China s first police corgi has 400 000 followers and a nose for trouble

BEIJING – China’s first police corgi will do anything for food.

With a keen sense of smell and legs that seem too short for his body, Fu Zai the corgi has won a huge social media audience that has followed him doing official duties since he started as a sniffer dog in September.

He was a pet puppy when a dog trainer spotted his potential at a park and recruited him to the Weifang Public Security Bureau, in the northern coastal province of Shandong.

A love of earning treats as rewards has earned Fu Zai strong performance reviews. But it has also proved a challenge, as his trainer has found that keeping him in line is not easy.

Fu Zai was caught on camera recently grabbing a bite of a sausage in a child’s hand during a street patrol. Officers have since tried to train him to better resist food, but many social media users offered support – and free sausages – for Fu Zai the next time he patrolled the streets.

In another video, some of the corgi’s toys and snacks – part of a Chinese New Year “bonus” – were confiscated for sleeping on the job and using his dog bowl as a urinal.

Dog experts said such behaviour is normal for corgis.

“That’s why they’re challenging, too, because they get distracted pretty easily. And they also have a lot of prey drive, so if there’s anything that moves really quickly, they want to go and investigate,” said Mr Leonardo Palacio, owner of Real Focus K9, a dog training school in Stamford, Connecticut, that specialises in training dogs with behavioural challenges.

He added that a corgi often moves with the confidence of “a big dog in a small dog’s body”.