Chapter 107: Basic Training

"Dasheng, come here."

In a small room, Zhang Congwen called out casually.

Within two seconds, a small, snow-white puppy came trotting happily toward him. Dasheng was remarkably intelligent; after hearing its name called just a few times, it had already understood that its name was Dasheng.

"Good dog!"

Zhang Congwen praised Dasheng generously. As he stroked the puppy’s fur, he slipped a collar-style leash over its head.

It had been three days since Dasheng arrived at the Big Boss Dog Training Center. During these three days, Zhang Congwen had not performed any actual training, focusing only on teaching Dasheng to recognize its name. Having just arrived in a new environment, the puppy needed time to adapt; rushing into training would only hinder the best results.

Zhang Congwen had taken primary responsibility for caring for Dasheng. Sometimes, to better understand the puppy's temperament, he even chose to sleep at the training center rather than returning to his rental apartment. For this reason, he had even moved his two pet turtles to the center.

Song Jiawei and Zhu Qingyan would occasionally stop by to see Dasheng and play with it, but they were careful not to interact too much. Both were terrified that they might do something wrong and disrupt Zhang Congwen’s training process. In truth, Zhang thought they were being overly cautious. After all, Dasheng would eventually need to be socialized and would have to interact with all sorts of people. However, he didn't say much and let them be.

During this period, Zhang Congwen was busy juggling training other dogs while caring for Dasheng, leaving him with no spare energy to give them extra instructions. Today, putting the leash on Dasheng meant he felt it had adapted well enough to the new environment and was ready to begin basic training.

Although this was Dasheng's first time on a leash, it didn't resist. It felt a bit uncomfortable at first and pawed at it symbolically, but it soon adjusted to its new gear.

The first training objective was to teach Dasheng the "sit" command. There are many ways to approach command training, and every trainer has their own unique understanding. However, these methods all lead to the same destination: helping the dog associate the owner’s verbal cue with a specific action and a reward. Therefore, this type of training is not particularly difficult.

After putting the leash on, Zhang Congwen stepped on a part of it with his foot, leaving Dasheng enough room to move around but preventing it from jumping up. He then took out a treat and showed it to the puppy, but did not give it away; instead, he held the treat at a height where Dasheng could see it but not reach it.

Seeing the treat, Dasheng’s inner foodie took over, and it kept trying to jump up to grab the snack from Zhang’s hand. Zhang Congwen remained motionless, letting the puppy struggle. Soon, however, Dasheng realized that no matter how much it fussed, the human in front of it would not simply hand over the treat.

Gradually, its movements slowed, and it quieted down. Even then, Zhang Congwen didn't give it the treat; instead, he moved his hand slightly forward. This slight shift meant that Dasheng could no longer see the treat while standing; it had to sit down to gain a better vantage point.

At first, Dasheng didn't understand this and tried to move its body to track the treat with its eyes. Because Zhang Congwen was pinning the leash, Dasheng couldn't move freely. After several attempts, Dasheng finally realized that sitting was the only way to see the treat, so it planted its bottom on the ground, waiting to be fed.

Seeing Dasheng sit, Zhang Congwen immediately tossed the treat onto the ground and released the leash so the puppy could run over and eat it.

After Dasheng finished, Zhang Congwen led it around in a few circles, produced another treat, and stepped on the leash again. He waited patiently for the puppy's reaction without making a move. Since it was only the first reward, Dasheng had not yet associated the "sit" action with the treat. Zhang was incredibly patient; he would not feed the puppy unless it performed the desired action.

Soon, Dasheng sat down again, and another treat was thrown its way.

After repeating this many times, Dasheng understood that sitting brought a reward. The moment it saw Zhang Congwen take out a treat, it would sit immediately. However, this time, even when Dasheng sat, Zhang did not rush to feed it.

"Awoo?"

Dasheng made a confused sound, tilting its head at Zhang Congwen. It was incredibly cute. But Zhang was silently counting the seconds. The goal was to teach Dasheng to wait. If the puppy tried to jump up and snatch the treat during the count, it would receive no reward. It had to wait until it was seated again and the count was finished.

Fortunately, Dasheng did not try to snatch the treat. After repeating this enough times, the waiting time gradually increased, and Dasheng performed flawlessly. Only then did Zhang begin the next stage of training.

Now that Dasheng associated sitting with the treat, the next step was to link the action with a verbal command.

"Sit!" Zhang Congwen said as he took out a treat. Dasheng sat, waited a few seconds, and was rewarded.

Later, after walking Dasheng around the room, he suddenly gave the command: "Sit," while simultaneously taking out a treat. This time, Dasheng didn't react immediately, hesitating for a moment before sitting. Even so, Zhang Congwen gave it the treat.

As time went on, Zhang stopped stepping on the leash, and the command and the act of taking out the treat were no longer synchronized. Instead, he would give the command first, and only after seeing Dasheng sit would he provide the reward. At first, Dasheng seemed reluctant to act without seeing the "bait," but seeing that Zhang wouldn't feed it otherwise, it eventually chose to sit.

After about ten minutes of training, Zhang Congwen unclipped the leash and stopped the session. He kept each training period between ten and fifteen minutes. As long as the task was successfully completed, he wouldn't over-train. He would let the puppy play freely for a few hours before resuming the lesson to reinforce the behavior.

Only when Dasheng had fully mastered the skill—needing no treat, just the verbal command—would the training be considered complete. Dasheng was very smart and learned quickly. Within a few days, it had mastered the "sit" command, and Zhang began training it to "lie down."

The weather had been poor lately, with constant rain. Even when it wasn't raining, the sky remained overcast, as if the heavens were warning that a downpour could start at any moment. In such weather, few people wanted to leave their homes, so business at the training center had slowed down.

Just as Zhang Congwen was training Dasheng inside the center, he was surprised to see a beautiful figure walking toward the building through the rain.