Animal Detective

Chapter 101: Cassaro

Just like the Malinois, the middle-aged woman at the stall was incredibly friendly to everyone. The moment their eyes met, she immediately waved Shen Xin over.

"Hey, handsome! Come, come, take a look! This is the last one. I’ll give you a good deal on it."

"Look at this build—a well-defined chest and rear. And these legs, aren’t they thick? And this face, look, isn’t it dark?"

Quick as a flash, she snatched the Malinois from its cage and held it up by its tail to show Shen Xin.

Thanks to the favorability rating, Shen Xin could clearly sense the Malinois was terrified.

And that pitiful look in its eyes.

’How should I put it? It was probably like one of those unfortunate women in ancient times, sold into a brothel and forced into service, looking pitiably at the passing customers, hoping someone would rescue her from that den of devils.’

’The analogy might not be perfect, but the feeling was about right.’

"So, what do you think?" Feng Kaiwei nudged Shen Xin with his elbow and asked in a low voice.

He didn’t know the first thing about dogs.

Shen Xin shook his head slightly.

Unlike professional breeders with proper kennels and sufficient expertise, people like this middle-aged woman were what you’d call backyard breeders. They thought there was money in it, so they’d just buy a couple of dogs and start breeding them indiscriminately, letting them have two litters a year.

The puppies they produced were all over the place and couldn’t fetch a good price. To control costs, they naturally wouldn’t provide a very good environment for the dogs to grow up in.

So, for this Malinois to be the last one left, Shen Xin didn’t believe for a second that there wasn’t something wrong with it.

"Come on, take a look! Eight hundred, it’s a bargain! Go ask around outside—a Malinois like this would easily cost you two or three thousand." The woman stood up, and not content with just quoting a price, she tried to shove the Malinois directly into Shen Xin’s hands, urging him to get a good look.

Shen Xin didn’t take it and turned to leave.

He hadn’t taken two steps before the price had already dropped to six hundred.

As the three of them walked, Jiang Wengang showed Shen Xin his phone. He had looked up information on police dogs. Pointing at the screen, he said, "Look, it says here that among dogs, Bloodhounds have the best sense of smell and are suitable for long-distance blood tracking. But, it says they’re hard to manage. As soon as they find something that interests them, they stop listening."

"So for things like drug-sniffing, it says Springer Spaniels are good. They’re more sensitive to low concentrations of chemical scents. I remember the police dog base uses Springer Spaniels, and Labradors too."

Feng Kaiwei chimed in, "And Rottweilers. You need ones that are aggressive, the kind that will bite a suspect and not let go."

Shen Xin stopped in his tracks and retorted, "Why don’t you two pick one, then?"

The common police dog breeds were few—German Shepherds, Labradors, Rottweilers, and so on. Shen Xin knew all that.

But those were the standards for the police dog training base.

Shen Xin already had his own standard: the dog had to be one that, like the Malinois just now, would quickly show a favorability icon, making it easy for him to cultivate that favorability.

The second criterion was obedience.

Selectively bred dogs certainly had their advantages. German Shepherds, for example, were the epitome of loyalty.

They also had advantages in intelligence and resistance to distraction.

’But Shen Xin truly felt it all came down to the individual dog.’

’A selectively bred dog isn’t guaranteed to be good, and a common mutt isn’t necessarily stupid.’

’Just as every person is different, so is every dog.’

’Otherwise, why would the elimination rate at the police dog base be so high?’

In fact, Shen Xin was more inclined toward the latter.

Because mutts were constantly cross-breeding, the sample pool was large, offering a wide range to choose from. You could always find one you liked.

Since his superiors had assigned him this task and approved the budget for it, Shen Xin definitely wanted to do a good job.

It would be easy to spend tens of thousands on a few purebreds, but what if they couldn’t be trained? What if they had all sorts of personality issues? Wouldn’t that money be wasted? His superiors would definitely keep that in mind.

Of course, Shen Xin wouldn’t refuse a purebred dog either.

The main issue was that it was rare to find adult purebreds for sale; you had to raise them from puppies.

Shen Xin wanted an adult dog.

He vaguely remembered that someone here sold adult dogs.

They were often rejects from backyard breeders, or dogs that ordinary people in the area no longer wanted to keep.

It was said there were even some that had bitten people and were then brought here to be sold to dog dealers.

As he wandered around, he actually found one.

A young man was nervously holding the leash of a Cassaro.

The Cassaro was already an adult. Its ears were cropped, and its conformation looked good—solid black with a white patch on its chest, a wide muzzle, and a large frame. It was the burly, broad-shouldered type.

Right now, it was curled up at the young man’s feet, head hanging low, occasionally glancing at the passersby.

From several meters away, it saw Shen Xin.

Their eyes met.

Soon, the favorability icon appeared above its head.

Shen Xin’s spirits lifted, and he walked over.

