Chapter 413 - 347: Old Injuries, New Injuries
When Lin Xiangshun asked about Cyan Dragon, Zhao Jun glanced at the puppy. He saw Cyan Dragon biting the Black Bear and refusing to let go. He smiled and said to Lin Xiangshun, "He's about four months old, Second Brother. He's got a good bite, wouldn't you say?"
Lin Xiangshun didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked at Black Dragon. Black Dragon was also biting the Little Black Bear, but not like Cyan Dragon. Cyan Dragon would bite, tear, and refuse to let go, whereas Black Dragon would bite, release, and then bite again.
Lin Xiangshun pointed at Black Dragon and asked Zhao Jun, "This one's a female, isn't she?"
As expected of the foremost expert in handling and training dogs, Lin Xiangshun had determined Black Dragon's sex from her movements alone.
"She is." Zhao Jun took the ceramic basin from Wang Meilan and passed it to Lin Xiangshun. Only after Lin Xiangshun took a knife from it did Zhao Jun say, "I got her back to keep Cyan Dragon company."
Lin Xiangshun immediately understood what "keep company" implied. He nodded, pulled over a small stool, sat down, and used his knife to help Zhao Jun skin the brown bear.
Just then, Li Baoyu returned from feeding the dogs. He had cut up a good amount of bear meat and had fed the dogs from both families.
He came up to Lin Xiangshun, pointed at Big Fatty and San Pang, and asked, "Brother Shunzi, what do you think of these two dogs?"
Hearing this, Lin Xiangshun looked up and stared at Big Fatty and San Pang for a moment. Then, he suddenly stood up and walked toward them.
Seeing a stranger approach, Big Fatty and San Pang, who were in the middle of eating, both looked up. They bared their teeth at Lin Xiangshun and let out a low, threatening growl.
Lin Xiangshun paid them no mind, stopping at a relatively safe distance to watch them quietly.
At that moment, Zhao Jun also sensed something was wrong and walked over to Lin Xiangshun's side with Li Baoyu.
Seeing Zhao Jun approach, Big Fatty and San Pang relaxed and lowered their heads to continue eating.
Zhao Jun asked Lin Xiangshun, "Second Brother, what's going on?"
"Take a look." Lin Xiangshun raised a hand and pointed at Big Fatty. "Look at the wounds on this dog."
Then, Lin Xiangshun pointed to San Pang and said, "And this one too. They have a lot of injuries, but they all look like old scars."
"Ah!" At his words, Zhao Jun's heart skipped a beat, and he hurried toward Big Fatty.
As Zhao Jun got closer, Big Fatty used its mouth to hold down the bear meat, watching Zhao Jun with a sidelong glance while making a low noise between its teeth.
This was because the dog had just arrived and was unfamiliar with people, lacking any sense of trust.
Zhao Jun understood this, so he didn't blame Big Fatty. He just walked a circle around the dog, then turned back toward Lin Xiangshun and Li Baoyu.
Seeing Zhao Jun walk away, Big Fatty let out an "AOW!", snatched up the meat, and turned to run toward the kennel.
"Well?" Lin Xiangshun asked as Zhao Jun approached.
Zhao Jun nodded and said with a wry smile, "The other day, a logging Leader told me these dogs were from his area. He said they were 'slippery,' but I didn't believe him."
"What's wrong?" Hearing that there was a problem with the four dogs, Li Baoyu quickly asked Zhao Jun, "Brother, what is it? What are you and Brother Shunzi talking about? Why don't I understand?"
At this point, only San Pang was left outside the kennel. Zhao Jun pointed at it and said to Li Baoyu, "Look at him. It's the same with him and your Flower Cat and Hua Lang—no new injuries."
Li Baoyu frowned slightly, seeming to grasp something but not fully understanding.
Zhao Jun lowered his hand. "The scars on these dogs are at least two years old. So what does that mean? They haven't been injured while hunting for two years? Or have they not been up the mountain in two years?"
Li Baoyu was taken aback, then he instantly understood the meaning behind Zhao Jun's words.
It's impossible for a hunting dog to never get injured.
'Wasn't Hua Xiao'Er incredible? But even he got hurt, didn't he?'
As for not having been up the mountain for two years, that was even more impossible.
A hunting dog doesn't even need two years; if it doesn't participate in a pack hunt for just six months, it will lose its edge.
Losing its edge means it becomes a novice again, all its skills gone.
But just the other day, these four dogs took down a sow. They couldn't have lost their edge.
'Thinking it through, there was only one possibility.'
These dogs had learned to be "slippery."
In their early years, when their previous owner trained them, a series of unsuccessful pack hunts must have led to the dogs getting injured and losing their confidence.
Physical wounds can heal. But if their confidence is damaged, it's not easy to recover.
And these are hunting dogs. They aren't afraid of physical injury; they're afraid of losing their confidence. As long as they can take down prey, getting injured only makes them tougher and stronger with every hunt.
But if they get hurt and still come back with nothing...
After a few such battles, the dogs become "slippery." The next time they're on a pack hunt, they won't give it their all. They'll fear injury because they feel getting hurt is pointless—just suffering for nothing.
This was why these four dogs only had old scars and no new ones.
"Brother," Li Baoyu asked Zhao Jun in a low voice, "what do we do now?"
Without a second thought, Zhao Jun replied, "Train them. What else can we do?"
'If I hadn't brought the dogs home, I wouldn't have cared about their future. But I've brought them back and have been raising them for days; I can't just send them away now.'
Thinking of this, Zhao Jun asked Lin Xiangshun, "Second Brother, can these dogs still be trained out of it?"
"They can," Lin Xiangshun said without hesitation. "There's no dog that can't be retrained. It just depends on how you do it."
Hearing this, Zhao Jun asked again, "So they just need a few good fights?"
Lin Xiangshun shook his head. "They need a few *good* fights. The kind that gets their blood up, and they have to end up taking down prey. Only that will work."
At this, Lin Xiangshun turned his head slightly, his gaze sweeping past Zhao Jun to Little Bear and White Dragon. He asked, "Of these two dogs of yours, which one is the lead dog?"
"This one." Zhao Jun pointed at Little Bear and told Lin Xiangshun, "This female is pretty good. Her scenting is excellent, and she has great range, but she just can't corner prey."
"A female, of course she can't corner," Lin Xiangshun said with a soft sigh. "If Hua Xiao'Er were here, training these dogs would be no problem. He could have brought them around no matter what. But with this female… you're going to have to put in the effort yourself."
When Lin Xiangshun mentioned Hua Xiao'Er, both Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu fell silent for a moment.
Lin Xiangshun continued, "Jun, if you're going to train them, you have to do it early. You can't do pack hunts in the summer. You'd have to wait for autumn, which is prime hunting season. You can't wait until then to start training them."
Lin Xiangshun's meaning was clear. These four dogs had to be retrained sooner or later, so it was better to do it now.
By the time autumn arrives, the leaves will be crisp underfoot.
That's when the wild boars and bears are fattening up, eating until they're round and plump. It's the best time for hunting.
But that's also when these wild animals are at their strongest. Training dogs then isn't as good as training them now.
"Right!" Zhao Jun nodded. Just as he was about to say more, someone shouted from outside the courtyard, "Sister-in-law Zhao, are you home?"
"Oh!" Wang Meilan shot up at the sound. She tossed her knife aside, washed her hands in a nearby basin of water, and called out to Lin Xiangshun, "Shunzi, Liu Tiezui is here! Go say hello."