Chapter 110: Mirror Test Training Session

“Then... is there any hope?” Zhou Xingxing asked.

She had long suspected this possibility but had been reluctant to entertain such thoughts.

“I will do my best,” Zhang Congwen said after a long pause.

In truth, he wasn’t confident. The dog’s trauma was severe, and conventional methods were unlikely to work anymore.

The dog had almost entirely lost trust in humans. Regaining that trust would be extremely difficult.

Although Zhang Congwen believed he had expressed himself gently enough, Zhou Xingxing still broke down in tears.

Feeling helpless, Zhang Congwen could only comfort her first. After all, the upcoming training would require Zhou Xingxing’s cooperation. If she remained in such a state, forcing the training would only backfire.

In the living room of Zhou Xingxing’s home, Zhang Congwen, Zheng Wubin, and Zhou Xingxing sat facing each other.

Zhang Congwen was not a man of many words and didn’t quite know how to proceed. After a long silence, he finally gathered his thoughts and said, “Dogs are highly social creatures, but we must recognize one fact: they are not human. They don’t possess human thought processes. Therefore, they cannot offer unconditional love like humans do.”

Seeing that Zhou Xingxing showed little reaction, Zhang continued, “Precisely because they are dogs, they naturally require some form of exchange. This exchange is not merely material; it can also be the affection and trust from their owner. So even if we could turn back time to when the dog first ran home, it wouldn’t be the same dog you once knew.”

“We all see that you want to care for it and have been proving your affection in your own way, but the dog still cannot understand your kindness. So I think you’re too fixated on the past. It would be better to start anew, treating it as a dog you’ve just adopted and rebuild your relationship and trust with it,” Zhang Congwen said earnestly.

“Also, we hope you can manage your emotions because the next training sessions will require your cooperation with Trainer Zhang. If your emotions remain unstable, it will be difficult for him to proceed,” Zheng Wubin added while helping to soothe Zhou Xingxing.

After some time, Zhou Xingxing’s emotions finally settled.

Zhang Congwen and Zheng Wubin discussed at length how to train Banban and eventually settled on a plan.

The plan was bold and unprecedented; no previous cases had employed such a method, though it was theoretically feasible.

If successful, everything would fall into place. If not, they would have to reconsider their approach long-term.

With the plan decided, Zhang Congwen rose to prepare the necessary equipment.

Three hours later, Zhang Congwen arrived at Zhou Xingxing’s home carrying a full-length mirror and several metal fences.

“What’s this for?” Zhou Xingxing asked, puzzled.

“Our plan involves using the mirror test method for Banban’s training,” Zhang Congwen explained as he began setting up the area.

Zhou Xingxing was somewhat familiar with the mirror test.

It is a test of an animal’s self-recognition ability, simply put: whether the animal can recognize the reflection in the mirror as itself.

Studies show that self-recognition is not directly linked to intelligence, and dogs typically fail the mirror test.

No matter how she thought about it, Zhou Xingxing couldn’t see how the mirror test related to dog training.

Zhang Congwen explained, “Most dogs have failed the mirror test, but there have been a few exceptional cases.”

“But this...” Zhou Xingxing hesitated, unable to articulate her doubts.

Even if a few dogs had passed as exceptions, betting on Banban to pass was extremely unlikely.

While Zheng Wubin helped set up, he continued, “If Banban recognizes itself in the mirror, that’s ideal. But if not, it’s not a big deal. We’ll observe how things develop from there.”

Hearing this, Zhou Xingxing didn’t argue further.

Zhang Congwen used the metal fences to create a small enclosed area against the wall, just enough space for the dog and a person to stand side by side. He then placed the mirror leaning against the wall outside the enclosure.

Once set up, Zhang Congwen asked Zhou Xingxing to lead the Samoyed inside the fenced area, facing the mirror so it could see itself and Zhou Xingxing reflected.

Then, to Zhou’s surprise, Zhang Congwen instructed her to raise her hand and, through visual misalignment, “touch” the reflection of the Samoyed in the mirror.

Since direct contact would trigger severe stress in the Samoyed, Zhang Congwen devised this mirror-mediated touch to give the dog the sensation of being touched without actual contact.

In other words, it created an illusion of touch for the Samoyed.

The purpose was to provoke doubt in the dog’s mind and gradually reshape its ingrained perceptions, helping it slowly realize that not all touches cause pain or harm.

Hence, this training was called mirror test-style training.

Even if the Samoyed ultimately failed to recognize itself in the mirror, it didn’t matter. As long as it saw a dog identical to itself being touched without harm, Zhang and his team’s goal was achieved.

With everything ready, Zhou Xingxing began the desensitization training for Banban following Zhang’s instructions.

At first, Zhou Xingxing stood beside the Samoyed and waved her hand toward the mirror a few times, then slowly crouched down.

The Samoyed recoiled instinctively when it saw the hand appear in the mirror, attempting to dodge.

But it quickly realized nothing was actually touching it.

Compared to direct contact, the mirror-mediated touch helped the dog regain composure much faster.

Seeing the method’s effectiveness, Zhang Congwen felt encouraged and urged Zhou Xingxing to expand her hand movements from the dog’s head to its entire body in the reflection.

Encouraged by the progress, Zhou Xingxing nodded and diligently followed his guidance.

Initially, Banban flinched with every movement.

But after a dozen repetitions, it began to show less fear.

Such rapid progress surprised even Zhang Congwen and Zheng Wubin.

Seeing the Samoyed’s diminished fear, Zhang decided to press the advantage.

He removed the mirror and reduced the enclosure’s size to just enough for Zhou Xingxing and Banban to stand closely together.

At this point, Zhang instructed Zhou to continue moving her hand above Banban’s head.

Though the dog still occasionally trembled involuntarily, Zhou was delighted to see Banban no longer afraid of her hand most of the time.

Overwhelmed with emotion, she nearly cried again but bit her lip hard to hold back the tears, remembering there was more training to be done.

“Control your emotions. We’re moving on to the next step,” Zhang Congwen quickly reminded, noticing her emotional state.