Animal Detective

Chapter 103: That’s Right, It’s a Police Dog

Lv Youwei also got Shen Xin a training manual from the Nanjiang Police Dog Base.

It was quite a thick book.

While out getting a cage made for Black Panther, Shen Xin found some time to flip through it.

Only then did he realize how difficult it was to train a police dog.

No wonder Jiang Wengang’s eyes lit up whenever he talked about drug-sniffing dogs.

The selection of puppies, not to mention, was a process of selective breeding—picking the best of the best. A huge investment was made every year to bring in breeding dogs.

Then, starting from three months old, these puppies had to begin their training.

This stage alone was divided into four modules.

For example, Module One, which he held in his hands, was about building a close bond between the puppy and the handler.

From a young age, handlers had to use food to guide the puppies to focus on their hands, thereby developing the habit of watching for hand signals.

The ultimate goal of Module One was for the puppy’s attention to be constantly on the handler. If the handler took even a single step away, the puppy would become anxious.

This was considered the ideal state, because it meant that during missions, the police dog’s attention would always be on its handler, ready to follow commands.

Module Two was about nurturing the puppy’s natural instinct to chase objects. Module Three was physical fitness—five kilometers a day was the minimum.

The final step was socialization, getting them accustomed to complex and ever-changing social environments.

Throughout the four modules, puppies that didn’t meet the standards were continuously culled from the program. Out of ten puppies, perhaps only four or five would actually pass all the training.

And this was just the first phase; a great deal of specialized skill training followed.

No wonder every police dog at the base was treated like a precious treasure.

’Training them like this is no different from raising a child.’

For Shen Xin, however, all these steps could be skipped.

’Favorability is all I need.’

When the Nanjiang Police Dog Base trained dogs, they were dealing with two different species—humans and canines—making it impossible to establish a truly tight bond.

But his own talent was equivalent to communicating directly with animals.

’Focus, obedience... as long as I have favorability, none of that is a problem.’

Take Da Mei, for example. When he had her climb into a pipe for video reconnaissance, Shen Xin just gave the order, and she executed it perfectly.

So, this police dog manual was useful, but not *that* useful.

Shen Xin’s method was simple: just raise their favorability.

"This is a really beautiful dog."

Just as he was thinking this, the owner of the door and window shop offered a compliment.

He had an envious look on his face; you could tell he was a dog lover too.

"Of course he is," Shen Xin said proudly, ruffling Black Panther’s head.

’Anything I pick has to be good.’

Praise like this, given in person, served as a validation of the owner’s choice. As Black Panther enjoyed Shen Xin’s scratches, the favorability meter above his head increased by another point.

While the owner was welding the cage, the two of them started chatting.

The owner said he used to have a dog too, a German Shepherd, who was incredibly smart and a great guard for his shop. Unfortunately, some dog thieves targeted him and stole him away.

He still felt regretful about it to this day. As he spoke, he tilted his head back, and his eyes grew a little misty.

"Ever since then, I’ve never owned another dog."

The owner sighed, then asked if Black Panther was a particularly fierce fighter.

Shen Xin nodded. He hadn’t tested it, but considering he planned to train him as a riot dog, his fighting ability would definitely need to be improved.

Shen Xin decided he would find some videos of dog fights later for Black Panther to watch.

It was just like Da Mei watching *Tom and Jerry*. She had been watching it a lot lately and was always trying to slip out whenever Shen Xin opened the door. He figured she must be missing her mouse-catching days.

The owner nodded in deep agreement. "By the way," he said, "there’s a stray dog around here that’s also incredibly tough. The kind that’s beaten every other dog in the area."

"Oh?"

Shen Xin’s interest was immediately piqued.

’Isn’t that the Evil Bully among dogs?’

The Evil Bully at home was also the undefeated terror of the residential complex.

The owner nodded. "It’s true, I’m not kidding. That dog is a hell of a fighter. As you know, stray dogs usually don’t live that long, but this one’s different. It’s been living in this area for many years."

"And it’s super smart and holds a grudge. I remember last year, I was taking out the trash and saw it leading a few other dogs, rummaging through the dumpsters. I shouted a couple of times to chase them off, and guess what? The next day, there were several piles of dog crap right in front of my shop."

"It happened for several days in a row. That’s when I knew it had to be that dog."

Shen Xin found it incredible. If what the owner said was true, then that was one smart dog.

"What happened then?" Shen Xin asked.

The owner said, "At first, I thought about catching the dog to get some revenge, but then I figured, ’forget it.’ So I deliberately left some food out by the door instead. The next day, the food was gone, and the dog crap never appeared again."

’Damn,’ Shen Xin thought. ’This dog has principles.’

Hearing the owner’s wild story, Shen Xin’s interest was fully ignited. He told the owner to go ahead and weld the cage and that he’d be back to pick it up later. Then he asked where the dog usually hung out.

