From the service of Her Majesty Elizabeth II to that of the Chinese police: Fuzai, a corgi puppy whose name means 'lucky boy', is a reserve police dog from Weifang, a city in Shandong province, who has become a popular star on social media medium mandarins.
According to state media, the uniformed dog of the British monarch's favorite breed made its debut at an event organized by the Weifang police in early March, immediately becoming a viral phenomenon with a video of it viewed more than 1.3 times. million times on the Weibo platform, where the related hashtag was contacted 16 million times.
China's vast and ubiquitous security apparatus has a less than pleasant reputation, but the new police officer is making waves with his broad smile and wagging tail. According to state media, Fuzai began training at the age of two months and now, at six months old, is surpassing many of his peers in terms of dedication and reliability.
Some of his colleagues are featured on Fuzai's official account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, with the account operated by Weifang police. The videos show other pups in training, including a bloodhound named Coffee and an explosives detection dog named Dumpling.
Other videos show Fuzai training on how to locate firecrackers under a car, while literally surrounded by people on walks, like a pop star. The corgi trains twice a day in obedience classes, explosive detection and scent tracking.
“His strong environmental adaptability, his desire to own objects and his passion for food are particularly favorable and useful characteristics for training,” commented Wang Yanan, head of the Weifang police dog base, according to the China Daily. Furthermore, his short legs “also give him an advantage over other dogs in searching in confined spaces”, added the state newspaper.