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Fila's are fantastic dogs but it's awfully hard to find a well bred one here in the US. Also despite what some people might tell you it is not possible to socialise them into liking people!

Serenity (Rena) Is abnormal in the fact that she does actually like most people. She has a very low temperament for a Fila. She was a rescue though and came from horrible lines. Kaylee more than makes up for that fact.

She got to bite her first person a couple days ago! someone tried to break into the house. She was so proud of herself!

Hallo,

  I don't like gentle leaders I don't think they really teach your dog much of anything and I've seen dogs actually hurt themselves with them. I'm willing to admit their owners might have fitted them wrong but I just don't like them.

A lot of people here probably won't agree with me but I'm still a fan of the old fashion pinch or choke collars. I always walk my dogs on a choke and if they are being particularly bratty they get switched to a pinch collar. There is a knack to using a choke collar though and most people do not use them properly. Pinch collars also need to be fitted properly before being used!

I have found the choke particularly helpful with our Alpha female. There has been times where I have left it on her with the leash attached for quick correction. Mostly her growling at my toddler (in the past! we have solved this issue) and more recently when she was being a jerk to our new puppy.

It really sounds like your boy needs some direction in his life. I'd start working with the NILIF (Nothing In Life is Free) policy and making him work for what he gets. Our dogs have to sit to be fed, sit to go out, sit to come in, sit to get petted and if our Alpha girl has been copping an attitude she ends up having do lay down for all of the above in stead.

The sooner he learns he gets zero attention unless his butt is parked firmly on the floor the happier everyone will be.

Hello Everyone,

  Ok Lincoln is a backwards dog. Most dogs won't go in their crate. I understood him having a couple of accidents in there due to having an upset belly and being in a new confusing place.

However he has decided his crate is the place he is suppose to go to the bathroom! He'll walk into his crate do his business then go curl up beneath the coffee table to sleep!

The only time he's had an accident in the house over the past couple of days has been the time he seeks out his crate to pee or poo in.

Any advice on getting him over this? the crate isn't too big, we are waiting for him to grow more before introducing him to his 48".

Hello Everyone,

 I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem with their Hubby's or if it's just me?

Around here we (meaning me and the dogs) work on the NILIF policy (Nothing in Life is Free.) mainly because my youngest Fila Kaylee is a very strong willed alpha dog and if I give an inch she takes a mile.

I can sit down with the hubby and explain why I do the things I do. I can tell him that he ought to do them to. He will sit and agree with me and tell me he understands.

Yet he never does them (sit before eating, sit before going in/out, not letting the dog through a doorway before him, ect) and when he witnesses me doing them he'll tell me I'm being mean to my dog.

Yet he then complains about the fact that Kaylee won't listen to him.

There ought to be training classes you can send your hubby too.  "Dog Savviness 101" "Scooping dog poop - and you"  "Sweeping up dog hair - the basics" and I'm sure there is more out there.

Anyone else ever get the feeling that the only people in the house that actually pay attention to you are the dogs?

Hi Everyone,

  I'm sure it is just the stress from moving to a new home and everything. He is eating well and things are slowly starting to firm up.

We did switch his dog food because the food the breeder feeds is not available in our area and she only send us a small amount when he was shipped. We've got him on Wellness "Lamb, Barley, and Salmon meal"

We've added a couple spoonfuls of canned pumpkin and some goats milk to the food so his belly should settle down pretty quickly.

The major problem we're having is him going to the bathroom in his crate. He's in a 36" crate right now which seems the right size for him. I don't want to put him in something smaller because he'll barely be able to move. We do have a 48" crate though and I'm thinking of putting him in that to keep him from sleeping in the mess. But I'm afraid that will encourage him to continue to mess in his crate at night. It's a conundrum!

Hi,

This is actually very common and called "line" breeding.
Many breeders do it to keep certain traits in their lines and for some other reasons. Depending on how strong the lines are I wouldn't discount the possibility of getting a puppy from that litter though many people consider it "icky" really the only one that I know that is strongly frowned upon is full brother to full sister but that may only be in newfies.

TATFX,

  In our house we begin everything we say with the animals name so it's  "Kaylee No" or "Kaylee Sit" or "Kaylee stop being a jerk" or "Kaylee get your head off the keyboard" those are what she hears more often.

We always use a name, I think it helps when having multiple dogs and it's something our trainer really encourages.

Hello Everyone!

  Our newfie boy is finally here! after months of waiting.
He is so cute! just a little square brick of fluff.

We were going to call him Tanstaafl but after meeting him we're not sure that it actually fits him. So we will be coming up with something different.

He is such a good boy! not a shy bone in his body. We are having some trouble between him and our youngest Fila but I had expected that. She'll be wearing a leash for the next few days so I can quick correct her when she growls at him. She is just such a dominant possessive wench!

Anyway I know you're all waiting for pictures but since I had to reformat my hard drive recently I've yet to install my picture editing program. Since my digital camera takes gigantic photographs I'm giving a link to webshots instead of uploading them here.

http://pets.webshots.com/album/569942714LqhoxD