The Irony Fairy Drop-Kicks Me

[Winterspring]

Taurus typically barks when someone comes out of the room until he realizes who it is, and is told, "Hello, Monsieur Le Derp. I see you're still on watch to make sure nobody who lives here burgles the house..." Then he shuts up and wags his tail and gives me big, derpy doggy eyes that say, "I'm sorry I yelled, Mommy. Just gotta be careful, y'know?" Fine.

I was warned that it might take him a while to totally be at ease with all of us. I wish this extended to not leaping from tall buildings in a single bound directly onto my liver, but whatever. Fine.

Last night, my boyfriend and I were walking him, we came to cross paths with two strangers, and he merely gave them a cursory sniff as we passed. (Well, as much as he could. I had a death grip on that leash where the only tension he felt was on the leash, and not mine.)

But this morning. Oh, man, this morning. Here's where the Irony Fairy drops an anvil on my head.

Because I had recently started a thread about aggression, naturally Murphy's Law decides that TODAY is the day when Taurus decides to show some of that ol' Fila temperament.

My roommate, affectionately referred to as Food Lady because she feeds all the animals, left her room to get ready for work. Barking fit. But much louder and much more, "HEY! What are you doing here??" than usual. So she goes about her business. She comes out of the bathroom and he starts freaking out again. At this point (because I've had a bout of insomnia today that's ridiculous), I'm out there, futzing around. She comes out again, he's fine.

Then she goes to change clothes for her new job. Yes, they're new clothes and smell funny, but he was acting weird before this. He goes nuts barking at her. We're trying to get him to shut up because Daddy is trying to sleep, but he wouldn't quit it. And it was a growling bark, too. Daddy wakes up and tries to call him, but Taurus won't listen. He was stuck to my side while she was close. So I get up to walk over and give her a hug to show him that it's just Food Lady and it's okay. Well, as I walked towards her, he wouldn't let me pass him. He was right in the middle, barking and growling, and when I moved around him and hugged her, he flipped even MORE, and banged her twice, hard, with his nose. Like, "Get away from her! Go 'way go 'way!"

I put him outside because neither of us trusted him around her at that point.

We know certain things set him off. Someone who is obviously afraid will do it, but she wasn't. Hell, she wasn't even afraid to get bitten, because she figures that if one owns a dog, eventually you're gonna screw up and get the business end of that head. Hands in pockets seem to set him off, too, but hers weren't in the pockets. I'd say it was the smell of the new clothes, but it started before that.

What gives? I'm kind of scared for my dog, now. He's not acted like this with us before.

 

[Winterspring]

Has anyone else encountered this? Is this really the "temperament"? I've had no luck sleeping tonight, so has he been sleeping lightly and become overly protective of me because he knows something's wrong with Mama?

 

[ruthcatrin]

You'll need the Fila folks to tell you how to counter-act it. But yah, he could be feeling overly protective of you if you're not feeling well, and her new clothes likely didn't help.

 

[LizB]

The energy was off in the house. Maybe she was excited/anxious about the new job? Now that this has happened YOUR energy is off, and they are very sensitive to it. The Fila experts will definitely chime in!

 

[Winterspring]

We both have anxiety disorders, but we've only had him since the end of May, so he may not be used to it, although he's witnessed my panic attacks, which can be rather extreme. When I do have one, he's usually right by my side. I guess I'm his "person". I've heard that they take care of the whole family, including pets, but they have a single person that they stick to most. And yes, she was very anxious about going to work at her new job today. You may have something there. I do hope the Fila owners do chime in.

 

[mountainfila]

Over the course of 20+ years in filas (i have 5 right now) i heard that filas have poor eye sight and dont see things like other dogs. They react to motion more then the actual object. Your roommate probably was seen out of the corner of his eye and the fila instinct kicks in to protect mode and he reacted, its instant and you cant stop it. Yes also her changing clothes will get a reaction because not only the smell but the look is different. I tell people i have over, mostly family or close friends the dogs have known since birth, if the dogs bark at you for what ever reason just say there name so they can here your voice, they seem to hear better then see lol. So i would have your roommate say his name as she enters a room with him in it and maybe give him treats so he knows her as the bringer of good things and you have to let him know its ok for her to be there.

