man eaters

[bamaman]

I got a male that I was walking one night and this guy came up from behind us out of no where and he tried to grab the guy.I don't know what the guys intentions were.Same dog , had this kid come running at us with both his hands raised and was screaming and my dog didn't like that..He hit the end of the leash and let him know ,kid almost shit himself I'm sure...Same dog will let kids aproach him on the leash and let them pet him with no problems...He has never bit anyone..But had those 2 situations with him..He is fine with most dogs but he will go.

[EWO]

Not being the Dog Whisperer but it is a defense mechanism. A startled dog will either choose fight or flight. Most dogs choose flight. Of the ones who choose fight, the majority of that is nothing more than a display. Funny how it works but as owners it is a must to differentiate between the real and the display, and best case scenario is to never leave it to chance.

We were at a show once and I was getting my dog out of the truck, about to walk him out before we weighed and this guy out of nowhere stepped from around the truck. (maybe taking a leak or something, who knows) but my male went ape shit. He had never once acted like that in any situation before. Luckily it was a short lead, any more room and he would have snatched hold.

Funny part when the guy identified himself and most think of him as not an exactly upstanding guy, there was this old dude who said, "If he tried to bite him your dog must be a real shit eater".

When we own dogs with the propensity to bite we can never leave it up to them to make the decision. And as I say that I use to own Fila Brasileiros and kept two in the house. If someone broke in, odds are that is where we would have found them. But in that case it is better to be judged by 12 than carried by six. EWO

[bamaman]

Yea EWO I agree.Thought about it and decided he was just standing his ground.He was a young dog at the time so he is older now.We haven't been around any kids and such lately but from what I can tell he hasn't changed any.One of his sons tried to bite a redhead chick and found out she stole from me..Only one he ever tried to bite.lol

[EWO]

It is a hard deal trying to figure out which ones will really stand their ground and which ones will bail. With the bulldogs I never really cared to find out as with bulldogs it is unimportant information to me. The number of bulldogs with the desire to defend is in the minority especially compared to the number of bulldogs who just love everybody.

In most cases bulldogs are really easy to steal because they simply love the interaction with people. There are some that do not but for the most part they are people friendly dogs.

With the Filas a buddy of mine took turns in bite suits and staged break-ins at each other's houses. I had a female that I thought would be there to the end. She started off well but when he applied some pressure she packed it in. My other female would have killed a grown man, with what seemed like a certain happiness in the killing. One of my males the same. He had a female that performed well and a male that bailed.

I those cases we knew. In most cases people think their dog will protect them in a bad situation, but very, very few will actually perform in a bad situation. The kicker is that the display itself is 99% of all the home security a person will ever need.

A little off topic but I think for the most part man eaters have been culled over time so their numbers will always be low. There will always be some but I do not think it will trend very high, especially in the circles of competition. EWO

[wrknapbt]

It is a hard deal trying to figure out which ones will really stand their ground and which ones will bail. With the bulldogs I never really cared to find out as with bulldogs it is unimportant information to me. The number of bulldogs with the desire to defend is in the minority especially compared to the number of bulldogs who just love everybody.

In most cases bulldogs are really easy to steal because they simply love the interaction with people. There are some that do not but for the most part they are people friendly dogs.

With the Filas a buddy of mine took turns in bite suits and staged break-ins at each other's houses. I had a female that I thought would be there to the end. She started off well but when he applied some pressure she packed it in. My other female would have killed a grown man, with what seemed like a certain happiness in the killing. One of my males the same. He had a female that performed well and a male that bailed.

I those cases we knew. In most cases people think their dog will protect them in a bad situation, but very, very few will actually perform in a bad situation. The kicker is that the display itself is 99% of all the home security a person will ever need.

A little off topic but I think for the most part man eaters have been culled over time so their numbers will always be low. There will always be some but I do not think it will trend very high, especially in the circles of competition. EWO

I see this every sunday with the new guys who come to train with us. " Man this is a bad ass dog and he will nail you. I then show them the fear that the dog is acting out of and once the simple pressure of a front attack is applied how they will take flight. Then I show them how to build a confident controlled animal that you can take with you and a dog that can now do directional grips without being a living lawsuit waiting to happen. EWO I have a question for you. Are most Filas considered short range dogs? When I say short range I mean like they will do the work within 10 to 20 yards but tend to back off after the person runs away.

[wolverine]

Sounds like by the description of the attack most of the filas work purely out of defense. with little or no prey. Which is why you don't see many doing sport work. never seen one work in person. But sounds they'd make a good close quarter dog.

[EWO]

Very accurate. They do not possess (or seldom possess) enough prey drive to build upon to do work out to a distance. Most of their work is at close range, and it is most always defensively driven. I have only seen a very few that possessed enough prey drive to do any type of sport work, and even those were limited.

If the Fila can do the sport work they usually fail at the 'natural-defensive' temperament test as it is dependent upon their natural defensive/territorial tendencies. That failure will lead to that dog with good working ability being removed from the gene pool.

