author of the book Cão Fila Brasileiro Preservação do Original
(can be purchased here)
Original text from the Canil Caramona website, this is a translation of page 7 of the History pages. It's for learning purposes only, without intent of copyright violation and within the qualification of fair use. Some pictures have been added by Fila411-USA to further illustrate the dogs mentioned in the text.
 |
| Opala do Caramona |
"At the birth of little Sahara’s pups, being the sole survivor of a
mating between Opala and Conde das Torres do Rio Bonito, right away the
exceptional quality of the liter was observed.
I told to friends
from the Clube Mineiro – then being reactivated - to the fact. My friend
Paulo Augusto M. Moura chose Tarumã, and my friend Carlos Barreira kept
Touro. Olegario Bretas, whom at the time wished to start a kennel under
the supervision and advice of expert Paulo Augusto, kept Tupa’. The
arrival of these animals to Belo Horizonte could not have been more
timely. Touro was requested to rescue traditional breeding programs and
commencements of others.
 |
| Touro do Caramona |
Olegario Bretas started Sao Jose da Lapa
Kennel with Tupa do Caramonã. Afterward, providing an opportunity for a
mating between Touro do Caramona and Opala do Caramona, which was done
by me. Having then acquired Areta do Carmona (1993), Apoema do
Caramona’s sister, which I later used [in my breeding program].
Areta
was an exceptional bitch and was covered by Tupa do Caramona, producing
the also wonderful Jandaia Sao José da Lapa (1995), acquired by the then
young student and friend of ours, Guilherme Trindade Reis who came to
found the Canil Fazenda Mundeo.
 | ||||||||||||||
| Areta do Caramona |
At every three generations it is
important to introduce new genetic elements, in order to avoid the
losses that inbreeding can cause.
By this time (1995), once more I had
very few dogs, all of which were blood related, because the only
"refreshing" of bloodlines had hitherto been that of Conde das Torres do
Rio Bonito and Honda do Engenho, whose daughter I had kept from the
mating between Imagem do Engenho, but died after the birth of her 1st
litter and I did not know the whereabouts of the puppies because they
had been sent to several persons by my friend Jose Luis Cortes, owner of
Imagem.
I started a search for new bloodlines to enter the Caramonã
bloodlines before inbreeding would cause genetic damage . That's when I
remembered the dogs whose lineage I registered under Porto Alegre
name.
I went in search of these dogs on the farms where I had met them."
A female from Porto Alegre bloodlines – property of [farmer] João Ferreira, Corrego Catule, Jampruca, MG. End of the 80's
(((UPDATED)))
 |
| Luma de Porto Alegre and her offspring with Zabele |
 |
| Zabele the Caramonan with my son Daniel. |
The Porto Alegre Bloodline
In 1998, a crossing of the female Luma de Porto Alegre (Rambo Porto Alegre x Princesa de Porto Alegre) an authentic cow-dog, I got the Bata do Caramonã, son of Zabelê do Caramonã. I registered him under my kennel name, because at the time Toto (owner of the Porto Alegre farm) had recently died, a fact that caused the near extinction of the Porto Alegre Bloodline.
 |
| The Porto Alegre bloodlines Female Caramonan X Porto Alegre - notice the pear shaped head, 2007. This is also one of the puppies from Pungirum do Caramonan X Round Arugua. |
These dogs were rustic, many of them bull-dog-like in conformation, bred for decades to work with Nelore cattle and selected for work.
Bata being from 50% pure Caramonã base, having health (hybrid vigor from his bloodlines) and work instincts, came to contribute greatly to the breeding program, especially when I got the female Champagne da FazendaMundeo, a gift of loving friends from the Unifila board, Paulo Augusto, Guilherme Wagner Resende (kennel Acangussu), Geraldo Barbosa and Jerfferson at a time when I had to put Opala and Agata do Caramonã down as a result of leishmaniasis.
 |
| Opala and Agata do Caramonan at a Dog show in Belo Horizonte with the attendant Maurinho |
He had a litter with Champagne (named Caiçara by us), which produced Era do Caramonã and Erati do Caramonã which went to stay with Teo Hudson (kennel Aruguá) who still preserves the genetic basis Caramonã x Porto Alegre.
Also Erussu whose image became official seal in Finland, as its beauty. Its owner Mark Nurminem (Higienópolis kennel) sent us a postcard, expressing his satisfaction.
Erussu do Caramonan and the Era do Caramonan as puppies
 |
| Era do Caramonan |
At the moment of recovery of lineage, it is pertinent to mention Champagne and the role that she played.
Champagne came to the Caramonã kennel in 1999 when I was without breeding females. She was therefore a gift from friends who recognized the importance - besides friendship – of my work with the Fila breed.
She was a wonderful puppy, having extreme bone stucture, which led me to choose her among the litter, because it represented one of the items that stood out in the Caramonã bloodline as a special mark.
Champagne, whom we called Caicara, had some features that I did not exactly identify from Caramonã origins. Fearful that her descendants would inherit very large upper lips (severe defect that we never see in our line), I programmed her matings that could, say, clean up the strange expression on Caramonã.
Champagne’s first crossing was with Bata do Caramonã, a purebred farm Fila crossed with pure Caramonã (Zabelê x Luma de Porto Alegre).
Soon afterward, in order to rescue the purebred source of the lineage, I discovered where Bright do Caramonã was (Zabelê do Caramonã x Imagen do Engenho). With this cross and being that Bright was already very ill, a single pup was born: Pungirum do Caramonã the indisputable greatest exponent in the Unifila Shows while he lived, an absolute winner of all shows he participated in as best of breed, best head and best of show, for four years.
He possessed formidable temperament. He was able to lie quietly on the runway during the show, or "digg” the earth, defying everyone and everything. Seeing any approximation directly toward him, at once his expression became serious, without issuing even a growl. If challenged, he would become really angry, demonstrating a momentum that reminded me of Adros and Poguaçu.
[The picture above is of] Bright do Caramonan, being rescued on a farm and infested with ticks.
At this point, we began a phase of breeding (from 1990) that generated the breeding dogs we have today, as will be shown.
The following is a sequence of generations of breeding males and females that showcase our bloodline.
Note the that are passed on, especially from Adros to Poguaçu, from him to Zabelê. In Bright’s generation Jaguara bloodlines enters : 1 - Adros; 2 - Poguaçu 3 - Zabelê 4 - Bright, 5 - Pungirum. Breed & Bloodline are maintained for five generations.
*all photos are copywrited and attributed to Antonio Carlos Linhares Borges
Note the that are passed on, especially from Adros to Poguaçu, from him to Zabelê. In Bright’s generation Jaguara bloodlines enters : 1 - Adros; 2 - Poguaçu 3 - Zabelê 4 - Bright, 5 - Pungirum. Breed & Bloodline are maintained for five generations.
*all photos are copywrited and attributed to Antonio Carlos Linhares Borges
