Police pups bound ahead in battle to lick crime

Model corgi

In March, a corgi puppy named Fuzai — meaning "lucky boy" in Chinese — became a reserve police dog in Weifang, Shandong province, the first of the breed to serve in China. The stereotype of short-legged, overly friendly corgis was broken by Fuzai's outstanding ability to search for explosives.

His training video, posted on social media platform Weibo, has been viewed more than 2.16 million times with related hashtags viewed over 13 million times.

Zhao Qingshuai, Fuzai's handler at the Weifang Police Dog Breeding Center, told local media that the uniformed pooch began its training when it was two months old, and demonstrated talent for the task immediately.

In the early stages of police dog training, different canines might show different abilities to learn and practice skills.

A study by Xia Xiaobo, director of the puppy training team at the Beijing Police Dog Breeding Centre, found it takes about 97 to 99 times for a police dog to master the skill of sitting down after smelling explosives. But a more talented dog might achieve this in less than 90 attempts.

Some puppies prefer to take in the outside world using their sense of smell, while others prefer to use their vision. By observing these behavioral patterns, police dog handlers develop their potential law enforcement capabilities as the puppies grow.