In close quarters when a Fila is correct I am not sure, or better said, I have not experienced their equal. With that said, they do that job so well they in turn become a liability. They have to be locked away when company is over. People will tell you their dog can differentiate between good and bad and react accordingly but that is simply not true. A dog is either trained to bite and trained to 'out' or he bites at his own discretion which is always a ticking time bomb (when they have access to people). With a Fila, when your buddy gives you a high five because your team just scored the Fila sees that as a 'karate chop' of sorts and he will react with extreme intensity...intensity that exposes one to a brand new level of violence.

I enjoyed my time with them but it is a 'show community' and I soon fell out of the good graces of the power players. I had a female that failed their temperament test but defended our home very well, even under pressure. She had conformation faults that made her a bad specimen yet she would track a shot deer as well as any I have seen. She did not have that defensive driven territorial aggression that prevented off lead work. She even caught a hog in a bay pen. She was a good dog, just not a good Fila, or at least that is what they told me. LOL.

It can be the perfect dog to leave with the family when one (me) is working swing shifts an hour away. EWO

[EWO]

Their ferocity is at a much higher level than that of a sport dog, even the most intense sport dog. The sport dog is basically playing a game that was built with a high level of prey drive, coupled with defense drive to build fight drive, and in some circles, prevent flight or avoidance. The sport dog can get all jacked up and upon release can be given his 'ball' and all is well in the world. The Fila must be physically removed from the area in order to 'wind down' and it takes time. Actually very similar to the bulldog who is rolled or matched for 30-40-50 minutes and is still mad and geeked up 30 minutes afterwards on the ride home. EWO

[CYJ]

All bloodlines can produce a maverick type dog. Same with horses, Game Chickens, a animal that attacks the hand that feeds it. Got a well bred nice looking young male like that, from Mr. Joe Beal. Dog was a good solid 65 pound dog, around 20 months old. Looked very good in a roll, Mr. Beal was even taking this dog into his house around him and his wife before I got the dog.

After about two weeks of this big sucker trying to attack me when I fed it. Only when I fed it. Last time this dog almost got my whole hand. I calmly went into the house, got my 12 gauge and made worm bait out of that sucker. I told Mr. Beal that dog was to dangerous and may end up hurting or killing him or his wife. I later gave Mr. Beal his last main stud that he named Southern Johnny Reb. He was very pleased with Johnny Reb.

If you do some historical study on these dogs, will find where one of Mr. Colby's dogs sadly killed one of his baby grandchildren. The dogs that are mentioned to be territorial type dogs and will go on a person is the older Tudor line and that Henry line. Randy Fox's site may have that info about the older Tudor dogs. I have found from reading the older magazines that a lot of territorial type dogs seem to crop up in the heavy Dibo bred dogs.

Mayfield's Snake was named so, as like Zebo might like you one day and bite you the next. I tried to get V.J. not to use and breed so heavily off that Snake dog. I felt that one time was enough off my Tina bitch by my mistake. I actually sent her back to Don, to breed to Mayfield's Sunshine, which Don did do at a later date. I will say again, never breed a good bitch to a stud dog that is still being shown. Never know how it will all end. I felt Snake was a weirdo, crowd shy, fair weather hard biting cur like Pat Patrick said Snake was. The gaminess off that litter came from my little Tina bitch. The extremely hard mouth and a foul fighting style came from Snake's descendants. I figure, LOL.

My Face bitch was a heavy Eli/Mayfield bred dog. Was a Territorial type dog on her chain. Why I kept her chained inside of a strong roomy outer locked kennel. If you were a stranger and came on my yard, walked out to close to her without me being there. If not kept the way I did. You would be seriously dog bite and mauled. Yet when taken out of the pen on the leash showed no aggression to anyone or group of men. Unless one was stupid enough to rush at me acting like he was attacking me. Would seriously get dog bit.

So one has to determine if they have a maverick that bites the hand that feeds it or a Territorial type dog protecting their space from unknown people. Still a Territorial type dog needs to be kept extra secure to prevent any accidental human contact by adults, children, or strangers. To come home and find a child dead in your dog yard would truly be a American Horror Story.

Mr. Teal and Mr. Skinner told me that our breed of dog was bred for the show and go. They considered it a bad idea selling good dogs or culls to the general public. Only to sincere professional dog men. They felt it was best to cull your own dog yard from all undesirables as worms need to eat also. LOL Cheers

[Jrbulldogs]

that's pretty much the way I see it. I don't really consider the dog a maneater unless it goes after the hand that feeds it. for no other reason than to hurt somebody. I've had quite a few dogs off of and down from gr ch virgil, burns hot dawg, and dlc gr ch bo. Who were all known to have at least one of the degrees of human aggression you mentioned above. and haven't had one yet.
always makes me think when I hear those old stories about bully son, zebo, and the other famous man eaters. were they really or was it just the fact that they were hi Drive working dogs on huge yards that never got off the chain from 3 months to 2 years old? granted most dogs would never display this behavior, but these were fuckin killers, that were raised in solitary confinement. I wouldn't expect anything else.

LMFAO