Filas are very smart and have memories like elephants lol they know who is in there family unit and who is not, even if its a roommate, i had one fila that would not accept my roommate period. He could come and go during the day but he got home from work at 4 am and she would hit the door trying to eat him, every time, sometimes i forgot to close my bedroom door i would have to get up and put her away adn let him in and then let her out and she would see it was him and give a tail wag and then go jump on the bed and go to sleep, she tolerated him but she new that he was not part of our family unit. Just the one fila acted that way the others were fine with him, so it depends on the fila and their temp as to what they will accept and what they wont. Mine have been taught that if i let a person in, its ok and the people are taught dont touch them, dont talk to them and dont make eye contact, just ignore them, the dogs sniff and circle and then keep there distance from the person but always watching, if that person stands up or make a motion with there hands or talks louder then normal, my dogs stand up and bark at the person, they remind the person that they are watching them. Total strangers to the dogs, i put the dogs in the house and the people never enter the yard.

Its up to you to teach him what is ok and what is not acceptable behavior in your home, if you dont he will be his own judge and jury. Training wont lesson his temp but it will make it more manageable.

 

[tojvan]

Over the course of 20+ years in filas (i have 5 right now) i heard that filas have poor eye sight and dont see things like other dogs. They react to motion more then the actual object.

Totally agree with you. They have excellent hearing, and an amazing sense of smell, but you already knew that. Mine tends to smell the air every few minutes, if anybody is even remotely close, he knows, which i found really amazing. its nearly impossible to sneak up on a fila, either they'll hear you or smell you which more than makes up for the poor eyesight.

when trigger was about 4 months old, i was walking him and bowzer at about 2 a.m. it was really dark and we were walking near a forest area. bowzer was walking normal and doing his thing, sniffing the ground etc. Trigger would stop every few seconds to growl and grunt. Now after a while i was really starting to get annoyed. After 10 minutes of this to my amazement I realized that there was a coyote or a dog about 30 to 40 feet away from us. Trigger knew all along and was warning me where as bowzer didn't have a clue.

 

[Winterspring]

Holy CRAP!

You know, I thought he might have lousy eyesight, but I hadn't read anything saying so until just now! That explains SO much! When we first got him, for about two weeks, if we changed clothes without him watching us, he'd react like he didn't know us until we spoke! Whenever I get up to go to the bathroom or something and I know he's conked out, I always call softly to him because I don't want to startle the poor thing! He'll give a little "woof" or something, then let me pee in peace without waking up the whole house!

We're working with him. He's remarkably easy to train when he's got the patience to sit still. I mean, he's still rock-stubborn, so if he isn't in the mood to do what I say, he'll just walk away as if to convey, "Nope. Got Dog Business. Gotta make sure nothin's under the fridge..."

Maybe he's ticked off at Food Lady because since we've been trying to switch him to a better quality dog food, we've been doing that "transition" thing that only seems to have put him off his feed. I'm pretty sure he hates it. He might be hungry. Seems to like the cats' food well enough... He eats theirs, they eat his... >_< I'm glad I don't have a horse. It'd be the food apocalypse.

It is becoming ridiculously obvious that this dog, while plenty goofy and silly, is WAY smarter than we thought. Smarter than a lot of the humans I've met. (Not quite as smart as my tortoiseshell cat, but she's like, scary smart.) So we're trying to train him. If you guys could also give me some tips on how to tell him that someone is alright (hugging obviously isn't the way...and from his perspective, it might look like the person is trying to hurt me with that much body contact). Also, I've found I'm not too crazy about this "treat" motivated "positive only" training. Not for him. He anticipates what I'm going to ask for next (even if he's wrong) and just does it so he can get the cookie. Things I'd like to teach him: "Leave it!" "Off" "Stand" "Stand Down" and "The Cat Does Not Want to Play with You". I'm hopeful about the first four, but the last is a pipe dream.

I love my dog. He's AWESOME. But man, oh, man is he more than I thought I was getting, good and bad, for a first dog. I think he might be too much dog for a lot of experienced owners. Next time, I'm getting a Swissie or a Great Dane. (We plan on getting another dog next year after he's recovered from his neutering.) But maybe Chuck's right. Maybe I'll be addicted to Filas.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Verbal praise. A butt scratch, or a scratch behind the ears with a "good boy". Apollo's extremely NOT FOOD DRIVEN *sigh*, so I've learned to cope lol.

For people. For your roomie or other household members I'd suggest having them speak to him when he seems uncertain of who they are. No guestures or anything else that could be taken as aggressive, just talk. For other folks you consider friends and hope he'll continue to tolerate start telling him "friend" when greeting them. It may or may not stick, but for some dogs it works.

 

[LizB]

As for the showing the dog that you approve of them, what we do with our BMs (not the same thing, I know) is shake the hand of the person. When we were socializing our pups we'd go to the big pet expo events that have all kinds of stuff going on, with a million dogs on leash, contests, loudspeakers, retailers, rescue groups, etc., and we wanted to teach the dog to ignore the people in the mascot suits - very scary! So we approach the mascot and ask to shake their hand, or their mitt, or whatever, lol. That seemed to reassure the dog that no assault was getting ready to take place, and that we approved of the interaction. After that they were not afraid of the mascots and simply ignored them as silly people in funny clothes.

