From soldiers to entrepreneurs

Canine guardians

Liu Wenyue, born in 2000, concluded her military service in 2020 after serving for two years in the army in Fujian province. She then returned to her hometown in Hubei province to pursue her university studies. In August 2023, she collaborated with other veterans to establish a dog training center.

"With the increasing number of people having pets and the rapid growth of the pet industry, I believe this career has a promising future," she explained.

Liu pointed out that while dogs bring joy and comfort to people, they also cause problems such as nuisance, injury, and environmental damage.

Therefore, part of the mission for Liu's team is to train dogs to better integrate into human society.

"Training includes teaching dogs to defecate in the appropriate place and not to bite people," she said.

Liu's team also incorporates police dog training. "We select suitable dogs and train them to join civilian rescue teams," she noted.

In fact, before establishing the dog training center, Liu and some veterans formed a civilian rescue team in early 2023. In addition to their efforts in searching for lost elderly citizens or items, the team also provided security service at singer Jacky Cheung's concert in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei, in September 2023. Their trained police dogs were capable of tasks such as searching for and inspecting prohibited and restricted items.

Currently, Liu's pet training institution organizes community activities to promote responsible dog ownership methods to the public. They also collaborate with professional police dog training facilities and bring in experienced trainers to update their training methods.

"We have intentions to build more training institutions across the country, develop our own brand of dog food, and provide pet medical services," Liu said.