Chapter 131: An Eccentric Parent and a Jealous Dog

Tong Chaoren has a competition coming up soon and will be out of town for a while. Originally, he planned to board his Great Dane at the kennel he always uses, but he suddenly thought of Zhang Congwen and called him to see if their training center accepted boarding requests. After all, having seen Zhang’s training methods, he would feel much more at ease leaving his Great Dane in his hands and would not have to worry about any mishaps.

To his surprise, while Zhang Congwen agreed and even waived the fee, he asked for a favor in return. Money was not an issue for Tong, but the request was a bit tricky. He was currently deep in training for his competition, and if he were to be delayed by Zhang’s favor, it would be… However, once he heard the details, he realized the favor did not require him at all, but rather his Great Dane.

Zhang had been looking for a support dog to help train a mixed-breed Tosa, and he had initially considered asking Qian Kou for help when Tong’s call came through. On second thought, the personality of Tong’s Great Dane was quite similar to that of the Tosa, making it a perfect candidate for support training. Furthermore, the Great Dane’s socialization training was nearly complete, so it could serve as a model for the Tosa.

Upon hearing the explanation, Tong was delighted. It was an honor for any owner to have their dog serve as a support dog to help others. He agreed immediately without hesitation, promising to drop off the Great Dane at the Dog Language Training Center the next day. After hanging up and coordinating the next training session with the Tosa’s owner, Zhang and his team set off for the next client’s home.

The real estate developer had arranged a very tight schedule, allotting only one day for the entire project. Training four dogs in a single day was an immense challenge, so Zhang could not afford any delays.

The second owner was a family of three: the father, Feng Zhaoyang; the mother, Su Xian; and their three-year-old daughter, Feng Ling. They owned an eight-year-old Shih Tzu and a ten-year-old Dachshund. The problematic dog was the eight-year-old Shih Tzu. While reviewing the pre-recorded footage, Zhang and his team had already noticed that the Shih Tzu was intensely jealous, constantly demanding that all of its owners' affection be directed solely at it. This behavior was directed not only at the elderly Dachshund but also at the three-year-old daughter.

What Zhang found even more bizarre was that the owners were clearly aware of the problem but had never intervened, choosing instead to let it run its course. According to the footage, whenever Feng Zhaoyang spent a little time playing with his daughter, the Shih Tzu would bark incessantly. The video was filled with the dog’s shrill noise, to the point where human conversation was barely audible.

In the video, the Shih Tzu was clearly afraid of Feng Zhaoyang, so it only barked from the sidelines when he played with the child. However, it was completely uninhibited toward the mother, acting with a total lack of discipline. When Su Xian held her daughter, the Shih Tzu would bark at her; when she ignored it, the dog would jump directly onto her, trampling the little girl under its paws.

This behavior struck Zhang, Zhu Qingyan, and Song Jiawei as extreme. Yet, these strange parents showed no reaction to such excessive behavior—they neither stopped nor scolded the dog, and even wore smiles on their faces. It was only when little Feng Ling became uncomfortable and started to cry that the parents finally chose to carry her away, leaving the Shih Tzu in the mother’s arms. The dog only settled down once it had successfully monopolized the parents' affection.

But that was not the end of it. Even with the parents' undivided attention, the dog refused to allow the Dachshund or the little girl to approach. If the parents so much as called each other’s names, the dog would immediately charge over, regardless of what it was doing, to forcibly disrupt the interaction. If it could not stop them, it would either bark non-stop or physically insert itself into the scene to cause trouble. It lived by a single principle: what I can have, you cannot; and what I cannot have, you certainly shall not have.

A dog with such a "destroy if I can't have it" personality is a significant danger in a household with young children. And indeed, that was the case here. While Feng Ling got along well with the Dachshund, her relationship with the Shih Tzu was toxic. Even though the little girl was curious and constantly tried to play with the dog, the Shih Tzu never reciprocated, barking at her every time she approached. It wouldn't settle down unless the child was completely out of its sight.

According to the records, before the parents realized the severity of the situation, the little girl had tried to pet the Shih Tzu, only to be bitten. Since then, the parents had consciously tried to prevent the child and the dog from being alone together. However, at her age, the girl’s curiosity was irrepressible, and despite being bitten, she was still drawn to the dog. Though the parents were vigilant, they inevitably had moments of distraction.

One moment of inattention was all it took for the daughter to run off to find the Shih Tzu. The couple had found a temporary solution: as long as both were present, the dog would fixate on the mother and stay on guard against the Dachshund, allowing the father to spend time with the daughter. But as Feng Ling grew, her curiosity would only increase, and the parents could not be by her side every second of the day. A future incident felt inevitable.

Even more interesting was the fact that when the film crew first arrived, the Shih Tzu immediately abandoned its owner to circle the staff. Initially, it showed no jealousy toward anyone, putting all its effort into charming the strangers. But this didn't mean it had stopped being jealous; its behavior revealed that it was actually even more on edge. It wasn't jealous only because the Dachshund was uninterested in strangers and posed no threat, and the crew members had no intention of getting close to the child.

However, the moment a crew member tried to approach the Dachshund, the Shih Tzu would immediately rush over to bite and drive them away. Because of this, there was very little footage of the Dachshund in the entire video. When the curious little girl tried to approach the filming equipment, the Shih Tzu immediately wedged itself between her and the crew. Fearing her daughter would be bitten, Su Xian tried to pick up the dog, only for it to snap at her the moment her hand touched it. Although it didn't make contact, it gave Su Xian a terrible fright.