THE FILA BRASILEIRO HISTORY

巴西菲勒犬的历史

The history of the Fila Brasileiro

The Fila's history is so closely linked with Brazilian history that, for a proper perspective, we shall mention the various periods in which the Fila played a very important role. It is not only linked to history, but to the way of life and daily problems of the first colonists in Brazil. Most of the modern breeds have been "manmade". The Fila Brasileiro is an exception. It just "happened" as a result of mere necessity; colonists needed a strong, sturdy, and hard-working dog that would be, simultaneously, a good cattle driver, a good jaguar hunter, a good guard dog, and a loyal companion. This is the Fila Brasileiro. Courage, character and loyalty have always been his main characteristics through the centuries. There are some basic breeds that contributed to the development of the Fila Brasileiro. Though every cynologist agrees that three basic breeds contributed to the development of the Fila Brasileiro (the Engelsen Doggen or ancient Bulldogs, Mastiffs and Bloodhounds) some facts give way to another theory based solely on historical documents. After Brazil's discovery in 1500, Portuguese colonists came to Brazil bringing everything they owned, including their dogs. From the Azores Islands came the Fila Terceirense, a herder that had nothing in common with the Fila Brasileiro, except for its name. Even so, the possibility of a relationship cannot be discarded since there is no evidence of any other dogs in the colonies except for those brought by the invaders, and wild dogs. It is said that so many dogs left the Azores Islands that the Fila Terceirense became extinct. Some felt that the name "FILA" came from the Portuguese dog Fila Terceirense; but it is also pointed out that "FILA" means "TO HOLD" in the ancient Portuguese language, and this was the main function of the Fila Brasileiro to hold (filar) runaway slaves. From the ancient fighting dogs (the Engelsen Doggen or ancient Bulldogs) they acquired their aggressive temperament, as well as, being some what stubborn, the colors, the typical rose-ear, higher hind legs, and a higher croup than the withers, plus persistence. From the Mastiff they inherited the large heavy head, strong maxilars, short neck, the substance, the slightly curved croup, moderated tail set, the courage, the black mask, and also the Mastiff 's basic colors. From the Bloodhound the Fila received the abundant loose skin, the pronounced occipital peak, pendulous lips, hanging flews and dewlaps, the moderated tuck up, the fabulous scent, and the way of barking in a crescendo tune. Maybe the Fila Terceirense left the legacy of the "crooked tail" and the ability of cattle herding, but it is hard to tell how much influence the Portuguese herders could have had. There is even a possibility of some influence from the most usual breeds found in each region; but even this would be a very low percentage not worth mentioning. The origin of the Fila Brasileiro is still very obscure; but it is generally believed that it is the result of crossing English Mastiffs, Bloodhounds, ancient Bulldogs (called Doggen Engelsen), Fila Terceirense, as well as many others influencing the Fila Brasileiro breed.

巴西非勒（Fila Brasileiro）的历史是与巴西的历史紧密相连的，从某个意义上说，巴西非勒在巴西的历史的各个不同阶段都扮演了非常重要的角色。而且巴西非勒不仅和历史有关联，还和巴西的殖民者的生活和命运问题相关联。
大多数的现代犬种都是”人造的“，巴西非勒是一个例外，它只是为需要而产生的，殖民者需要一种强壮，结实，可以胜任艰苦工作的犬种，同时它必须是很好的牧牛者，美洲虎猎手，看护犬和合法的伴侣。这就是巴西非勒，穿越几个世纪，勇敢，有个性，和忠心一直就是他品德的标志。
有一些基本的犬种参与了巴西非勒的繁育工程。所有的犬类学家都赞同有三种基本的犬种对巴西非勒的繁育有贡献，根据巴西非勒在1500年史料记载他们是古代斗牛獒，英国马士提夫，和寻血）。1500年发现巴西后。葡萄牙殖民者把他们拥有的一切都带到了巴西，这其中包括他们的狗，牧犬Fila Tereceirense从亚速尔群岛来到巴西，除了名字与巴西非勒Fila Brasileiro相似外没有任何共同点可言，但FilaTereceirense 和巴西非勒Fila Brasileiro的关系是不可以否定的，因为当时在殖民地上除了野狗以外是没有其他的外来的狗的。传说太多的狗离开了亚速尔群岛，所以导致了Tereceirense的灭绝。
有些人觉得”FILA“的名字是来自于葡萄牙语，应该指出葡萄牙语中的”FILA”有“抓“的意思，而“抓”是FILA最初的作用——抓捕逃亡的奴隶。
从古代斗犬的血统中（古代英国斗牛犬）巴西非勒获得了具有攻击性的脾气，还继承了它的固执，皮毛的颜色，典型的玫瑰耳，较高的后腿，后高前低的体形，和很好的韧性。
从英国老马士提夫那里他继承了沉重的身体，强壮的肌肉，粗短的脖子，中等的尾座，勇敢，黑色的面颊，还有基本的底色。
从寻血犬（Blood hound）那里巴西非勒获得了大量松懈的皮肤，明显的高枕骨，腮皮和素袋，惊人的嗅觉，渐高的叫声。也许Fila Tereceirense遗传给巴西非勒歪曲的尾巴，牧牛的能力，但是很难说葡萄牙牧牛犬给巴西非勒的影响有多大，也许别的犬种对巴西非勒的也有些影响，但是他们的作用占的百分比是很小的。巴西非勒的起源还很朦胧，但是大家都相信他是上述三种犬种的交配的产物，也许Fila Terceirense对它的繁育也有影响。