Winterspring
Well-Known Member
So, my whole life, I've been wanting a dog. A BIG dog. I didn't want a little frou-frou lap dog. I have three cats. If I wanted something small and floofy, I would have gotten another cat. Especially since my 13.5 year old tortoiseshell cat is a bit...crabby and would probably put the poor thing's eye out. <br><br>My boyfriend and I had finally made the decision. After literally decades of research, we decided that we were going to get a dog and make my dream come true. It seemed that no specific dog would meet our criteria, except, of course, dogs that would be banned from our lease. (Doberman Pinschers are actually my favorites, but...naturally, they're a no-no, even though I've never met one that wasn't a complete honey-mush.) Bloodhounds seemed a good choice for us. So did Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs. (Try finding one of THOSE in a pound.) I'd read about Mastiffs, and loved the sound of them. Calm, sweet-natured, huge, silly, not terribly high-energy, but enough that it would force me to get off my butt to take care of my dog. (I won't do a thing for my own health, but if it means the health of my dog, I'll do it. I won't sacrifice his care for my own laziness.)<br><br>After searching shelter after shelter, we looked at craigslist on a lark. There he was, a beautiful dog that looked cheerful and silly, cuddly and enormous. Just what we wanted. When I talked to the girl on the phone, she said something about him having been one of only two survivors of Parvo in a litter of 18 pups (18? Sounded like bull to me) and that she'd gotten him from a breeder in Mesa, AZ. She said he was a Brazilian Mastiff, and I'd NEVER heard of one. In all that research, I'd never come across the name. Perhaps because I may have grazed over the name Fila Brasileiro and dismissed it because it sounded too rare to actually reasonably acquire one. She said he was very sweet, and named some of the commands he knew, and that he was the product of a sire and dam that were both imported from Brazil, blah blah. I thought she was just making him sound more special to entice me to buy him. ($100) She told me Bloodhound was in this particular breed of Mastiff's bloodline, which made me think, "Hey. Sounds right up our alley."<br><br>They were getting rid of him because he'd developed some aggression towards their other dogs (Huskies) after having sired an illicit litter with one of the Husky females. We have no other dogs, and I figured after a good neutering and some training, we could get him to settle down. Again, I thought she was blowing smoke up my rear, and we went to see him. Yes, he was initially distrustful. I didn't mind. I liked that he was protective. They had a baby in a walker and he practically put the kid's head in his mouth, wagging his tail while the baby giggled and patted him. He seemed a bit shy, but as soon as she touched my hand, he seemed okay with me petting him. I didn't care what kind of Mastiff he was. He was beautiful, with a dark coat and silly ears, and what seemed like a calm, floppy disposition. He didn't display any of the traits I later read about. <br><br>When got him home, THEN I did the research. I wondered if she really WAS having me on. She wasn't. Hunting. Guarding. Wonderful with family, but hackles rise with strangers. Herding. Was there anything this dog <em>didn't </em>do? But the aggression. The fact that he was banned in at least ten countries, and that it was illegal to import them to others. National Dog of Brazil. "Faithful as a Fila". There, at my feet, lay a $2000 dog, the National Treasure of a major country, drooling at my foot and looking up at me with one ear folded inside-out. Dear God, what had I done?? This was NOT a dog for a first-time dog owner! It's one of the reasons I didn't get an Akita! And now I have him. <br><br>I WILL adjust. I WILL not give him up. I WILL be a good Mama to him, come hell or high water. I took on the responsibility, and my whole family (four adults and three cats) WILL pitch in to help meet his needs. Where would I send him? How could I trust someone? How could I possibly toss someone into the fire of a dog this incredible, this remarkable, and be satisfied that they would take proper care of him?? He's our "youngest" now, and I REFUSE to be any more irresponsible than I already feel I am. Especially since he's almost everything I wanted in a dog. <br><br>But I need advice. I know this is a long post, but I felt you needed some background on how I acquired him, and that I now know that people need to be more educated about the rarer breeds. His name is Taurus. <br><br>What We Have Observed: <br><br>He's house-trained. We didn't know for sure that he was, because there were numerous accidents, but putting him on a strict schedule for watering and feeding (he was free-feeding before) helps, and we have learned his signals, and he understands the question, "Do you need to go to the back door?" <br><br>Taurus is incredibly intelligent and VERY eager to please. He's learning "Left Hand" and "Right Hand". <br><br>He doesn't seem quite as energetic as other Filas have been reported to be, except at the most inconvenient times possible. Like bedtime. <br><br>He has a rather worrisome tendency to jump on things, making me worry about his hips and elbows.