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Reply With QuoteWhat is the purpose of your training?
The Fila is very easy to train, at least mine is, and he is a real one.
Jan Svanberg
Sweden
Hey Everyone!
I haven't seen any helpful training tips yet so I thought I would contribute this website I found recently. This guy works a lot with security dogs (I think particularly German Shepherds), but understands the strong guard dog drive. This is a link to some free ebooks on dog training along with his website. He also has an article about properly breaking up a dog fight, which I found very important and easy to follow. I know most everyone has experienced one so I think it is important to learn to safely break a fight up so that you don't get hurt.
http://leerburg.com/dogtrainingebooks.htm
In my opinion another great dog "trainer" is Cesar Millan aka "The Dog Whisperer" He uses the pack mentality and a calm assertive attitude to help you and your dog. Cesar's website is www.cesarsway.com and he also has a show titled "Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic channel.
I hope this info can help someone with their issues with their dogs or puppies especially since Filas are a very hard headed and strong breed
Good luck!
-Amber
What is the purpose of your training?
The Fila is very easy to train, at least mine is, and he is a real one.
Jan Svanberg
Sweden
We train malinois ourself and train them fro dutch knpv (true police dog training) As we also have Fila's I can tell you that training these dog is completely different.
For a Malinois and other Sheppard these training is like playing and when they see the guy in the suit the go wild. What most of them will not tell you is that many policedogs have to be retrained to also bite into people without the suit. Many good dogs that bite on a suit will not bite on people without the suit.
The biggest different between the shepards and Fila's is that the fist group sees this bitework as a game to play. A fila does not see that as a game but when something does happen his will bite and protect with or without suit.
You therefore can't compare training these dog. My wife did IPO many years ago and after having biten several times the fila did not want to bite because she though why should I. That said the same fila did bite when my wife was attacked by some drunk in the park.
What you can learn them is tracking, there is still some bloodhound in the fila and tracking is something you can train them.
I previouly missed this section,this completly true.I train with mal's, gsd and bouvies the fila can not be trained in my opinion in the same manner.correctly the fila will not view this as a game but as a direct assalt to his master.my bouvies will attack anything wearing a sleave he sometimes remembers faces but usually not after the game is over he is ready to be your friend,he actually lives for the game nothing else ,he will confront you only if you approach like an aggitater,(cocky).on the other hand yago see's you from about 50 feet out an he's not waiting, this poses the problem for this type of training.i have not yet worked this out but it does get my full attention on training day,,,it aint easy.there is no way your going to be standing beside him with no clip board trying to look at his teeth,but he will sign it for you LOL.Its just my opinion but the fila is not the correct temperment if your parading him around sniffing the next dogs butt and posing for a pretty little picture.I understand lots of people including some hear dont want a dog with an alphadog attitude,thats fine iam not hatin as my daughter sez.But i would think these are the people who would have the fila become a household name,iam not so sure that is so good for the fila"future.these are very different type of dog,Of course there are pups from some litters that will accept anybody, you hear of them all the time ,everytime someome sez my fila' greets everyone,he's so gentile with people or he loves everyone is this really a dog that should represent the breed standard or should be breed just because you want another one just like him,let the dog be what they are leary of strangers cause believe it or not this was one of the purposes of the breed.summing it all up i train my dog as a protector i will work at all times to see that he is under my control but make no mistake he does bite and he seems to be dogon sure about it.This is not a dog for everyone ,i hope that is being practiced.
So any tips as to controling a very hard temp. fila? He is the best damn dog that I have ever owned including the best mannered, except when he sees people other than myself and my partner. He will allow my 25 year old son to approach and even pet him but he really doesn't like it. I'm not wanting him to accept people, just tolerate them from a distance. Any advice?
Yep ,redirect his attention since your not wanting to really change his natural behavior.Yago see's the man accross the street as soon as the door cracks , i allow him 1 maybe 2 barks that alerts me that someone is there which is good.Sounds harsh but you should have a prong collar on at that time,face it he's hardheaded and a regular collar is probally not going to get his attention.Start with a simple no and move a few steps puting the person out of his site,timming is important , dont scold him but just enought to get his attention.Also remember not to leave the prong collar on after your outing its only for training.This has worked perfectly for Yago who use to spit 2 feet trying to get at a stranger,he still watches them with the thousand yard stare but that i dont mind.Remember to talk to him normal so he doesnt see this as a harsh correction and his natural aversion should be intact.First is your son affraid of him,thats important with a strong will dog.Does your son spend anytime with the dog now or in the past.Let your son give him his favorite treat with you there, i use freeze dried liver.If your son is truly not affraid he should begin to accept him better,this will take a little time so dont rush but the treats always until your dog recognises him as a friend with something he likes.If your son is affraid this could be pointless.Remember with this dog you have to be the pact leader always no exceptions....good luck
totally agree with youOriginally Posted by desolcasa
From my experience, training the FB with the P+/R- methods used by CM and Leerburg do not work well - actually, most dogs don't respond well.
Tracking works pretty well bc there is very little punishment involved.
Leerburg has some great stuff on the website and it is free. Some of the basic principles and methods are good for any dog but it is easy to see other methods they use are not for a Fila. Not only is that not for Fila but counter to what a Fila is. I like that Leerburg site and I have learned a few things. Just have to be careful how you apply that to a Fila.
My favorite is the mondio or something training they do. Sorry for the spelling. It is some french version of shutz. Talk about entertaining. Those dogs are trained to put their muzzles between your legs and growl at you. Yikes! Leerburg site is not just informative to a point for our breed but it is entertaining.
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