The Fila Brasileiro is arguably the most beautiful and awesome of all the guardian dog breeds, with some characteristics not found in other breeds. You will often hear Fila owners and breeders say "they're not like other dogs!"

What is a Fila Brasileiro? The Fila is a rare molosser breed that had it's origins in Brazil starting around 400 years ago, possibly from bloodhounds, Portuguese herding dogs, mastiffs and ancient bulldogs. The Fila Brasileiro is the National dog of Brazil, it's legendary loyalty expressed in a Brazilian saying: "Faithful as a Fila".

The Fila Brasileiro excels at family and estate protection, hunting, tracking, cattle herding and even carting. A large and powerful dog, but don't let that fool you: the Fila is also extremely agile and athletic, and it is not unheard of for a Fila to clear a six foot fence to defend his master.

The Fila Brasileiro's protectiveness is also legendary. He is a patient and gentle family dog with those he considers his own, but does not take to strangers and should never be left unattended with casual acquaintances, strangers or anyone he does not regard as part of his immediate family.

The Fila does not need to be trained to defend, it is part of his genetic makeup. A Fila should, however, be intensively obedience trained and desensitized to external environmental stimuli. Some people use the term "socialized".

Most Fila Brasileiro fanciers in the USA favor a heavier, larger dog with more facial skin, a broader skull, a somewhat milder temperament and less ojeriza, more like an English or Neopolitan mastiff in appearance, while the CAFIB followers prefer a lighter framed fila looking more like a hound with more ear leather, a pear shaped head and a hard temperament with plenty of ojeriza.

In the picture to the right with his favorite teddy bear is an American bred Fila Mastiff. As you can see, he looks more like a mastiff than the female Fila (pic at bottom left) who came from a CAFIB breeder in Brazil.

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• Feeding Raw

This was my first Fila Brasileiro, about 14 months old in the picture. He is a heavily built, "mastiffy" dog of the type favored by many people in the US, and in fact he shares bloodlines with those used by many breeders.  You can see his pedigree here.

In my opinion he is not a good example of a Fila Brasileiro. His head is too square, his eyes are rounder rather than almond shaped, his ears are set way too high and have a lot less leather than a Fila should. He has no temperament or ojeriza at this time, and he's not exactly the bravest dude in the county.

Other than that, he's a beautiful dog that stops traffic all the time; a gentle, sweet, all round nice guy, and very loyal...and that would satisfy the needs of most people.

For my second Fila, I opted to avoid the bloodlines my male is from and imported a female pup with Lapinho, Serras de Minas, Caramona and SJL bloodlines from Brazil. (Thanks to Grendal's Lair Kennels who found her for me)

So far she is everything I could want in a Fila puppy, including some extra chrome in her coat....I am thrilled, lol! You can see her picture to the left.