Top 10 Greatest Fila Brasileiro Events of 2009

Another year is ending and we've taken inventory of the most important and positive contributions made for the true bred Fila Brasileiro during 2009.
Ladies & Gentlemen, breeders, enthusiasts & owners, here are:

Fila411-USA’s picks of the Top 10 Greatest Fila Brasileiro Events of 2009:

#10: The Fila Brasileiro Safari or the Tour de Minas

Intended to be a demeaning title, the Fila Brasileiro Safari or the Tour de Minas was coined by a disgruntled brazilian breeder that felt slighted by the ever-so-hospitable treatment foreign breeders and enthusiasts alike enjoy when visiting fila kennels, as opposed to the average treatment or outright indifference a native fila breeder might get. Nonetheless, the term was well embraced and the tours are getting their share of adepts as the years go by. 2009 marked the year that some kennels opened their doors to visitors for the first time in years.

The consensus among breeders that have visited Brazilian kennels and consequently got immersed in the culture and visualized the Fila Brasileiro in its homeland, often times in their original environment; is that it is the only way to really understand the breed, to be exposed to a proper example of the breed, to experience the format of a Fila Breed show or to watch the Fila handle the rugged livestock used in Brazil.

Visitor breeders or prospect owners may bring back home hand-picked dogs or pups and generally make great connections while learning or confirming what they had already learned or read about in books and bulletins. Having prior information on average cost for pups will give room for price negotiation. Certainly bring a crate if you're coming from the US or EU and intend to bring a pup back. All in all, the end results of being prepared speak for themselves.

This year's visitors include:

Elio Quiros, Breeder, Canil Guardia Dourada - Peru, who had made a prior trip in 2008 and came back for more in 2009. Mr. Quiros has contributed his insight of the breeders he visited and the dogs he's seen in Minas Gerais. His impressions caused a bit of jealousy, inflamed reactions and created a stir. His impressions, videos and pictures are all contained in a well elaborated blog that is written in Spanish, but worth translating..

In April of 09 Mr. Jarda Pors (Jerry), breeder, Tchec Republic visited the Fila Brasileiro Vet., Scientist & Breeder, Dr. Anibal Felipe and together they took a trip to Goiás. There they visited the kennels in the region which are part of an association of breeders, among those, Mr. Gildo Costa's Kennel "Chão de Goyáz" (Goyáz's Ground). Fotos. Jerry will have a pup from one of the first Fila Brasileiro liters produced with having previous bloodline DNA analyses tests in a qualitative objective, which is to say done by qualitative selection.

(update: Calua "Lua" CG Filas de Fazenda -in photo-, one of the pups from

the first Fila liter from qualitative selection. She now lives in Indiana - USA)

Juan Carlos Hernandez & Maddie, USA. Juan came to the South of Minas to pick up his dog Maddie, which was shipped back from the USA to her breeder a few months prior for breeding. She enjoyed herself a great deal while in her native land and Juan now wishes to return to Brazil as soon as possible to visit more kennels and meet other fila owners and breeders..

Linda Maggio, Carioca Kennels, USA, a veteran of the Fila Tours, made a quick visit to Rio. Which included a stay in Sta. Teresa hills in Rio de Janero City and a visit to Boa Sorte kennel and Alto Quatis Kennel in the countryside. Linda is returning in march for a longer stay and to attend the CAFIB National dog Show in Amparo. She's arranging for a group of Fila folks to come down with her. For more info on that visit, send her an email on the contact page of her website.

One of the things that Linda commented about her recent trip was the renewed interest in the breed. Which takes us to:

# 9: The return of the Engenho Velho Kennel

-"Hold on! The Engenho Velho is recovering it's Strength" Says the status update on its Orkut page. The Engenho Velho Kennel is back! It all started out when a bunch of old Engenho Velho pictures & newspaper clippings popped up on the Engenho Velho's page in the most popular social networking site in Brazil. Dr. Iliano Pinto Ribeiro, the owner and breeder for Engenho velho, was responsible for one of the most important Cafib Kennels of all times and heir of the genetic legacy contained in the archetypal Filas called "Lord" and Martha" bred by Mr. José Gomes, one of the pioneer Fila Brasileiro breeders. Welcome Back!