To this day when my husband and I hug each other the dog gets anxious and wants to get in between us, and he's been with us for more than 5 years, so there is something about a hug that is more like wrestling to a dog, perhaps.

I'm enjoying this discussion as I learn more about the fascinating Fila. I also enjoy your writing style, Winterspring! Descriptive and entertaining.

 

[mountainfila]

Well you probably wont read anything about that , its what was discussed years ago on a fila list between breeders, owners. And i dont know how you could test for it to see if they have eye issues to confirm it but after owning this breed for so long , i would have to say they have a strange way of seeing things lol. My son came for a visit last summer, he was raised form a young age with filas so he knows and seen first hand what a fila is all about,so he was nervous a little because he had not met the filas i have now. The dogs reaction was strange, they kicked up a stink and got a bit skitish when they smelled him, i am assuming his chemical smell was the same as mine, being my son and it was confusing them i think. But after we all sat around and the dogs got to sniff him all over up close and personal, they were all over him like a long lost friend. I had gone to bed and he stayed up and was trying to be quiet coming down the hall to use the bathroom, he was kinda tip toeing hahahaha, my filas do not like un natural movements, moving to fast and moving to slow and the dogs went off like fire crackers, i sat bolt upright and called the dogs off, i think he needed to go to the bathroom really bad after that hahahaha.

Another thing is filas dont like change, at least the filas i have owned did not like change, they wouldnt get super stressed out but did show some stress. You have only had him a little over a month so i would hold off on switching his food for about 6 months, one less stressor on him. And about the roommate giving treats, i mean for her to give them to him for a bit so he sees her as a good person while he is still getting used to his new home and family, i havent heard of to many filas turning down a treat. His temp seems to be mellow as you were able to go to his house and take him home and intergrate him into your home right away, once he gets more comfy in his new home he will become more protective of it and the people that live there.

 

[mountainfila]

As for the showing the dog that you approve of them, what we do with our BMs (not the same thing, I know) is shake the hand of the person. When we were socializing our pups we'd go to the big pet expo events that have all kinds of stuff going on, with a million dogs on leash, contests, loudspeakers, retailers, rescue groups, etc., and we wanted to teach the dog to ignore the people in the mascot suits - very scary! So we approach the mascot and ask to shake their hand, or their mitt, or whatever, lol. That seemed to reassure the dog that no assault was getting ready to take place, and that we approved of the interaction. After that they were not afraid of the mascots and simply ignored them as silly people in funny clothes.

To this day when my husband and I hug each other the dog gets anxious and wants to get in between us, and he's been with us for more than 5 years, so there is something about a hug that is more like wrestling to a dog, perhaps.

I'm enjoying this discussion as I learn more about the fascinating Fila. I also enjoy your writing style, Winterspring! Descriptive and entertaining.

A hand shake in the filas eyes is an "attack", it doesnt matter to them if the person is friendly, they dont see it that way.

 

[Winterspring]

I also enjoy your writing style, Winterspring! Descriptive and entertaining.

Thanks! ^_^ I try to be light-hearted in my writing so things don't stay OH SO SERIOUS. (I'll refrain from making the ten-billionth Joker remark to save you all from a painful eye-roll. No kidding. I once rolled my eyes so hard at someone I gave myself a headache.)

A hand shake in the filas eyes is an "attack", it doesnt matter to them if the person is friendly, they dont see it that way.

So a hug is interpreted as a mauling! Wow. No wonder he hated my friend when my friend came over. I gave him a big ol' hug and Taurus bearded him in my room at one point. Now he says my dog freaks him out. (Wuss! He's JUST a PUPPY!) Yes, Food Lady is part of the family unit, but he went a little nutty. She just got home a little while ago, and I told her to just go to her room, and change. NOW. Because he started to freak again. I told him to sit, lie down, ran him through a couple of commands to redirect his attention, and then I went into her room. He started up, and I told her to put on dirty clothes, so she'd be nice and Food-Lady smelling. (She looks at the forum, too. Goes by summerautumn as a nod to my Winterspring.) Then I told her to call him. He trotted in immediately, and all of a sudden, she was recognized again, with him standing happily with his hands on her leg, digging his dewclaws into her thigh, licking her nose gently, with that beat-stick that's attached to his butt threatening to shatter my kneecaps as it whipped from side to side like a fire hose gone awry. (Someone told me that's just his tail, but I think they were lying. I'm sure ​they were lying. It's death on a dog caboose.)