From Horst Richter
The bite attack of a Canary Mastiff in Konstein still seems to have a reasonably good end. The male “Jax” attacked an eight-year-old girl in her mother’s apartment on June 28th and was seriously injured with a bite in the head. Despite the significant wounds, the girl had recovered well, according to the relatives. The dog had initially come to the Ingolstadt animal shelter, the decision about its fate initially remained open. A little later he was given a second chance in a project in Ulm. There the mastiff is making good progress with its socialization, as a dog trainer reported.
The male dog, kept as a family dog, had attacked the eight-year-old “out of nowhere”, as the mother reported later. “We don’t understand how that happened. ‘Jax’ and my daughter were of one heart and one soul before.” The dog dragged the child through the apartment and tore off parts of his scalp and one ear.
Girl badly injured – wounds healed again
A neighbor, alarmed by the screams, had rushed to help and with his courageous efforts had prevented worse. The seriously injured girl was admitted to the Augsburg hospital and had an operation. The wounds had “healed really nicely,” the mother reported just under three weeks after the bite attack. How the condition of the elementary school student is today could not be clarified on Tuesday.
The police investigated after the incident on suspicion of negligent bodily harm in the child’s environment. A result is not yet available. “The proceedings are still ongoing,” said Chief Prosecutor Andrea Grape when asked.
The Canary Mastiff – a category 2 dog in the Bavarian “Ordinance on Dogs with Increased Aggressiveness and Dangerousness” – initially found a place in the Ingolstadt animal shelter after the attack. At the mediation of the German Animal Welfare Association, Ralf Peßmann from the Ulm / Neu-Ulm animal shelter took over the four-legged friend, he is in charge of a project for problem dogs called “Second Chance”. According to the motto “training instead of separating”, Peßmann is now trying to socialize “Jax”.
Jax responded quickly to the training
He seems to have succeeded in doing this so far. “The dog was of course very excited at the beginning, but he responded to me and my training very quickly.” After three days, Pessmann had the Canary Mastiff to the point that it voluntarily let itself be put on a leash and muzzle. “You just have to combine something like this with positive experiences, then it goes quickly. For him, I’m the guy with the liver sausage tube,” he says and laughs – small rewards during the training are of course always well received. The experienced dog trainer has since done without the muzzle. He trusts “Jax” and has got to know him as a “very cuddly dog”. “I don’t see any signs of excessive aggressiveness in him. But he has a strong character, you have to be able to deal with that.”
At the moment the Canary Mastiff is being trained to accept other contact persons, because “such a dog has to be at ease with its environment.” So far, this has been very successful. The forecast of the Ulm expert is: “This dog can be placed in any case, but not to a first owner. It needs a steady hand and someone with experience.” Before that, however, “another quarter of a year” of training is necessary. “We want to make it absolutely stable,” says Ralf Peßmann confidently.
–