#8 Dan Moore's Illustrated Cafib Standard -
Dan Moore was part of original group of people who participated in the first Cafib shows in the USA in the early 90's. At the time, he had the first Fila's analyzed and approved in the US by Americo Cardoso. His male pup was the first ever to receive a "very Good" evaluation in America. Years later, he surfaced on an American Fila Brasileiro message board and made great contributions. Dan also started a very well thought out website which was shut down because, he says: "I looked at the current visitor stats and there just wasn’t enough interest." Well, it held our interest! In homage to Dan's efforts we've made the Illustrated Cafib Standard by Dan Moore available again.

#7: The Fila Stress Test by Chico Peltier -
What would you prefer?
#6: 60 Fila Brasileiro heads - the most notable characteristic of the Breed.
Maybe it was Dan Moore's illustrated standard or maybe it was Chico Peltier's "which would you prefer?" exposé that inspired other fila enthusiasts and breeders to come up with their own didactic illustrated formats to aid in the understanding of what that standard of the breed calls for. According to Elio Quiroz, this album he put together, is "a special selection in which Francisco Peltier has chosen a group of heads from the 220 presented in my previous album. It is a pretty good selection, made by an expert on this breed and a great defender of the Pure-bred Fila. If we also consider that Francisco Peltier currently does not own a Fila nor a Kennel, we must admit that his selection is very objective because it is not biased by any particular preference."

#5: The official Cafib Data-Base of Pedigrees & Approvals
Possibly the best source of information on Fila Brasileiro dogs available on the internet. One can research an individual dog by inputting it's name on the top first rectangle on the opening page. Once the program accesses the information, a chart having the dog's name, parentage approval numbers and/or registry numbers will show Once you find the registry name or its approval number or registry number, of the dog you are researching, you can click on the name and it will take you to another screen were two buttons appear: fenotipo and pedigree. Fenotipo will give you a detailed fenotype analyses with judges comments and recommendations. The Pedrigree button will give you the ddog's genealogical tree. By clicking "Exposições " on the side bar menu of the honepage, you can verify show results. It is also a very useful tool to weed out the phony "CAFIB" kennel or dog. Only approved dogs are granted official Cafib permission for breeding, with this database its easy to double-check. Also, a direct email with questions or concerns will not be left unanswered, and maybe even answered in English!



#4: The CAFIBE Bulletins of 2009 Edited by Ines van Damme
A bittersweet year-end for the Cafibe Bulletins, as The Ambassador for the Archetypal Fila Brasileiro steps away from her position of editor. The Bulletins were edited by Ines since the inception of the club and were published bi-monthly with a special "End of the Year" issue. It also included classified privileges and Online courses. Ines steps away not without leaving us with an exceptional last issue and a collection of Bulletins jam packed with useful and relevant information with articles such as Filas in Fazendas in the North East of Minas Gerais, by Ines van Damme and Paulo Santos Cruz Standard of Fila Brsileiro Breed: codification by DNA markers by Dr. Anibal Felipe-Silva. The Special Edition of the Monográfica shows well taken photographs of the event and worth taking a look at.

Which leads us to the top 3:


#3: Organization and Dedication, the European Fila Community
Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Tchec Republic and excuse me if I've left any country out. In face of the harshest breed laws and regulations, international recession and a language barrier, our European colleagues persevere and continue to be a power of example in organization, respect and dedication to the Fila Brasileiro. Hat's off to them!
#2: Chico Peltier: Cold Case Closed

35 years later, Newly revealed documents solve the cold case file for mixed-breeding in the Brazilian Dog-Breed.. Fila Brasileiro enthusiasts, breeders and owners around the world are paying very close attention to the website developed by the short-lived Cafibra Kennel owner, Chico Peltier, 58, which will celebrate one year this March. The website shook the Fila Brasileiro breed fancy like a tsunami, and has received thousands of page hits in its short existenc. For the first time in the breed's history, over 600 documents and several period photographs were exposed to the dog fancy in general and to Fila Brasileiro breeders and owners specifically.

While being constantly updated with new original documentation, the site focuses mainly on the controversial period between 1974 until 1984, when systematic, unregulated and illegal cross breeding was done within the Fila Breed, injecting into the Fila Brasileiro population, hundreds of mix-bred dogs with forged and illegal pedigree registrations.

