Animal Detective

Chapter 115: Desensitization Training

「Hongtu Road Vegetable Market.」

"How do I look?" Shen Xin adjusted his police cap and asked Ding Yuwei, who was standing opposite him.

He had been with the Criminal Investigation Division for some time now, and he usually wore plain clothes to work. He’d never worn a hat. Putting one on for real now felt a little strange.

Ding Yuwei was holding a tripod, a gimbal, and a professional camera she’d borrowed from the forensics department. She gave Shen Xin a thumbs-up.

"Devastatingly handsome."

Shen Xin rolled his eyes at her. He gave Ding Yuwei a look to show he was ready. Once she confirmed the camera was on, he tugged on the leashes, pulling the three dogs in front of him, and forced a standard smile.

"Hello everyone, I’m..."

He’d just gotten out "Hello everyone" when he froze.

’I memorized all my lines yesterday.’

Ding Yuwei gestured for him to keep going, to start over. She could edit out any mistakes.

Shen Xin nodded, cleared his throat, and continued, "Hello everyone, I’m from the Tingyang Criminal Investigation... ah, no, I’m an officer from the Tingyang Branch Criminal Investigation Division... Officer Shen..."

At that point, he was like a jammed machine. His mind went completely blank and he couldn’t go on.

The camera was still pointed at him.

Shen Xin grew anxious. ’Stupid mouth, just say it!’

But his mouth felt like it was glued shut; he couldn’t get a single word out.

"Cut."

Ding Yuwei called for a stop. "Shen Xin, why don’t you try to get in the zone again?"

Shen Xin nodded, cursing inwardly.

’I’m usually pretty good with words. I have no problem talking with my superiors. Why can’t I say anything the moment a camera is on me?’

He silently recited his lines twice and tried a few more times, but it was no use.

He kept stumbling over his words, unable to speak smoothly.

"Maybe we should switch." Shen Xin gave a bitter smile. "Why don’t you do it? You’ve got the look for it, anyway."

Ding Yuwei quickly waved her hands, insisting she couldn’t do it.

"Then what do we do?"

Shen Xin was at a loss.

Lv Youwei had agreed to post the bounty through online channels.

Shen Xin had then suggested they might as well create a short-video account for the Tingyang Branch. They could film some videos of him training Black Panther and the others to attract traffic. If the view count was good, they could try posting the bounty on that account.

To his surprise, Lv Youwei was very supportive, as was Wang Xihai, who said it was a great way to promote the Tingyang Branch.

His superiors had spoken, so Shen Xin had no choice but to register an account and apply for official verification.

And now, they were filming the video.

He’d thought it would be simple, but he never expected that actually filming would be so difficult.

Ding Yuwei looked at Tiger Stripes, who was already starting to look bored, and had a sudden idea. "Why don’t you stay off-camera? We can just have Dou Dou and the others be the stars."

Shen Xin paused. "Can we do that?" he asked.

The more Ding Yuwei thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. She said she’d seen similar videos before—they could just film a story from the pets’ perspective, personifying them, and add a voice-over in post-production.

Shen Xin thought about it and agreed.

Anything was fine as long as he didn’t have to be on camera.

"Let me think." Ding Yuwei lightly bit her lower lip, her mind racing. "I think we need a complete plot. How about this: I’ll go back and figure out how to write a script. For today, let’s stick to the plan and film the desensitization training."

Desensitization training is an essential part of training a police dog.

Black Panther was fine; he used to be a proper pet dog who went on frequent walks and was very friendly toward humans.

Tiger Stripes was also decent. After all, he had been the leader of a local pack of stray dogs that terrorized the neighborhood.

Afraid of people?

Not a chance.

Only Dou Dou was a problem. She had been a stray for a long time and was very timid.

So today’s main training subject was Dou Dou.

Desensitization training required a crowded and complex environment, so after some consideration, Shen Xin had come to the nearby Hongtu Road Vegetable Market.

Ding Yuwei clearly had a rough plan in mind. She directed Shen Xin to lead Dou Dou on a leash, filming shots according to her instructions.

