Corgi could become 'short legs' of the law

Fu Zai, a six-month-old corgi being trained to become the first of his breed to work as a police dog in China, made his maiden public appearance recently at the open day of a police camp in Weifang, Shandong province.

His appearance challenges the stereotype that "little short legs "cannot join the police force. Fu Zai has gone viral online thanks to his iconic smile, distinctive short legs and excellent explosives detection abilities.

As a reserve police dog, Fu Zai faces a heavy workload. Training, scheduled for every morning and afternoon, involves a variety of subjects, such as obedience exercises, bomb searches and scent tracking. He began training when he was two months old and has stood out and outperformed many of his peers.

"His strong environmental adaptability, insensitivity, his desire to possess items and his fondness for food are particularly conducive to our training," said Wang Yanan, head of the police dog base at the Weifang public security bureau.

Following four months of training, Fu Zai can now take advantage of his short legs to investigate beneath cars and easily get into and search narrow spaces. He can also improve interactions between police dogs and the public because of his amiable appearance.

"Police dogs are not only cute, but trainers have done a lot of work and gone to a lot of effort to train them to be professional," Wang said.

Fu Zai is still a fresh hand as a reserve police dog and must undergo further training before officially entering service.

Dong Senhe contributed to this story.