"Just up on Hongtu Road. You know the wet market over there? The nearby strays often wander around on the road behind it. They’ve gotten so crafty they don’t even avoid people in broad daylight." The owner pointed into the distance.

"Black Panther, let’s go."

Without another word, Shen Xin called out and set off immediately with Black Panther.

It was almost five in the afternoon, and the wet market was getting crowded.

Shen Xin wasn’t sure which road the owner had meant, so he followed his gut and turned into a small alley between the wet market and the adjacent Xiaoyuan Third Village.

He walked around in a circle and saw a few strays, but none of them was the one the owner had mentioned. One of them looked like a Tiger Stripes, but much lighter in color. It was also large, almost the size of a German Shepherd, and had no distinctive features like an all-black coat or ’four-eyed’ markings.

It was undoubtedly a mutt.

After reaching the main road, Shen Xin turned around and headed back the way he came.

But halfway back, he suddenly heard a woman scream up ahead.

Looking closely, he saw a mother and daughter about twenty meters away being harassed by two stray dogs.

She was screaming, spinning in place to dodge them while keeping her child behind her, and swinging her shoulder bag to drive the strays away.

Generally speaking, stray dogs, much like stray cats, are afraid of people and won’t bother humans for no reason.

But for some reason, these two seemed to have lost their minds today. They refused to run off and just kept circling the mother and daughter, looking for an opportunity to attack.

One of them, a white dog, found an opening and lunged toward the panicked little girl.

The child, who looked to be only five or six years old, was terrified and wailing.

Fortunately, her mother reacted quickly, pulling the girl back with a swift embrace and scaring the white dog away.

But the other dog, a yellowish-brown one, seized the opportunity to pounce.

There were passersby, and one man was shouting to drive the dogs away, but it was completely useless.

Seeing the white dog about to lunge at the girl again, Shen Xin rushed forward.

"Black Panther, go! Get the white one!"

Shen Xin dropped the leash.

Black Panther was already in combat mode. The moment the leash went slack, he shot forward like a black bolt of lightning.

In just a few strides, he leaped through the air and precisely tackled the aggressive white dog to the ground.

A piercing shriek.

Black Panther had swiftly, accurately, and viciously bitten down on the white dog’s neck.

Shen Xin had also rushed in. He aimed a kick and landed it squarely on the yellowish-brown dog’s rear.

It yelped as it was kicked a few steps away, but this only enraged it, and it turned to pounce on Shen Xin.

Shen Xin had at least earned an "Excellent" in combat training at the police academy. He sized up the dog and was about to counter-attack when a black shadow shot out from the side.

It was Black Panther, who had leaped through the air to knock the yellowish-brown dog to the ground before launching into a flurry of bites.

Instantly, the air was filled with the yellowish-brown dog’s piercing shrieks.

"Black Panther!"

Shen Xin shouted, and only then did Black Panther release his grip.

The yellowish-brown dog tucked its tail between its legs, turned, and fled.

The white dog was already long gone.

Black Panther stood his ground, proud as a triumphant general returning from battle. He watched the yellowish-brown dog run until it was out of sight, then bent down, picked up the leash in his mouth, and trotted back to place it in Shen Xin’s hand.

"Good boy!"

Shen Xin patted his head in satisfaction. ’He’s a guard dog, after all. Even though his previous owner never intentionally trained his fighting skills, some things are just etched into their genes.’

"Hey man, your dog is awesome."

The young man who had been trying to scare off the dogs praised him with a look of amazement.

The woman who had been attacked felt her legs go weak, and she nearly collapsed. She hugged her daughter to comfort her while thanking Shen Xin profusely.

"No need to thank me, I’m a police officer. I was just passing by. You weren’t bitten, were you? Especially the little one," Shen Xin said quickly.

Hearing that he was a police officer, the woman was even more amazed.

Some of the onlookers had even started taking out their phones to record.

The woman confirmed her daughter hadn’t been bitten. While thanking Shen Xin, she said, "This area is full of dogs now, it’s awful. My daughter was just being kind and gave her fried chicken leg to one of the strays, but they ended up chasing her and trying to bite her instead."

As she spoke, her gaze fell upon Black Panther, who was sitting obediently at Shen Xin’s feet.

She hadn’t forgotten the image of Black Panther shooting out like lightning to tackle the white dog and save her daughter.

"Officer, this is a police dog, right? He’s incredible," the woman asked curiously.

"That’s right, he’s a police dog!"

Shen Xin patted Black Panther’s head, not without a hint of pride.

’He’s not officially on the force yet, but he’ll definitely make it in the future.’

And as if he understood, Black Panther lifted his head slightly, a proud look on his face.

The favorability meter above his head shot up by another point.