The young man looked to be in his thirties and was neatly dressed. He didn’t look like a dog dealer, but more like a customer who had come to buy a dog. He wore an IWC watch and had a set of BMW keys hanging from his waist.

He was currently clutching the leash, looking around blankly, giving off the awkward vibe of a first-time seller.

He really didn’t look like he was selling a dog, but as soon as Shen Xin approached, he was the first to ask if he wanted to buy it.

"You’re selling him? He’s already fully grown," Shen Xin said, staring at the Cassaro on the ground.

The dog also raised its head and looked steadily at Shen Xin.

The favorability icon above its head pulsed with a faint light, a sign that the rating was about to increase.

’Amazing!’

For a moment, Shen Xin couldn’t tell if his own talent was just too powerful, or if this dog was simply overly friendly to people.

The young man sighed and said, "I don’t want to sell him either. I spent over ten thousand on him, and I’ve raised him this long, feeding him good food. But he almost bit someone, and now my wife absolutely refuses to let me keep him. She says the money we’d have to pay if he bit someone would be disastrous."

"He bites?"

Shen Xin frowned slightly and looked at the Cassaro on the ground.

’A dog this friendly to people would bite?’

’That doesn’t seem right.’

Seeing Shen Xin frown, the young man immediately grew nervous. "Don’t leave yet! It was just that one time. Maybe I didn’t have a good grip on the leash. I don’t really know what happened, but it’s never happened again since."

"But my wife is insisting I get rid of him, so I have no choice. I posted him on Xianyu, but most people saw that he was already full-grown and had almost bitten someone, so they didn’t dare take him. The ones who were interested offered way too little."

"It’s not that I really care about the price. I’m just afraid they’ll buy him to sell as dog meat, or won’t treat him well. Then I heard about this dog market and brought him here. This is my second time."

"If you like him, just take him. The price is negotiable. As long as you treat him well, that’s all that matters. My wife gave the final word—the dog has to be sold today."

He said all this in a long, rambling torrent.

’Shen Xin had a feeling he wasn’t lying.’

’But you never know. Maybe he was hiding something about the ’almost biting’ incident.’

"So how much are you asking for him?"

Shen Xin crouched down, studying the Cassaro.

Its eyes were very clear.

Perhaps because of the icon, Shen Xin could also sense its emotions.

It seemed to understand that its owner was going to sell it, so it felt wronged, not understanding what it had done wrong.

The young man gritted his teeth and held up two fingers. "Two thousand. How does that sound? I feed him Orijen dog food, and I also buy him beef, quail meat, and stuff like that. Two thousand is basically what he costs me for a month."

’If you really raise him the way you say you do, then two thousand isn’t expensive,’ Shen Xin thought.

’The problem is, at a dog market like this, absolutely no one will pay two thousand for a full-grown adult dog.’

At that moment, perhaps from holding his gaze for so long and sensing Shen Xin’s goodwill, the icon above the Cassaro’s head actually went up by another bar.

"Can I walk him for a bit?" Shen Xin asked.

The young man hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay, but be careful. Don’t let anything happen."

Shen Xin nodded and took the leash.

"Up."

Shen Xin commanded.

The Cassaro looked at its original owner, then back at Shen Xin, before finally getting to its feet.

"Come."

Shen Xin pointed to the spot beside his feet.

The Cassaro was clearly hesitant, but seeing that the young man made no move to stop it, it paused for a moment before moving to stand by Shen Xin’s feet.

Shen Xin nodded to himself.

’It wasn’t because the Cassaro was highly obedient, but because he could sense that it was very smart.’

"Captain Feng, try to attack me," Shen Xin said to Feng Kaiwei.

’A Cassaro is a guard dog, after all.’

Feng Kaiwei glanced at the large, fierce-looking Cassaro and felt a little intimidated.

"Xiaoshen, don’t set me up," Feng Kaiwei muttered.

As he spoke, he feigned a lunge as if to attack.

The Cassaro at his feet instantly bristled, becoming alert. It switched into a combat stance and let out a vicious BARK.

That single bark was enough to scare Feng Kaiwei into scrambling backward, telling Shen Xin to hold the leash tight.

"Stop."

Shen Xin quickly tugged on the leash, then reached out to pat its head. Pointing at Feng Kaiwei, he said, "You can’t attack him. He’s one of us."

The Cassaro looked at Shen Xin, then at Feng Kaiwei, and seemed to understand.

"Captain Feng, come on over and pet him," Shen Xin called out.

Feng Kaiwei had a look of pure resistance on his face.

Jiang Wengang couldn’t stand it anymore and gave him a shove.

’A SWAT captain who’s fought for his life against criminals is afraid of a dog?’

Only then did Feng Kaiwei step forward and tentatively stroke the Cassaro’s head.

No reaction.

Shen Xin nodded in satisfaction. ’He really is smart.’

The young man beside them clicked his tongue in amazement. "Are you a professional dog trainer? I feel like Black Panther is even more obedient with you than he is with me."