Let me tell you a story about stray dogs. It is a true story, and the pictures are provided by the narrator.
1
One late night near the Spring Festival in 2019, it was windy and rainy, and the cold was overwhelming.
I hurried to a park with a board and a bamboo basket, because I had just received a call from a group friend: “Cat, the dog is too fierce, I can’t get close to it, what should I do?”
When I arrived at the scene, I saw an abandoned dog, tied to a tree, soaking wet, and confronting the rescuers. What was heartbreaking was that there were two suckling puppies squirming under it! The
mother dog was so fierce in protecting her puppies that the group members could not carry out rescue.
I took advantage of the dog’s inattention and suddenly separated the mother and puppies with a board. I quickly put the puppies into the bamboo basket. The little puppies closed their eyes and crawled in the basket, humming. The mother dog was afraid of the rat, crying and fluttering anxiously.
The group members untied the rope on the tree in tacit understanding. We walked in front, and the mother dog followed closely behind us.
On the empty street, the yellow street lights, the broken grass on the ground, and the elongated shadows of people and dogs, we walked side by side. Although we were doing trivial things in the eyes of others, the satisfaction and sense of value exuded warmth in the cold winter.
My name is Lin Feng, nicknamed “Mao’er”. I was 33 years old at the time. I like to be with dogs. While helping people take and train dogs, I also rescue stray dogs.
The first time I came into contact with stray dogs was in the summer of 2010.
At that time, I went out to do some work and saw a Pekingese sitting alone on the side of the road. I bought a hot dog for it. Unexpectedly, it kept following my bicycle and chased me for two kilometers.
I stopped to look at it. Its fur was dirty and tangled, its eyes were clear, and its tail was slapping the road hard, raising a circle of dust.
I judged it was a stray dog, and said to it: “If you don’t bite me, I will take you home to bathe you and give you delicious food!” It sat there obediently, without any intention of biting me.
I picked it up, put it in the front pocket of my bicycle, and took it all the way home. I gave it a bath, and after four buckets of water, it looked like rice soup, yellow and sticky. After coming back from playing outside, it rubbed its paws carefully on the small mat at the door, very well-mannered.
At night, it slept in front of my bed, quiet and well-behaved.
The next morning, it put its two paws on the bed and looked at me eagerly. When it saw me wake up, it immediately put its two front paws together and bowed to me. Looking at its pleasing appearance, I felt happy for some reason and named it “Congratulations”. It
was the first stray dog I took home. After that, I always paid special attention when I went out and began to rescue one after another.
After rescuing the dog, I took care of it for a period of time and then found an opportunity to give it away for adoption. Congratulations to witnessing countless dogs coming and going, until it was also adopted by a kind person and had a stable home.
2
After becoming a professional dog trainer, I found that dogs, like people, may not be appreciated for their talents and be mediocre and obliterated in the dust, or they may seize the opportunity to change their fate and soar into the sky, in response to all the contempt and injustice they have ever suffered.
In early 2016, when I was walking my dog in the park, I overheard two men discussing selling their stupid dog that “can’t teach anything” to a dog meat restaurant for 350 yuan.
I hurried forward and after some bargaining, I became the new owner of this “stupid dog” at a price of 450 yuan.
When I first saw it, I found that it was a Malinois. In terms of dog breed, it is better than many dog breeds in terms of intelligence, obedience, and trainability. It dominates the dog world with its jumping power and explosive power. Some can even climb trees and are particularly loyal to their owners.
It was probably abused by its owner. It was severely malnourished, with a shriveled belly, dull fur, and a foul smell.
Because I was unsure of its temperament, I prepared a room and a bucket of water for it in advance. I didn’t give it food for three days, but I was full of water.
On the fourth day, I specially cooked a pot of delicious nutritious meal and came to its room. Seeing its smooth body and thick and sharp teeth, I suddenly named it “Wolf Fang” and shouted, “Wolf Fang! Sit!”
It ignored me.
I handed the food to it, and it retreated to the wall vigilantly. I raised the food spoon, and it raised its head and sat down in the corner of the wall involuntarily. At this time, I put it down again for it to eat.
From this step, I spent three months teaching it various skills such as accompanying, obeying, sitting, lying, going up, down, rushing, settling, guarding, recognizing the owner, etc.
When I first started teaching Langya, people laughed at me: “Look at such a skinny kid leading such a big dog, it feels like the dog is walking him!”
Gradually, Langya became disciplined, and all the voices of doubt were replaced by admiration and praise.
There are two sturdy trees in the gymnasium, and people like to sit under the trees to enjoy the cool and chat. Once I asked it to climb a tree and gave it the command “stay”, it stood on the tree obediently and did not move, quietly watching me walk away.
I went to buy a bottle of water and came back. There were already many people sitting under the tree, and they were completely unaware that there was a dog standing on the tree. I gave the command: “Come down!” Langya jumped down from the tree after a few moves, and sat upright at my feet, and people were stunned.
Langya began to become famous.
Half a year later, I met Langya by chance, and Langya and I ran into its former owner. At that time, he reached out to pat my shoulder, and Langya jumped up and put his nose against his elbow as a warning, and then retreated to my side and stared at him and barked.
The man asked, “What is this?” I said, “This is the dog you sold me.” The man opened his mouth in surprise, in disbelief.
The “silly dog” that he used to sell as meat and knew nothing had long become slick, powerful and alert, and he couldn’t recognize it.
For a week in a row, he asked me on WeChat to buy back Langya, and even said that his father missed the dog. I deliberately said to him, “A boss has offered 20,000 yuan, what do you think?” He never showed up again.
Then, Langya and I went to a horse dog club in Panzhihua to participate in a competition and won two awards. It became a little star in our dog circle. After
a friend in the army learned about it, he found me and wanted it to guard the military supply warehouse in the army.
The cost of selecting and training a military dog is at least 150,000 or 160,000 yuan, so there are strict regulations for the military dog’s service. It is allocated according to the scope and nature of the work. It is too difficult for the logistics garrison troops to apply for a horse dog with superior age, size, skills and breed.
Langya is indeed a superior choice. When I sent Langya away, it seemed to understand something, and its eyes were filled with tears. My eyes were also wet, but I didn’t dare to have any intimate actions with it, for fear that it would be reluctant to leave, and even more so, I was reluctant to leave myself.
I knew very well that joining the army was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Langya. From a “silly dog” who almost became someone else’s meal, he perfectly transformed into a soldier, lived with more dignity, and would receive more protection and kindness regardless of life, old age, illness or death.
This is Langya’s glory, and it is also my pride.
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