Hayley, I had Roman shipped in from the states when he was 8 weeks (I'm in BC). The breeder did everything, we paid them with a money order, I believe. We talked about dogs and pups over the phone, decided which one I was getting, they sent me an email when they put him on the plane with the estimated pick up time. IIRC, his health records and papers and the receipt and stuff were all duct tapped on top of the crate. Someone had cleaned up his crate and fed him and given him water. He was at a detached building kind of away from the airport where cargo goes, I guess? I think we phoned the airport and they told us where to go. So we met him, but customs had to process him. So we had to get his health record, then go back to the main terminal, and go through the rigmarole to "release" him. (took maybe 2 hours, the only thing was no one knew were to send us to pay tax on him and w/e, and YVR was getting some renovations, so we ended up going ALL over the airport finding the customs thing, at one point someone sent us to the immigration office LOL.) The taxes were $87 and the processing fee or w/e it was was $40.
Anyways, I'd do it again no problem. It was exciting LOL. Find the best breeder you can and ship in. Of course it's preferable if you get to meet the parents and pups yourself, but with a rare breed like a fila shipping is your best bet.
PS I edited this post about 10 times as I remembered more details and as I checked my old emails, so sorry if it isn't very coherent LOL
Good luck finding a pup!