack the aggressor in defense of the owner. A mentally immature dog must not be induced to behave in a hostile way toward strangers or, what is even more important, to attack them, because it might weaken and distort the dog's natural instincts. If ojeriza is to "work" properly, it cannot be shaped by any intentional actions, it must result from the class of a dog.

According to the temper, the Fila may manifest his dislike toward strangers in a more or less expressive way. Ojeriza may be compared to a degree in which different people are able to tolerate stupidity of other representatives of their own species. Probably every man declares that he or she does not like stupidity, but not everyone to the same extent. Some people patiently tolerate it merely raising their eyes to heaven, some get irritated, and others are not able to bear it and they hit the proverbial roof. There are also some, who simply stay away from the stupidity. The case with Filas is similar — different specimens express their ojeriza in different ways and with different intensity.

The Fila with a tolerant disposition whose personality is based on a very strong nervous system will patiently bear the presence of strangers. A neighbor or a friend may stand near and talk to us. A dog with a look of distrust in its eyes will carefully and from a close distance observe our interlocutor but it will not cut in on a conversation. The dog will react only in a situation of an evident threat, which means when e.g. a stranger will violently move his or her hand in our direction. One ought to expect then that the Fila will growl or bark warningly. A situation in which the stranger will suddenly pat us on the shoulder will certainly be interpreted by the Fila as an attack on the member of his human family and the dog will act in a much firmer way, including biting an aggressive, in the dog's opinion, intruder. Therefore, the tolerant Fila accepts strangers around his owner, but only to a certain degree, about which a stranger must by no means forget.

The uncompromising Fila is the Fila whose worldview is well established — a stranger is always a potential threat and the Fila will not allow any intruder to come near members of his human family. His dislike toward strangers is expressed openly and emotionally, and sometimes even effusively. When a stranger tries to approach us, the Fila raises the alarm — he warns the intruder with persistent barking, which informs the person that he or she has made a mistake. If the intruder turns out to be a fool and does not retreat, the Fila will consider him to be an aggressor and will defend us attacking the intruder. One should differentiate between the emotionality supported by courage, determination and firmness and the pettifogging, which is a symptom of fear and the lack of self-confidence. In a situation of a threat, the uncompromising Fila will not retreat but he will defend us, while the cowardly Fila will stand down and expect us to defend him.

Definitely, this type of the Fila Brasileiro's personality is the most inscrutable and fascinating one and, at the same time, it is wrongly underestimated or often even not detected and mistakenly considered to be deprived of ojeriza. The restrained Fila treats all the things that are connected with strangers in a very emotional way, and at the same time, he manifests his strong ojeriza in a very thrifty way. A storm takes place on a mental level. The Fila fells such a strong hatred and disdain toward strangers that he does not come too close, he preserves a certain distance, he does not bark, nor growl, which makes an impression that the dog ignores the stranger or even that he is afraid of the person. However, these are only appearances and an owner who knows his or her dog well will see in the dog's eyes and in the body language that in reality, the Fila is all the time tense and that he observes each movement of the intruder very carefully. In a situation of a real threat, the dog will react immediately and very firmly, but at the same time without a superfluous noise — he simply eliminates a danger effectively. One ought to remember that a restrained attitude, whose basis is an amazingly strong dislike toward strangers, has nothing in common with shyness resulting from uncertainty and timidity. The shy Fila will not defend us in a situation of a threat, but he will bolt with the tucked tail to a place where he feels safe, e.g. to a house or a car.

Certainly, the Fila's level of tolerance may be affected by a properly led socialization, particularly important in the first year of the dog's life. The Fila that is regularly socialized, i.e. taken to new and unfamiliar places and meeting many different strangers, learns to restrain emotions and not to manifest ojeriza in a situation, when strangers do not directly threaten the members of the dog's human family, which means e.g. in the crowd. However, not every Fila can be shaped by a socialization, in some specimens the aversion to strangers is so strong that they either react in a too extrovert way, or experience too big inner tension. Persistent attempts of socializing such Filas are nothing else but a mere fight with the dogs' natural instincts and they constitute a huge stress for the dogs. Respecting the Fila's temper and organizing his life in a way which allows the dog to avoid unnecessary confrontations with strangers in the unfamiliar area seem to be much more reasonable thing to do. The Fila with a very strong ojeriza will be fully satisfied being a guard in his own area.

The Fila Brasileiro's psyche is constructed in such a smart way that in order to make the owner's life easier the Fila grows slightly indifferent in the unfamiliar area. In an unfamiliar place, the Fila should be self-confident but his ojeriza should be a little bit "blunt". It means that the dog tolerates the presence of strangers, their big number, noisiness and disorganization — the Fila is intelligent enough to accept that outside his own territory people have the right to move freely. However, all these happens under the condition that the Fila does not feel that his human family is somehow threatened by the strangers.

Of course, we mean a correct representative of the Fila Brasileiro breed. The Fila never takes action without a clear reason. If the Fila growls, barks, raises the alarm or attacks, it happens only in a situation of a real (in the dog's opinion!) threat. The owner should always remember that the Fila perceives the world differently than a man and a situation which in the human world is only a way of expressing emotions or a mean of communication may be treated by the Fila as a real threat. And in the situation of a threat, the Fila does not look at the owner to ask what to do, the Fila estimates the level of a danger on his own and makes a decision about a proper way of neutralizing the threat. The owner must be aware that in order to eliminate the danger, the Fila will use his strength and sharp teeth, and it is a very dangerous weapon.

