Canine friends in China now command a special place in many people’s hearts. And so when almost three score of police dogs were fired for failing the qualification test, that resulted in much debate and criticism of the test that it is simply too difficult.
In the past few weeks, 54 dogs which had failed the police dog examination were auctioned off to become domestic pets. As a result of the auction, the police dog examination was put firmly in the glare of the public spotlight.
When the Chinese police recently released a video of an examination in progress, the public were outraged. During the test, the dogs are blindfolded and then made to walk a tightrope comprising a pair of parallel ropes.
In the video that was released, the dog’s entire body trembled constantly, but the animal still admirably and bravely managed to move slowly forward. The video can be seen on Weibo via this link.
Comments made after the video’s release by people marveling online ranged from, “It is too difficult”, to, “Too embarrassing for them”.
While it is one of the more extreme tests of a dog’s suitability for the job, it’s also far from the last, reports The World Journal.
Police dogs need to be trained from an early age. In China, they are required to be born in a designated police dog breeding unit. Our very own Nanjing is home to one, while the others are to be found nicely spread out geographically across China, for the comfort of the dogs one hopes, in the cities of Kunming, Nanchang and Shenyang.
There then follows puppy training, which includes adapting to a strange environment, chasing each other, learning how to bite and not be intimidated around strangers, and using their sense of smell to locate items.
Generally, this training process weeds out which dogs would not make it. For example, puppies with poor athletic ability are soon eliminated.
Back online, the public were full of support for their canine friends. “The police dog is also a hero. I like it”, remarked one netizen. Another was quite moved, saying, “Being successful like a human requires both talent and hard work”.