First, she filmed a shot of them crossing the road and walking through a crowd of people.

She said it was for B-roll.

Then came the actual training.

Shen Xin led Dou Dou to the entrance of the vegetable market.

People were coming and going, electric scooters passed by from time to time, and the sound of horns was incessant.

Dou Dou was already showing signs of nervousness, constantly pressing against Shen Xin’s leg.

"Don’t be scared, Dou Dou. I’m here, it’s okay."

Shen Xin squatted down to soothe Dou Dou’s anxiety.

She quieted down a little, licked Shen Xin’s hand, and the affection level above her head increased by one bar, reaching 4.

It was about to go up anyway.

"Good girl. Sit. Stay right here, don’t run off."

Shen Xin gave the command, then walked a few steps away, leaving Dou Dou in place.

Amid the bustling crowd, Dou Dou stood nervously. You could see her legs trembling with anxiety.

She kept looking at Shen Xin, as if she was about to bolt toward him at any moment.

"No."

Shen Xin stopped her with a look.

After a little over a minute, Shen Xin finally waved Dou Dou over.

She immediately ran up to him, constantly rubbing against his pant leg.

Shen Xin quickly squatted down to comfort her and gave her a food reward.

While comforting her, Shen Xin also patted Tiger Stripes on the rump and pointed forward, signaling for him to go stand guard over there.

He wasn’t scared at all. In fact, he looked impatient, running to the entrance to stand in the middle of the crowd, looking eagerly at passersby and sticking his tongue out to curry favor.

He was just naturally bold.

The same training was repeated several more times.

Shen Xin realized the affection level was very useful, as it strengthened the communication between him and the animals.

Normally, it would be difficult for Dou Dou to understand Shen Xin telling her it wasn’t dangerous to stand there and that the people around wouldn’t hurt her.

But with the affection level, she could understand after just one or two tries.

And since Shen Xin was someone she trusted, she was willing to listen to what he told her.

So after only a few attempts, Dou Dou could stand quietly at the entrance, letting passersby walk past her.

Her training progress was so fast that even Ding Yuwei marveled at it, praising Dou Dou for being smart.

Next, they needed to continue reinforcing the training.

But it was inconvenient for Ding Yuwei to film while also handling Black Panther and Tiger Stripes.

So Shen Xin simply unhooked Black Panther’s leash and let him go back on his own. The branch office was only a little over a kilometer away.

"Keep an eye on him. If he dares to run off, you take him down," Shen Xin said menacingly, pointing at Tiger Stripes.

Black Panther let out a WOOF, his eyes saying, ’No problem.’

Tiger Stripes also let out a WOOF, his eyes seeming to say, ’I’m not gonna run. The food and drink are great here, why would I leave?’

Seeing the two dogs leave together, Ding Yuwei was a little worried.

"It’s fine, they won’t get lost."

They’re wearing their vests.

"Alright." Ding Yuwei said no more and continued filming.

Next, Shen Xin led Dou Dou on a few laps around the noisy vegetable market.

Hawkers’ cries were everywhere. When they reached the meat section, there was the heavy, fishy smell of chopped meat and gutted fish.

A fish thrashed in the water, and the resulting splash startled Dou Dou.

"It’s okay, I’m here."

Shen Xin immediately soothed her, even bringing Dou Dou closer for a look to give her some positive guidance.

After a few more laps like this, you could clearly feel that much of Dou Dou’s nervousness had vanished.

One more step.

Shen Xin left Dou Dou in a corner of the market, telling her not to run off but to wait for him there, and then he walked away.

Only Ding Yuwei remained, secretly filming.

Before, at the entrance, Dou Dou could still see Shen Xin.

Now that Shen Xin was out of sight, she immediately became agitated, pacing restlessly in circles.

After a mere twenty seconds, she couldn’t hold back any longer and eagerly pushed through the crowd.

With her incredibly sensitive sense of smell, she found Shen Xin’s side in just a few seconds.

"That’s not going to work."

Shen Xin scolded her with a serious expression, offered no reward, and took her back to the original spot to wait again before leaving once more.

