Chapter Seventy-Nine: Blockage and Release

Zhuang Bowen’s expression was truly a sight to behold. When he had watched the surveillance footage earlier, he hadn’t noticed this detail, but once Zhang Congwen pointed it out, he began to realize what was really going on.

The Samoyed he kept was the heart of the entire sled dog team. It could come up with all sorts of mischief and lead the whole group into action. The Husky acted as the technician—when faced with technical challenges like opening or dismantling doors, it was usually the one to provide the necessary support. The Alaskan Malamute, thanks to its size, handled tasks the other dogs couldn’t manage, such as retrieving things from high places out of reach for the others. As for the smallest Husky, though it seemed dull and honest, it actually played the role of a forward scout, responsible for keeping watch and gathering intelligence—whether the owner had left, or where the good food and toys were kept, all fell under its purview.

Samoyeds, Huskies, and Alaskan Malamutes were often jokingly called the “Three Sled Fools,” but Zhuang Bowen now felt that this was the greatest misunderstanding of their breeds. They were hardly fools—these four were practically spirits in canine form.

Wasn’t it said that after the founding of the nation, spirits were forbidden from appearing?

Zhuang Bowen felt almost like crying.

“How do I train these four dogs? Should I keep them separated, each on its own?” he asked. He had never imagined that his sled dog team had already become such a well-organized operation, a professional demolition squad working in secret.

“Keeping them apart only disrupts their cooperation, it doesn’t solve their destructive behavior,” Zhang Congwen considered. “I have a few methods, but how effective they’ll be is hard to say. They can only alleviate the problem, not eliminate it.”

After all, these four didn’t suffer from separation anxiety—the positive feedback they got from tearing the house apart was all they needed. There was no negative emotion to curb, so suppressing their enthusiasm would be a real challenge.

In the story of Yu the Great taming the floods, the lesson is that diversion is better than blocking. But with these four, pure diversion won’t work—you couldn’t possibly provide them with things to demolish every day.

So, along with diversion, some blocking would be necessary.

“Which areas of your house do you not want them to enter?” Zhang Congwen asked.

Zhuang Bowen pointed to the bedroom and the kitchen.

The pet gates originally installed in Zhuang Bowen’s home were the kind that didn’t require drilling into the walls. They relied on the friction of built-in bolts against the wall to stay in place. For most dogs, these gates were sufficient, but for Zhuang Bowen’s four, they were far from sturdy enough.

When the Husky dismantled the gate, Zhang Congwen had seen clearly that a chunk of plaster came off the wall where the bolts met it, thanks to the Husky’s brute force. One could imagine just how strong that dog was.

“These gates aren’t up to the task. Replace them with ones that are screwed directly into the wall, and add some cushioning underneath,” Zhang Congwen said, pointing to the damaged wall where the plaster had fallen away. “Install the same kind in your bedroom. That way, even if you forget to lock the door next time, it won’t matter.”

Though Zhuang Bowen’s bedroom door still looked mostly intact, there were dents and rows of tooth marks, and the veneer in some places had long since disappeared.

Locking the bedroom door could keep the four dogs out for now, but who knew how long that door would last? Better to install a gate as soon as possible.

The first step, then, was blocking. The second was diversion—providing things the four could “tear apart,” but which wouldn’t easily break.

Zhang Congwen told Zhuang Bowen to buy some strong suction-cup balls online. These could be fixed to ceramic tiles, so when the four dogs got bored and tried to destroy them, they wouldn’t succeed.

Besides the suction-cup balls, Zhang Congwen had him buy some treat-dispensing and puzzle toys, to help keep the dogs occupied.

“That’s all it takes?” Zhuang Bowen was skeptical. Could his four dogs really be subdued so easily? That seemed to underestimate them.

“Of course not,” Zhang Congwen replied. “You’ll also need to increase their walks as much as possible to burn off their energy.”

Zhuang Bowen rolled his eyes and shook his head immediately. “Are you trying to kill me? Never mind whether I’d survive walking all four, just draining their energy would take up my entire day.”

He rolled up his pant leg to show Zhang Congwen the muscle on his calf—much thicker than normal, clearly the result of walking his dogs.

It made sense; wearing out all four of those dogs was no task for an average man.

“Unless I walk several at once.”

Zhang Congwen shook his head at once. Walking several such energetic dogs together might be efficient, but it was dangerous. If they suddenly decided to bolt, not even Zhuang Bowen’s strength could restrain them.

Zhang Congwen recalled a video he’d seen online: a strong man set out walking four adorable Golden Retrievers, but upon returning, he and the dogs were all covered in mud.

Zhuang Bowen was, after all, his client. Zhang Congwen couldn’t let him end up in such a state.

Still, Zhang Congwen persisted. “Even so, you must increase their walking time. But you don’t need to exhaust them completely; any remaining energy can be spent on a dog treadmill.”

He pulled out his phone and brought up an online listing for pet treadmills.

Zhuang Bowen’s eyes widened in amazement. “There’s such a thing? If I’d known, I would have bought one already!”

Zhang Congwen just smiled. Pet treadmills sounded wonderful but had their downsides: expensive, and they took up a lot of space.

Those issues weren’t a problem for Zhuang Bowen—he had money and a big yard—but treadmills had another disadvantage: not all dogs liked them, and they could never fully replace walks.

It was like people who buy treadmills for home workouts but rarely use them, turning them into little more than clothes racks.

If it weren’t for Zhuang Bowen’s unique situation, Zhang Congwen wouldn’t have recommended one. Otherwise, it would just be wasted money.

Nevertheless, Zhuang Bowen was grateful and said, “Do you have these things? If so, I’ll just buy them from you.”

Zhang Congwen was caught off guard. He’d once considered selling pet supplies alongside his training services, but he hadn’t been sure if it would work—now he saw what a great opportunity it was.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t prepared, so he could only shake his head regretfully.

It was clear Zhuang Bowen was pleased with his plan; he even personally drove Zhang Congwen back to his own place.

As soon as Zhang Congwen got out of the car, he caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance.

It was none other than Song Jiawei. And walking beside him was a young woman, keeping pace at his side.