OMG. I am new to this forum but this posting caught my eye... I am from Washington State and a few years back I actually was looking to get my first mastiff and had emailed back and forth with this woman from Rising Phoenix... I told her that this would be my first mastiff, and I told her what I was looking for in a dog and about my lifestyle etc. and asked her recommendation, since not many people have any kind of Mastiffs where I live. I told her I wanted to be protected, but I also had alot of people coming through my property so I wasn't looking for a "guard" specifically I just wanted to know that if I was being ATTACKED or something, that I would be protected. Mostly I just want a velcro dog, as I am very clingy and affectionate with my dogs and I am looking for a dog who feels the same about me. She tried to talk me into getting a Fila and I told her I didn't feel that a Fila would be right for me as we have a home business and we have Fed Ex, UPS, Mailman, etc. coming through our property daily. She insisted that she had a special fila who was nothing like the breed standard and showed no signs of aggression or territorial dominance. She buttered me up so much that I was seriously thinking about it, but in the end I had a bad feeling in my gut and as much as I respect Fila's for what they are, I did not want to risk the dogs natural instincts coming out at the wrong timing. I decided against it and our conversations never went further.
Upon seeing this Thread, I went to Zootoo and read the reviews...... I am SO GLAD that I never proceeded. Not only for the sake of all the health issues I saw people posting about, whipworms and etc.... But I heard several people saying that the dogs they adopted had temperament problems, and the ones that were returned were immediately reposted for adoption with no warning of behavior issues...... I am pretty stunned that she would take a teenager (I am 25 now but was only a teenager at the time and living with my parents) and try to convince her into getting a "non-guarding" Fila when she knows that not only is it my first mastiff, but also that I living in a home where I have fed ex men, mail man, UPS guys and everything else filing through my property on a regular basis.
I have never had a Fila, so MAYBE she was telling the truth. But from everything I've read on the breed, while I would have had a velcro dog like I wanted, the rest of the situation would have been incredibly risky and entirely innappropriate and especially dangerous when it comes to someone inexperienced with the mastiff breed in general....