The dark path of the bitch Sissi
Happy ending at a special foster place in Carinthia
At the end of October last year, Markus Leitner, manager of Gut Aiderbichl Köglerhof in Carinthia, received an excited call from his sheep shearer. He was very upset and told him that his dog had injured his little daughter because she had walked past the dog while he was eating. The tragedy turned out so badly that the little girl had to be hospitalised. One thing was clear to the father: the dog had to go.
The black, white and brown Spitz mix, Sissi, needed a new home immediately. The shearer was desperate and Markus consulted with Dieter Ehrengruber on how best to help the man and the dog.
The trip went to Gut Aiderbichl Carinthia
Sissi did not have a balanced behaviour. She had probably often been left to her own devices, roamed around the village and didn’t really have a carer. Being on her own was actually normal for Sissi. So she came to the Carinthian dog group, which unfortunately resulted in a very difficult and unsatisfactory situation for the dogs and the dog carers.
A special foster place had to be found for Sissi
Sissi was a good nine years old when we took her in. She was not socialised, which made things difficult. How was she supposed to build up trust in humans? She hadn’t really had much contact with people.
“You can’t beat anything into the animals, but you can stroke some things out of them” (Astrid Lindgren)
Would it work?
Sissi became calmer with every visit and clearly enjoyed the lady’s visits. At some point, we decided that Sissi was ready for her new home. A special care contract was signed and the lady, her daughter and the dog were delighted that Sissi could move in with them. From then on, Sissi began a new, balanced life with lots of love and cuddles and she feels better every day.
Hopefully time will heal the wounds of the little girl Sissi snapped at. We wish her the strength and confidence to want to stroke a dog again one day. We also wish her father the strength to cope with his fear and worry about his little daughter. Perhaps one day he will be able to forgive the dog…
