“Excellent“ Police Dogs

　　The training ground was as serious as an international summit. Four German Shepherds stood in a neat line, heads held high, waiting for their trainer's reprimand. Their fur was shiny, their eyes firm, as if they were about to go to battle, rather than listen to a public criticism.

　　"Now, let's start roll call," trainer Lao Wang cleared his throat, his voice low, "Black Panther, your bomb detection training last week, you missed three, you need to seriously reflect on that. Did you hear me?"

　　Black Panther tilted his head slightly, as if pondering which corner he had missed.

　　"Lightning, during your tracking training, you were distracted by a butterfly, causing the target to escape. Your behavior is a serious violation of discipline!" Lao Wang raised his voice, his tone stern. Lightning's ears twitched, clearly he couldn't resist the charm of the butterfly.

　　"Cyclone, your bite training was not decisive enough, hesitant, which is fatal in real combat! You need to deeply reflect!" Cyclone whimpered as if to defend his "hesitation".

　　"Finally, Hurricane, you even sniffed the wrong package during drug detection training, causing us to waste our time! It's simply unforgivable!" Hurricane lowered his head, clearly feeling guilty for his mistake.

　　After Lao Wang finished his lecture, he took a deep breath and said to the police dogs, "You must remember this lesson and correct yourselves next time! Otherwise, your 'excellent' rating will not be guaranteed."

　　The police dogs whimpered softly, as if responding to Lao Wang's reprimand. Lao Wang nodded with satisfaction, thinking: these guys still need to be kept in line.

　　The whole process was watched in stunned silence by the intern trainer, Xiao Zhang. He really couldn't understand why even police dogs had to be "publicly criticized" like humans, and even have to "reflect". Isn't this making things difficult for them? These police dogs have put in so much effort in their training, they almost need a bath in sweat, and a small mistake warrants such treatment.

　　Xiao Zhang couldn't help but ask Lao Wang, "Master Wang, do they... really understand?"

　　Lao Wang patted Xiao Zhang on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Understand? Of course, they don't understand, but we have to do it for the leaders to see. This is called 'the system,' understand? Look, as soon as I criticize them, they droop their heads, so cooperative." Lao Wang pointed to the "dejected" police dogs with a smug smile.

　　Xiao Zhang seemed to understand, but not really. He looked at the four police dogs, their heads seemed to hang low from the reprimand. He felt something was wrong with the scene, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

　　One day, a new leader came to the police force and specifically visited the police dog training base during his work inspection. He was very satisfied with the police dogs' uniform ranks and the "high level of understanding" between the trainers and the dogs. The leader said, "This is exactly what we want, to have rules, discipline, and clear rewards and punishments. The same goes for police dogs!"

　　That night, after the lights in the police dog dormitory went out, the four police dogs began to talk softly. 　　"Black Panther, did you really miss anything?" Lightning asked in a low voice. 　　Black Panther shook his head: "I sniffed every corner three times, I definitely didn't miss anything!" 　　"Then why were we still criticized?" Cyclone asked in confusion. 　　Hurricane sighed, "That's just the rules, we have to bow our heads, otherwise it will affect our 'excellent' rating. I heard that if the rating is low, we won't get meat bones for dinner."

　　The other three police dogs whimpered in response, and then they began a new round of "reflection": should they be more forceful in "performing" their dejection next time? The next day, on the training ground, Lao Wang found that Black Panther's "reflection" was very effective. Black Panther even wiped away "tears" with his paw when "performing" his dejection; Lightning's ears drooped even lower, as if "repenting" for his mistake of looking at the butterfly; Cyclone's lips were also more tightly pursed, as if he was determined to be more "decisive". What made Lao Wang most pleased was Hurricane, who directly laid on the ground, moaning as if he had committed an atrocious crime.

　　Lao Wang looked at the four "remorseful" police dogs, nodding with satisfaction. He thought: These are good police dogs, not only are they well-trained, but they also cooperate well with "work"! Then Lao Wang said to the visiting leaders: Look, these are our "excellent" police dogs, our humanized management is remarkably effective!

The leader nodded with satisfaction after listening.

Suddenly, Hurricane struggled to his feet. He barked loudly at Lao Wang and the leaders, then bit Lao Wang's pants leg and pulled forcefully. Lao Wang immediately fell face first, revealing the underpants with a small bear pattern on them. Everyone present was stunned. 　　 "Who said I sniffed the wrong package? I smelled the scent of lies!" Hurricane barked at everyone. The other three police dogs also stood up and barked at everyone. Their eyes were no longer filled with dejection, but with anger.

The police dogs decided they wouldn't be "excellent" police dogs. They wanted to be "real" police dogs!