<br><br>He sticks close to Mama and if I'm having an argument with my boyfriend, he'll bark and growl at him, standing between the two of us, defending me, tail still wagging as if to say, "I still love you, but don't you dare hurt my mommy". <br><br>He's only nipped twice at people. Once at my boyfriend, who was trying to give kisses while Taurus was growling ( >_< idiot....) and once at my friend, who was trying to pet Taurus while he was...you guessed it....growling. ( >_< idiot....) I think Taurus was perfectly justified. <br><br>He snores. And it's hilarious. And he pouts. <br><br>His favorite treat is ice cubes, which I give him when he's been exercising and I don't want to give him a big bowl of water because I'm absolutely terrified of gastric torsion. (I spent a lot of my youth working with horses. It stood to reason that if I don't want to give a horse a big bucket of water after exercising, why would I treat my dog any differently?) Similarly, pregnant women chew ice chips, so I figured, "Hm. Maybe an ice cube or two to keep him hydrated and cool him off?" He loves it. <br><br>That tail is possibly deadly. I have bruises on the back of my legs. <br><br>He has an unfortunate propensity for leaping directly for soft spots like: kidneys, ovaries, the family jewels, throats, diaphragms and stomachs. <br><br>The Bloodhound line seems strong in him, as he sniffs around a LOT, and doesn't seem to have much of a prey drive when it comes to the cats. Cornering them to call the "hunter" (me) hasn't worked well for him. A couple of swats and he's left two of them alone for the most part. The third, Mayhem, is a large black cat, and Taurus can't seem to understand why the other dark, fuzzy thing doesn't want to play with him. It's...sorta sad. Poor Taurus. <br><u><br>Things We are Doing for Him<br></u><br>We have hired a professional trainer to come and help us with how to interact properly with him, and how to tone down the ojizera so that we can have people over without relegating him to the backyard and he won't spend the entire time uncomfortable or growling, so that he's more aloof with them than aggressive. I don't expect him to just be okay with new people. He's not a Labrador. He's not an Irish Setter. I refuse to attempt breaking him of his breeding entirely. I just want my friends to be as enamored of him as I am. And when I bring him out, I want him to be an ambassador for his breed. Even if he can't be bred. <br><br>We are going to build a ramp for him to get on the bed with us. To save his hips and elbows. <br><br>We are getting a swimming pool so that we can all get a good, LOW impact workout. Crappy joints run in the family. Ours, not his. <br><br>Weekly baths with homemade shampoo, and a good brushing every few days between baths to keep his skin in good condition, to reduce stinkiness, to make him pretty, as a bonding exercise, and so I can run my hands all over him, looking for oddities and unusual bumps, lumps, scratches, redness, etc. <br><br>Going to get him on decent food. He's eating crap right now, but decent food must be introduced slowly, as you all know, to avoid diarrhea or other problems. <br><br>I have a veterinarian appointment for him the morning the trainer will be here (Saturday morning...so all family members can be present) so I can give her absolutely up-to-date information on his health. <br><br>I try not to give him too many treats. It's very difficult, because he's so cute. Yet another good use for the ice cubes. I don't have to feel guilty about those. And NO people food. (On purpose. He got into the bacon grease one night. Not pretty.<br><u><br>Questions I Have<br><br></u>1) He's just a year old. I know that giant breeds mature more slowly. We've been operating under the assumption that he's still a puppy. Is this correct? <br><br>2) I've been told by some (none of them veterinarians) that I should wait to neuter him until he is at least 18 months - 2 years old because I would have to introduce foreign testosterone into his system to continue his growth. I do not like the idea of introducing something into his body that it didn't create on its own, unless it's medication for an illness. He absolutely must be neutered. Yeah, I realize I could probably make a mint off stud fees, but his coloring is wrong, I think, being a dark sable color that's a little peppery, as if in utero, he couldn't decide if he wanted to be black or brindle, and ended up kinda both, and all mixed up. I like it, but I don't think it's breed-correct. Plus, I think he's cow-hocked, which isn't good for anything. Except cows. And even if I wasn't able to be as responsible as I would like to have been, I would like to think I wouldn't breed a dog that wasn't breed-sound. <br><br>3) Is what I've been doing for him good? <br><br>4) How do I encourage him to play more? Seems whenever we try to run around with him or play "tuggies", he looks at us like we're dopes. <br><br>5) CAN the ojizera be toned down some? I don't want it ALL gone. I know it CAN'T be all gone. I just want to be able to have people over without an incident, or sticking him elsewhere in the house or outside. He's such a good boy. I want everyone who sees him to be as impressed as I am with him, and to adore him as much as I do. <br><br>Any and all advice and assistance is appreciated. I refuse to let my dog, who I've been waiting for all my life, suffer because of my initial ignorance. <img src="images/smilies/frown.png" border="0" alt="" title="Frown" smilieid="11" class="inlineimg"> I love him, even when he's hogging the bed, and every time I look into those gorgeous yellow eyes, I fall in love all over again.