It may be a stranger who gesticulates excessively or expresses emotions with a raised voice. It may be a female friend who flings her arms around our neck when we greet. It may be a cyclist coming fast in our direction, a woman with a baby carriage, a strange child running next to us, a drunk muttering man, and anyone who behaves in a way which is even slightly distinct, i.e. suspicious. The owner always has to have eyes at the back of his or her head and, above all, the owner has to learn to foresee the reactions of his or her dog. In order to be able to do that, one needs to spend a lot of time being with the dog and observing it.

In the most private territory, in the dog's own house, the Fila assumes much more radical — confrontative and belligerent — attitude toward strangers. A visit paid by someone will be treated by the Fila as an incursion into the most closely guarded territory and, at the same time, as a declaration of a war. The presence of a stranger in the house is absolutely undesirable for the Fila because it constitutes a direct threat for the dog's human family. In order to make the visits of friends possible at all, it is necessary to isolate the dog by closing it in a different room or in a kennel. Some Filas with more tolerant disposition accept the presence of a stranger in the house, but at the same time they observe the visitor so penetratingly and even insistently that the person is put in a very uncomfortable and stressful position. In such a situation, the owner has to constantly observe the dog in order to be able to react appropriately fast when it is necessary. In the more distant prospect, a social life under the Fila's watchful eye is unbearable.

"As faithful as Fila" is a Brazilian proverb, which refers to a huge devotion, loyalty and attachment to the owner characteristic for this breed. The Fila Brasileiro is a dog which follows a man like a shadow, even to the end of the world. The Fila loves his human family above anything else and is absolutely incorruptible. There is no possibility that any stranger could buy his or her way into the Fila's favors, even if the person had hands full of the tastiest treats.

The Fila is a dog for whom a close contact with a man is essential for correct development and balanced existence. Interactions with members of the human family shape the Fila's personality, his sensibility and almost unbelievable openness toward the beloved man. The Fila left in isolation, having the contact with a man only during the time of feeding or cleaning a kennel, will not be the Fila with a correctly balanced psyche. The dog's experience, deprived of the colors of the world outside, must have a catastrophic influence on its ability to diagnose the reality and to estimate the level of danger, it may lead to fear aggression being a reaction for everything what is new and unfamiliar.

The Fila offers the members of his human family an infinite number of affection expressed very openly and intensely. The Fila very easily learns to interpret emotions and needs of his man — one look is enough, and the dog and its man know what is in their hearts. At the same time, in a very visible way, he demands the attention and affection for himself. The Fila trying to get on the owner's lap, the Fila sleeping on a pillow with the nose just beside the ear of his man, or the Fila wrapping the youngest member of the family with his paws — that is exactly what the Fila is.

When a new child appears in the family, the Fila exactly knows how important the little man is for the adults, and his feelings toward the child become some kind of a projection of the parents' feelings — the Fila falls in love. While being around a child, even a very tiny one, the Fila surprises with his gentleness and mildness. He allows the little man for any kind of tortures — digging in the ears, pinching the nose, pulling the tail, jumping all over himself, he even does not react to the attempt of castrating. However, despite all these, an owner always must remember that he or she must not leave a child alone with a dog, even if it is this marvelous Fila Brasileiro. The dog may unintentionally and unwittingly hurt the baby — e.g. with his happily dancing tail.

The Fila accompanies his man without a rest, during every actions. When e.g. we are taking care of the garden, our Filas are all the time next to us, asking to be stroked over and over again or putting their heads on our shoulders. The Fila always places himself beside a man, which is very characteristic for this breed. The Fila is not a dog who from a distance observes his owner set in the landscape, the Fila feels a great need to be close to his man. When members of the family scatter around the area, the Fila runs from one to another checking whether they are OK, and whether by chance his intervention is needed somewhere.

In the unfamiliar area, e.g. during a walk in the forest, the Fila does not run away, he always keeps close to his man, he often stops and looks whether we are safe. The Fila is always vigilant and ready to defend his human family, for which he feels responsible and of which he takes care with his whole dog’s existence.

A huge love toward the members of the human family causes that the Fila is unbelievably obedient, already at the puppyhood. He comes when he is called and reacts to commands not because he was taught to do so, or because he is afraid of being punished for disobedience, but because he wants to please his man. Indeed, it is an unbelievable experience to live with someone who wants so much to make us happy.

A contradiction and fierceness of emotions, being a distinguishing feature of the Fila Brasileiro's psyche, cause that it is the only breed which experiences the emotions so similarly to a man. Many times, equally strong and opposing passions torment a man — love and hatred are the feelings which determine our human life.

A dog is the only representative of the animal world that in such an advanced way can interpret the human emotions, and the Fila is a real expert in this field. His great sensibility and openness in expressing the emotions enable this dog to "tune up" so easily with the sensibility of his owner. That is why the Fila is such a wonderful and exceptional Friend — in the widest meaning of this word.

Fila Brasileiro - a psychological trait