Chico Peltier himself had been a victim of the mix-breeding scam, which he realized soon after the dogs he had bought as Fila Brasileiros had grown from puppyhood into very bizarre and distinct dogs, specially noted by the format of their heads, prompting him to end his kennel activities and take on the breed establishment. Throughout his texts, Chico, tells his personal history of discovery, struggle and whistle blowing that included a major national Newspaper campaign. Starting this journey as a young 24 year old, he was the first person to call to public attention about the systemic and illegal cross breeding of the Fila Brasileiros with English Mastiffs, Neapolitan Mastiffs and specifically black coated Great Danes. At a time of military dictatorship, censorship, torture and missing persons, Chico Peltier, single handedly took on the official Kennel Club establishment.

His struggle culminated in the separation of breeding philosophies and lead to the foundation of an independent dog club, called the CAFIB (link), which translates as the “Fila Brasileiro Improvement club”. The Cafib has held firmly to its beliefs and is still in activity since is founding. In 2008, during Cafib's 30th anniversary, Chico Peltier was honored with the title "Father of the Cafib”. A "paternity" title only he shares with Paulo Santos Cruz "The father of the Fila", a founding father of the Cafib, and "discoverer" of the breed and also the first person to pen a descriptive Breed Standard. Chico believes he did not deserve such an honor, as he sees himself as "only a disciple of the breed's true patriarch.”

Peltier writes with tremendous wit and sometimes uses comedy to correct the bad habit of complacency that had taken over the Fila Brasileiro world. He introduces us to the imaginary "wandering and repentant spirit" named Joao Batista do Valle Monte Cruel". The spirit’s name is a homonymous spoof of all the well known individuals that caused damage and prejudice to the first brazilian breed to be recognized internationally: Joao Batista, Prof. Procópio do Valle, Enio Monte and Clélia Kruel. JBVMC redeems himself by interfering in present day worldly matters as in the this exchange of emails.

Nonetheless, Chico Peltier also has his share of critics, to those he says:

"In some way I think my critics could be right: my site tells the same old history again… but, what would they want? A fresh new invention? Like a new product or new model? Like a new brand? A new dog or new "fila”? I can’t change History. On the contrary, My position is to be against the people who, for example; wrote more than one book in the United States and intended to transform “Fila History” into a “fila story”, by leaving out such an important “chapter” like mix-breeding.

I am telling the same old Fila History, but in my opinion the big difference now is that I made several documents readily available to the public, to back-up the facts. For the majority of the people involved with Fila, these old documents are brand new.”

It’s plain to see that these brand-new-old-documents are proof positive that cross-breeding occurred in the early years of the establishment of the breed in the show-dog world. Chico may continue to surprise us with new bombshells, but the 35 year old cold case file for the mixed-breeding of the Fila Brasileiro was certainly closed in 2009..

#1: Dr. Anibal, Effort, Dedication, Positive Progress for the Preservation of the breed, even in face of adversity..

The extent and importance of the pioneer genetic research that Dr. Anibal is executing in his soon to be finished thesis, based on : "The Paulo Santos Cruz Fila Brasileiro Breed Standard: Encoding for Genetic Markers", deserves recognition. So many themes are covered which warrant major consideration.

The highlights of his research are:

1 - The reality of the techniques of molecular biology and its importance in breeding dogs.

2 - Genetic variability in the Fila Brasileiro breed.

3 - Genetic stability from generation to generation

4 - Identification of individuals by DNA / Genetic Frequency for the PSC Fila Brasileiro Standard
5 - Genetic make up of the breed and Geographic factors that influenced its existence and survival
6 - What WARRANTIES does DNA testing bring ?- What can be drawn from DNA testing?
7 - Index of Inbreeding - is high or not - and why?
8 - Ligitimacy of Pedigrees - before and after DNA testing and research.
9 - Breeding the FB in Brazil versus Abroad, among other topics.
Dr. Anibal also explains that mitochondrial DNA (which aid in determining origin of a breed) tests for dogs are already in progress and are restricted to phylogeny in existing research. He has already been approached to perform these tests for the FB by Embrapa-Cenargen and hopes to have the time and recourses to accomplish this. The Motto of his doctorate is to establish and show a watershed moment (or divisor of genes), and therefore establish The Fila Brasileiro under the PSC Standard in genetic terms. We await for the published work and hope that 2010 will bring that watershed momoment!

With most sincere wishes that 2010 continues to be full of productive, success filled,

special contributions!