Anyone here hunt with or use there fila for catch purposes?

[allsierra123]

Just curious how many people actually work this dog? how well do they take to it?

[Bonnie Dawn]

My female is hell on wheels when it comes to catching a stray chicken in the yard. My male Zalamero also has very high prey drive and stalks like a Border Collie. I have not tried to train them for hunting because I am afraid of what would happen to any of my stock if they ever got out, but that being said they are very, very trainable. I take them out and actually use them to herd up any stray chickens that are in there when I go to let them out for playing or to go potty. My mistake is not checking or assuming they are not in the dog yard, because if I am not there then chicken is on the menu that day! Period! Nina is the fastest and nobody touches her meal once she catches it, even Zalamero. That Fila Brasiliero instinct in play. Very primitive in nature.

I love the growls and stand offs and posturing when there are big beef bones in the yard.

(Or in this case a cow head... No dog was hurt in the making of this video however Cheyenne did reluctantly give up the possession of the cow head to Zalamero....they all get along and there are never any knock down drag out fights. There is a pecking order and occasionally someone tries to reestablish that order.)

http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x...Filadec017.mp4

[allsierra123]

lol yeah thats classic. Im kind of curious to see if they are more like a hound that they just bay and corner it or will they hold as well.

[Bonnie Dawn]

They won't just bay and corner it they will kill it for you as well...that being said they will give it up to you in a heartbeat. There are a lot of people who work their Fila on their farm, mine are very much prey driven..but they are very easily taught which way they should behave. I am figuring it would not be hard at all to teach them to scent, flush and catch from what I have seen in mine. I have taught mine merely to help me drive and even though they want to actually catch it they are very easy to control and talk to with body language and work with you, always looking to see what you want.

I think there are some who are not prey driven, I have one I can let out no matter where and she won't harm any living thing here....but when we are in the woods she will and has outright charged a moose. Thank God she comes when called She is also much more protective when we are in the woods and vulnerable. I love that about Fila's, that they know when and where and take their job very seriously.

I would vote that they would hold it for you...

lol yeah thats classic. Im kind of curious to see if they are more like a hound that they just bay and corner it or will they hold as well.

[allsierra123]

well i may take her to a friends who has hogs. and see if she will chaise the litttle ones this spring. I would be amazed to see a dog give chase and catch and hold and then be called off it. Try gettin a pit off a hog you usually gotta manually pull them off.

[Bonnie Dawn]

And the goats were much harder. So you could be right. After that little episode hunting wasn't my top priority, I didn't want them always thinking about how to catch and eat my farm animals. I completely understand what you mean about pitts though.

Hopefully someone who has hunted with Fila's will see this thread and tell us all about it...

well i may take her to a friends who has hogs. and see if she will chaise the litttle ones this spring. I would be amazed to see a dog give chase and catch and hold and then be called off it. Try gettin a pit off a hog you usually gotta manually pull them off.

[allsierra123]

I would love to hear more about everyones experiences.