By Xu Kuang

Translation by Zhu Yaguang

An Interview with Canine Expert Zhang Song

By Xu Kuang

Translation by Zhu Yaguang

When I visited Zhang Song at Peer Kennel,a pet store at Han Street, a bustling, modern cultural zone in Wuhan, China, he was shaving a poodle and trimming its nails…

Zhang Song’s career in the pet industry can be traced back to a dog game in the late 1990s.

One day, Zhang Song and his wife, Fan Dan, both of whom were dog lovers, watched the dog game.From the huge enthusiasm of the audience, Zhang Song perceived a great potential in the pet grooming industry. “The industry was unbelievably primitive at that time,” sighed Zhang Song,now Vice President of the Wuhan Kennel Union, when he was ref l ecting on the past.

After the game, Zhang Song and his wife made up their minds in developing a career in pet dog industry. They opened a kennel,and, day by day, their business was thriving. Gradually, Zhang Song realized that he needed to do more than just raising and trading dogs in order to meet the needs of dog lovers all over the city. At that time, supermarkets didn’t even sell dog food, and Baota Lozenges were the only worm medication for dogs.

Zhang Song decided to open a pet store to expand his services and provide convenience for his customers. Unexpectedly, he found another excellent business opportunity—that is, to run a training school, as talents were really scarce in the industry. He then founded a training school for pet groomers.

Although he didn’t win much applause from his friends, Zhang Song himself believed that there would be stronger market demand when the industry grew.

In 2014, his wife Fan Dan became the first professional pet groomer accredited by China Kennel Union (CKU) in Hubei Province. “I still remember the first time I touched a dog’s paws and the fi rst time I shaved a dog…Too many first times!” Fan Dan couldn’t help shedding tears while recalling the past.

Nowadays, a lot more customers have specific needs depending on the dog’s breed and lineage,and they’re willing to pay more to get a good dog. In 2008, a friend of Zhang Song bought a Golden Retriever named Cooler from the United States, which cost him 150,000 dollars.

In the 21st century, the pet industry in China has enjoyed rapid development. China was qualified to host the 2017 FCI Asia Section Dog Show. Two years after that, China will host the 2019 World Cup Dog Show, which will be the fi rst time for China to host an international top-level competition for dogs. Although the industry is developing with sound momentum, Zhang Song has great concerns for its future in China.

“My biggest concern for the industry is its lack of sustainable development. Persistence,patience, and devotion are the key factors for people to thrive in it.It seems easy for new businesses to entry, but it’s even easier for them to be eliminated when the industry gets upgraded.”?

金毛酷樂 Golden Retriever - Cooler

貴族寵物漢街店里，張松正給一只貴賓犬剪毛、修指甲……

張松執(zhí)著于寵物犬行業(yè)，要從上世紀(jì)90年代末的那場(chǎng)寵物犬比賽說起。

一天，出于喜歡，張松和太太范丹去觀看一場(chǎng)寵物犬比賽。現(xiàn)場(chǎng)眾多觀眾的熱情使張松覺得，市場(chǎng)有潛在寵物犬需求?！澳菚r(shí)，這個(gè)行業(yè)只能用‘原始’兩個(gè)字來形容?！被貞洰?dāng)年，已是武漢犬業(yè)協(xié)會(huì)副會(huì)長(zhǎng)的張松感慨萬千。從那以后，他們建犬舍，決心發(fā)展寵物犬事業(yè)，生意越來越紅火。慢慢的，張松覺得光養(yǎng)狗賣狗還不能滿足養(yǎng)狗愛好者。超市沒狗糧賣，家庭給寵物的驅(qū)蟲藥也只有寶塔糖。張松決定開家寵物店，拓寬寵物服務(wù)。原本是想方便顧客，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)行業(yè)又一大商機(jī)——這個(gè)行業(yè)人才奇缺，得辦校興業(yè)。于是他辦起了寵物學(xué)校。

朋友都不理解，但張松認(rèn)為，這個(gè)行業(yè)要良性發(fā)展，以后的需求會(huì)越來越多。

2014年，范丹考取中愛聯(lián)合純種犬文化發(fā)展中心（CKU，China Kennel Union）導(dǎo)師級(jí)美容師資格，成了當(dāng)時(shí)湖北省唯一CKU導(dǎo)師級(jí)美容師?！暗谝淮蚊纷?，第一次給狗剪毛，……”回憶往昔，范丹眼眶濕潤(rùn)了。

越來越多客戶對(duì)寵物犬品種、血統(tǒng)產(chǎn)生個(gè)性化要求，投入也越來越大。2008年，一個(gè)朋友從美國(guó)購(gòu)回一條金毛酷樂，一擲就是15萬美元。

新世紀(jì)以來，中國(guó)寵物犬業(yè)發(fā)展勢(shì)頭迅猛，已經(jīng)取得2017年亞洲杯犬展和2019年世界杯犬展的舉辦國(guó)資格，這是中國(guó)首次取得國(guó)際最高級(jí)別犬類比賽的承辦權(quán)。行業(yè)不斷發(fā)展，張松卻對(duì)中國(guó)寵物犬業(yè)的未來充滿憂慮：

“我對(duì)行業(yè)最大的擔(dān)憂是后繼乏力，這個(gè)行業(yè)需要堅(jiān)持和耐心，需要付出更多才有收獲，看上去門檻不高，實(shí)際上更新?lián)Q代的幾率非常高?！?

2017年FCI亞洲杯犬展（中國(guó)·上海） 2017 CKU Groomer Team Competition

訪寵物犬專家張松

文/許曠 譯/朱亞光