Chapter 463: Police Dog Training Base
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At the entrance to the police dog training base, Liu drove away. Zhang Zian had just hung up the phone when Richard's wailing stopped abruptly.
"Did something happen in your store?" asked Feng Xuan with concern.
"Just a small issue. My employee is handling it." Zhang Zian downplayed the matter. "Director Feng, let's go in."
"Yeah, sure." Feng Xuan nodded.
Besides Feng Xuan and Zhang Zian, Feng Xuan's personal assistant and several staff came to help. A truck was also rented to deliver dogs. Of course, Famous was also there.
Surrounded by a big gate and tall walls, with police officers on guard at the entrance, the police dog training base was closed to visitors. From the entrance, they could vaguely hear barking from further inside the base, probably the police dogs that were training in the morning. There was a sign hanging on the gate that read: Police Dog Training Brigade of SWAT Division of Binhai City Public Security Bureau.
A short and stout, middle-aged police officer hurriedly walked out of the gate and extended his hand enthusiastically to Feng Xuan. "Oh, my! It's Director Feng Xuan! Thank you for visiting! Our superiors have already notified us that you would be coming over. I didn't expect to see you here so early. Have you been waiting a long time?"
Feng Xuan shook hands with him, "We just arrived. How should I address you?"
"Han Gui. Just call me Old Han." Old Han warmly greeted the others. "Come in, everyone."
They followed Old Han and walked inside.
Despite the occasional barking, the base was very quiet with a sense of solemnity that seemed exclusive to soldiers or the armed police force. Even though there were police officers passing by, they stared directly in front of them and walked briskly, upholding the strict regulation that states "two people should walk side by side, while three or more people should walk in line." By contrast, these common people in their casual clothes seemed rather eccentric.
The interior of the base was covered with green plants. There were tall, evergreen pines and cypresses on both sides of the passageway, and several small, brick-red buildings that were hidden among the forest.
While he was walking, Old Han briefly went over the locations of the canteen, office building, training field, dormitories and the like to them. He wanted to lead them to the reception area so they could rest and have a cup of tea, but Feng Xuan politely declined.
Feng Xuan said, "Don't bother, just take us directly to the kennel and we will leave as soon as we finish picking the dogs. You seem quite busy here and we shouldn't take too much of your time."
"You've traveled all this way to visit us, why not stay longer? I've already instructed the canteen to prepare lunch for you," said Old Han eagerly.
Feng Xuan checked the time and figured that after selecting the dogs, it would be time for lunch. He pondered for a while and said, "Okay, we can stay here for lunch, but don't prepare any special meals for us. We will eat what you eat."
"But you are our guests." Old Han wanted to persuade him, but Feng Xuan was determined.
The kennel alone occupied a compound in the base. Surrounded by an iron fence, its appearance seemed rather commonplace. Three two-story buildings built in the shape of a triangle were painted deep blue, with a touch of light blue on the higher areas, making the buildings look simple and neat. The police officers on duty in the kennel also got the news in advance and were standing outside to greet them.
"Where are the retired dogs?" Feng Xuan asked.
"This way please." Old Han exchanged a few words with the police officers on duty and then led them into the small building on their left side.
"Bark!"
"Bark!"
The dogs in the small building had probably smelled Famous, so they kept barking so loud that the sounds were almost deafening.
There weren't many rooms in the two-story building, but each room was very large. The walls and floors of each room were covered by shiny tiles. With mops and brooms hanging behind the doors, the rooms were filled with the faint smell of disinfectant water, of which Zhang Zian was familiar.
Seven or eight large stainless-steel cages lined in the room, and every steel cage was almost as tall as a human. Separated down the middle, each steel cage could fit two large dogs. There were wheels under the steel cages, similar to the hospital beds, that enable them to be pushed.
Currently, there were probably ten German Shepherds living in these cages. All of them were fully-grown, and their size and fur color almost the same as Famous. Their differences could only be seen only in the details in their appearances.
"Holy s**t! Look at this!" It was rare for the assistant to use foul language in front of Feng Xuan. Pointing to the first cage beside the door, he said with surprise, "Look at the fences. They've been bitten so badly!"
Zhang Zian went to take a closer look and saw that the stainless-steel fences were covered with tooth marks as wide as an adult man's thumb. The bumpy and horrifying surfaces of the fences made them look like roasted corns that had almost been gnawed away completely.
It was clear that these German Shepherds were fierce. Even though their shape was similar to Famous, if you compared them, Famous' temperament was obviously gentler.
"This one is called 'Big Teeth'. It is excellent at biting, but poor at following orders. Once it bites something, it refuses to loosen up. No matter how much we train it, it can't change," said a police officer. The German Shepherd in the cage revealed its white teeth, provocatively watching Famous.
"What's the criteria for selecting police dogs?" Feng Xuan asked.
Old Han gestured for the police officer to reply. With his chin up and chest out, the police officer recited aloud, "According to the working rules of police dog breeding, the following five criteria should be met for the selection of police dogs: good neural types, courage, good physical fitness, the ability to hold things in their mouth, and the ability to follow orders."
"So," Feng Xuan asked, "in other words, the dogs here are performing poorly in one or more aspects?"
"That's right," said Old Han.
Feng Xuan pondered for a moment and asked Zhang Zian, "It's not good if we choose dogs with poor obedience skills to shoot our movie, right?"
Since Zhang Zian had promised Famous and Liu that he would buy as many dogs as possible, he bit the bullet and said, "Don't worry, Director Feng. I don't think they have a problem."
Old Han frowned slightly. He was an experienced and prudent man who couldn't agree with Zhang Zian's perspective without giving it serious thought. He was worried that the eliminated dogs would cause problems during the movie shoot. Feng Xuan seemed to trust Zhang Zian very much, so Old Han asked him, "Director Feng, who is this?"
"Oh, this is the chief dog trainer of our crew, Zhang Zian. He has a pet shop in the city." Feng Xuan introduced and then pointed to Famous, "This is his dog, Famous, who he trained himself, and it is the protagonist of the film."
Old Han was so surprised that he reexamined Famous. "I heard that this is the dog that beat Red Dragon and Prince, right? Even though Red Dragon and Prince are the stars of our base and ranked at the top in every test."
No wonder he was suspicious of Famous. There was another set of criteria for the details of the appearance of police dogs inside the base. As a man who had seen countless German Shepherds, Old Han had very sharp eyes. To him, Famous was a very ordinary dog. He couldn't believe that Famous was able to beat Red Dragon and Prince.