Chapter 134: My Dog Doesn't Bite

They say that you don't mind a few oddballs, but it’s a disaster when a whole flock of them gathers in one place.

The first dog owner was fine, hardly an oddball at all, but the bizarre behavior of the second made Zhang Congwen feel quite overwhelmed. Yet, things didn't end there, because the owners who followed were, without exception, eccentric.

The third household Zhang was about to visit was, arguably, the most bizarre of the four. Even the crew who filmed the preliminary footage had their fair share of complaints about this owner. While watching the clips, Zhang had been so stunned by this particular individual that he was left speechless, forced to cover his forehead with both hands just to endure the footage.

The third owner, Cheng Xing, kept two dogs, both of them unidentified mixed breeds. One was a yellow dog named Apple, and the other, a white one named Yunxi. According to the problems reported by the owner, Yunxi was the better-behaved of the two, but Apple had a history of severe aggression toward both people and other dogs.

When the film crew arrived to set up their equipment, the owner seemed to display a sudden sense of safety consciousness and put a muzzle on Apple. Despite this precaution, the dog lunged at the crew the moment they started setting up. Even with the muzzle on, it gave the staff a serious scare. When they asked the owner to get the dog under control, she simply replied, "It's fine. It's wearing a muzzle, so there's no danger. Besides, my dog doesn't bite for no reason."

Zhang felt his composure crumbling as he watched this. A muzzle is indeed meant for protection, but that doesn't mean it makes everything foolproof. Dogs slip out of muzzles all the time—what gave this owner such misplaced confidence? And that classic line about "not biting for no reason"—Zhang had seen it clearly in the footage: the crew member had been busy setting up, back turned, not even making eye contact, when the dog suddenly lunged. If that wasn't biting for no reason, what was?

According to the information provided by the owner, this dog, Apple, had once severely injured a neighbor's dog and, more recently, had bitten a Maltese. When the Maltese’s owner tried to protect their pet, Apple had turned on them, inflicting injuries even worse than those suffered by the dog.

Given such a track record, Zhang couldn't fathom how the owner could utter those words with such peace of mind. And yet, in the context of the entire video, that incident was merely an appetizer.

It wasn't until Zhang saw Cheng Xing taking the dogs for a walk that he truly grasped the extent of her eccentricity. She used one of those retractable leashes, complete with an elastic buffer strap at the point where it connected to the collar. As they walked, both dogs were hyper-excited, darting everywhere, with the full three-meter length of the leash extended. She acted as if the entire neighborhood were her own living room.

Setting aside the dogs' aggression, with such a long lead—plus the elastic buffer—she had no hope of controlling them if something actually went wrong. Furthermore, such a long leash was a hazard that could easily trip elderly people or small children. She showed absolutely no situational awareness.

Or rather, that wasn't entirely true. She did have enough sense to muzzle Apple before leaving the house. But the truly bizarre part was what happened when they passed a dog sunning itself on a ground-floor balcony: both of Cheng’s dogs went wild, leaping against the glass as if they wanted to fight. The owner, instead of intervening, stood by with a beaming smile, as if she were watching her dogs perform some delightful trick. In her eyes, their behavior was clearly adorable; otherwise, she wouldn't have been grinning from ear to ear.

Even more unexpected was the fact that the muzzle, ill-fitted as it was, fell off onto the ground after only a few hops. Zhang was left speechless. With such a loose fit, how could the owner possibly feel so secure just because the dog was wearing it? To Zhang, the muzzle didn't serve to prevent bites; it was merely a prop for her own emotional comfort. As soon as it fell, she hurried to put it back on, but even then, the fit remained exactly as loose as before.

Before they had gone much further, they encountered another dog walker. Upon spotting the other dog, Cheng’s pair lunged immediately. Cheng tried to pull them back, but the leash was too long, allowing them to bolt forward. Fortunately, the other owner reacted quickly, pulling their dog back just enough so that the leashes reached their limit, narrowly preventing a clash. Even though her dogs were the ones terrorizing the other, Cheng offered no apology and showed no sign of remorse.

Even when returning home, she didn't realize her mistake; she never shortened the lead, letting them run wild until the end. It felt less like she was walking her dogs and more like she was flying kites—and she seemed to revel in the process.

The cameraman finally couldn't take it anymore. He found an excuse to speak up: "Could you please shorten the leash? With it being so long and the dogs running everywhere, I can't keep them in frame. Plus, I'm worried I won't maintain a safe distance and might get bitten."

The classic line returned. "My dogs are well-behaved," she insisted. Then, she added with pride: "I see other people walking their dogs with the leashes so short; the poor things must be so uncomfortable. I bought this long leash on purpose so my dogs could be freer than the others."

The cameraman certainly didn't believe the first part. While the lens didn't capture his face, the audio caught him letting out a heavy, frustrated sigh. It was easy to imagine him telling himself to just do his job and avoid a conflict.

Arriving at Cheng Xing’s door, Zhang took a deep breath, just as the cameraman had. This owner was a textbook case—the kind where the dog is a problem, but the human is a far greater one. It was clear from the footage that her attitude toward dog ownership was dangerously flawed; she had no grasp of the reality that living with a dog like Apple was a grave, ongoing safety risk for everyone involved.