[lit-ideas] Re: trading dogs...
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:23:06 -0800
Eric, yes I've read about the breed. If I recall correctly, it has been
declared illegal to own in some countries. I am very interested in the
protective, guarding breeds. Way back eons ago my wife became so sick with
her Crohn's disease that she couldn't work, I didn't feel comfortable about
her staying home without any sort of protection; so I insisted that we get a
protective dog. We lived in a condo at the time and what I had in mind was
a medium-sized dog and mentioned the Irish Terrier and the Standard
Schnauzer, but she had her own ideas about dogs and a dog wasn't a real dog
unless it was big. At the time I only knew about the dogs listed in the AKC
Dog book. Her "no, no, no," narrowed the choices down until we had but
three, two of which she had never seen. Neither of had ever seen a
Rhodesian Ridgeback but we saw them for the first time at the Beverly Hills
Dog Show and that was her choice. The original descriptions were not unlike
your Fila Brasileiro, and our first Ridgeback fit that description, but an
extremely protective dog is a lot of trouble. Some of it can be legal.
Our second Ridgeback, Trooper, was formidable and very protective, but would
stop short of biting anyone (unlike our first Ridgeback). Ridgebacks are
used to making up their own minds about threats; so I had to educate him
that kids rushing toward us on skateboards, and men in costumes, riding
mountain bikes were not threats.
When Trooper was about 7 months old I had him up on a hiking trail where
mountain bikers were in the habit of scorning hikers. They would dash at us
and we had better get out of the way. I thought that perhaps they didn't
have good brakes. I hoped when we saw some it would be some place where I
could get Trooper off the trail, but that wasn't the case. There was brush
on one side and an embankment on the other and here they came. I hoped
Trooper wouldn't be frightened, but they were coming awfully fast and I was
alarmed for him.
When Trooper saw them dashing toward us he waited until they got about 20
feet away and then went into a ferocious, hackles-up growling, snarling
brace. Those mountain bikes had good brakes after all. As soon as I had
Trooper by the collar, the bikers got off their bikes and walked gingerly
past us keeping fearful eyes upon my 7-month old puppy who watched them
carefully, growling all the time. He eventually weighed 95 pounds and did
learn that skateboards and bicycles weren't threats and he never bit anyone.
If you're concerned about self-defense and you can't own a gun or you can't
take a gun into areas you must go into where you might be attacked, then a
defensive dog is a wise decision. Trooper was like a 357 Magnum, adequate
for any anticipated attack, but your Fila Brasileiro is like a 454 Casull
which will demolish anything it hits but it is very difficult to control.
I'm still of the opinion that a little 38 like an Irish Terrier will provide
all the protection anyone needs, but we seem to be locked into the Rhodesian
Ridgeback. My wife doesn't understand how I could possibly consider another
breed.
Ginger (now 2 years and 8 months) is so gentle she may not even be a 22 but
she looks like a 357. Sage who is 8 months shows promise of living up to
the Ridgeback (357) standard.
http://rrcus.org/
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Eric Yost
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 11:33 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: trading dogs...
Thanks for the dog photos and stories.
One of my favorite breeds is the Brazilian Fila
(i.e., Fila Brasileiro). These dogs were
originally bred to track and capture escaping
slaves. Despite their terrible ancestry, the Fila
is an ideal watch dog, and breeders are attempting
to make it less aggressive. It will instinctively
defend its master without hesitation or any
previous training, and if left to its own devices
will hunt and kill large game. If I ever get a
place in the country, I'd want one of these mastiffs.
Photo at
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/filabrasileiro.htm
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