This time, Dou Dou lasted a little longer, but after about a minute, she couldn’t help it and ran back to Shen Xin’s side again.

Shen Xin squatted down and gave her a good talking-to, making her understand that he was only leaving temporarily and would be back soon.

The third time, Dou Dou was a bit calmer, but she still stood nervously, warily watching the strangers who passed by.

Reaching this stage was considered a preliminary success.

Naturally, a reward was in order.

Then he continued, leaving for longer periods, constantly reinforcing Dou Dou’s tolerance for the noisy surroundings.

Thanks to the affection level, she received positive feedback every time, and she progressed quickly.

After a dozen or so tries, Dou Dou could already lie down quietly and wait patiently after Shen Xin left.

She even ignored people who made clicking noises at her.

She had almost no aggression, which was also why Shen Xin felt safe leaving her in a crowd.

Ding Yuwei raised her camera, focused, and captured the shot of Dou Dou lying on the ground, nervously and warily watching the passersby.

She gave Shen Xin an OK sign, indicating that she had enough footage.

The two of them returned to the branch office.

Sure enough, Black Panther and Tiger Stripes were chasing each other, and everything was fine.

Ding Yuwei ran to the publicity department to ask the professionals there for advice on how to edit the video.

Shen Xin glanced at his account.

The official verification had already gone through.

The account name was "Nanjiang City Tingyang Branch—The Woof Woof Squad."

It currently had zero followers.

Without a second thought, Shen Xin immediately shared it with his "Happy Family" group chat and the station’s work group chat.

Especially his mom. She was in a Mahjong group, a plaza dancing group, a matchmaking group—a whole bunch of groups. He wanted her to share it in all of them to get some followers.

The work group chat post even drew out Song Liang, who asked Shen Xin what was going on. Why was a perfectly good criminal investigator suddenly doing short-video PR?

Shen Xin explained the reason.

Song Liang became interested and asked Shen Xin how to get verified, saying he wanted to make an account too.

He’d film Baiwan.

He said Baiwan was awesome now, practically the Yunlin Police Station’s mascot.

This wave of promotion had some effect; the account’s followers actually broke one hundred.

But that wasn’t enough.

Shen Xin was tempted to @ Lv Youwei and ask him to send out a notice. It was their own branch’s account, shouldn’t everyone follow it?

「The next day.」

In the main office, everyone gathered around Ding Yuwei’s computer to watch the video.

"My name is Dou Dou."

It was probably Ding Yuwei’s voice.

"I used to be a stray dog."

Dou Dou appeared on screen, and a rather professional transition shot moved from a close-up of her to the busy road in front.

This was footage they had shot on their way back yesterday, without her vest.

"Until one day, I found a home."

The scene cut to Dou Dou’s kennel. The shot they chose showed her lying in front of it, looking forlornly at Black Panther and Tiger Stripes playing.

It made her look out of place and pitiful.

Just that one shot was enough to stir Shen Xin’s sympathy.

"My sense of smell is especially good, so Officer Shen, who adopted me, gave me a chance. I might have a hope of becoming a glorious drug-sniffing dog."

The camera panned out, showing Dou Dou walking alone on the road, moving through the crowd.

"First step: I need to undergo desensitization training."

"I’m scared. Scared of everything."

On screen, Dou Dou stood at the market entrance, her legs trembling with fear.

They’d even blurred the background and used a stutter-frame effect.

"But I have to be strong. I know I’m doing the right thing."

The video, through editing, showed a montage of Dou Dou’s repeated attempts.

"I succeeded."

A delighted Dou Dou ran to Shen Xin to receive a tasty treat as her reward.

Only Shen Xin’s two legs were in the shot.

Then came the more advanced training.

With added text, color grading, and a bit of a cinematic feel.

Shen Xin nodded to himself. ’Looks like the publicity department has a real expert.’

The next part showed Dou Dou getting scared, running away time after time, and finally persevering through relentless effort.

The shot froze on her lying on the ground, with legs passing by her on all sides.

"Believe in me. I will succeed."

The screen faded to black, and it was over.

"So, what do you think?"

Ding Yuwei turned to look at everyone, her face full of expectation.