Since it passed a qualification test recently, Nick, which was a homeless springer spaniel, is going to take over a new position with Shanghai Customs early next year, marking the first time Shanghai Customs has allowed a qualified stray dog to take on a sniffer-dog position.

A dog trainer leads a dog to participate in the qualification test. [Photo/ Eastday]

Nick’s change in destiny is mainly owed to Cheng Baolin, a dog trainer with Shanghai Customs. In June, when Cheng was driving on the way to the dog-training base, he found the dog on the roadside. As he opened the car door, it leapt immediately onto the seat and therefore was brought to the base.

"The moment I saw it, it reminded me of my first Nick, the first quarantine dog I trained in 2012,” Cheng recalled.

Cheng Baolin and his first Nick. [Photo/ Eastday]

After being quarantined, bathed & beautified, dewormed and physically examined, the staff at the base began trial training the adult stray dog, whose training they worried had no earlier experience to learn from. Although they failed repeatedly, Nick’s persistence and trust in the trainers constantly inspired them.

Ex-stray dog Nick sniffs suitcases to check for forbidden items. [Photo/ Eastday]

Finally, one day while having regular induction training, Nick gave a surprisingly satisfying performance and after that made significant progress each day. Cheng introduced that to train an excellent working dog usually takes 2 years. When Nick first came to the base, he suffered from malnutrition and needed time to recover, so actually from the trial induction training to taking part in the qualification assessment, there was only about two months.

“Although he has passed the test and is qualified as a sniffer dog, due to his short training time and stray experiences, he still needs to improve concentration and keep on with the targeted training,” said Cheng.