Besides the Fila Brasileiro, the Brazilian Terrier is the only other dog breed native to Brazil.
It’s probable that Jack Russell Terriers brought to Brazil from England in the 19th century were breed ancestors to the dog also known as the Fox Paulistinha. Crosses with the Pinscher and Chihuahua resulted in tough, quick ratters that typically worked in a pack, and they were – and are – really good at their job.
The breed’s other task is so serve as an “early warning system.” Intruders may laugh off the bark of a twenty pound dog until they have to deal with the one hundred pound Fila Brasileiro that the terrier’s bark woke up. Some Brazilian dog owners like the juxtaposition of owning Brazil’s two native dogs breeds that are such physical opposites to each other. That said, some owners may not exactly love the Brazilian Terrier’s insufferably happy nature when it’s running rings around the cat at midnight, and is cajoling the Fila to get up and play at 6 AM.
Though registered only since 1973, the breed has been in existence for at least 100 years and is second in popularity only to the Fila.
Image by Louisemw and found in Wikicommons under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.