How Trison Became a Police Dog, or The Rules of Good Deeds

Mikhail Samarsky

Trison, the golden Labrador retriever whose life as a guide dog has already taken him through extraordinary adventures, begins his story with a simple discovery: those who try to do no harm and help others are more likely to find someone willing to help them in return. He calls this principle the Law of Kindness.

He also remembers the motto of Ivan Savelyevich, his first blind companion: Never give up.

These two principles will soon be tested in ways Trison could never have imagined. A dog trained to protect a vulnerable person from everyday danger is about to find himself confronting armed criminals, searching for a missing child and saving the life of a police officer.

After returning from the tropical island of Kau-Vong, Trison is sent back to the guide-dog school because his elderly companion, the academician Vasily Mikhailovich, has become too ill to leave home. His next assignment brings him into the household of Andrei Maksimovich Yeliseyev, a blind retired police lieutenant colonel.

Andrei Maksimovich is a strong-willed, intelligent and good-humored man who has devoted much of his life to law enforcement. Although he has lost his sight, he has not lost his dignity, independence or interest in the world. He lives with his wife, Anna Mikhailovna, in a comfortable country house where Trison is welcomed as a working companion and a member of the family.

The Labrador soon becomes acquainted with the entire Yeliseyev household.

Their son Maksim, usually called Max, is a criminal investigator who has followed his father's professional path. Their daughter Roza is married to Rashid Vildanov, and the couple have a lively young daughter, Katya. The little girl, who has a remarkable talent for unexpected questions and mischievous adventures, affectionately calls Trison Trysya.

The household also contains a collection of memorable animals: Siemens, a proud and sarcastic Siamese cat; Kuzya, a rabbit who suffers cheerfully through Katya's games; and Palma, an aging mixed-breed watchdog who has spent most of her life guarding the property.

Trison's conversations with these animals are filled with humor, philosophical arguments and observations about the absurdities of human behavior. Each animal has its own view of duty, freedom, comfort and loyalty.

For Trison, the Yeliseyev home promises a welcome period of stability. Andrei Maksimovich moves confidently around familiar surroundings, enjoys sitting in the garden and seldom travels far. His guide dog has relatively little to do.

That peaceful routine changes when Max makes an unusual suggestion.

He wants to take Trison along on police duty.

Knowing that his father would object to exposing a guide dog to the dangers of criminal investigation, Max secretly obtains his mother's permission. They decide that Trison will accompany the young officer during night shifts and return before Andrei Maksimovich notices his absence.

The arrangement seems harmless at first. Trison is intelligent, obedient and experienced in difficult situations. But he is not a trained police dog. His education has taught him to avoid violence, protect people from accidents and remain calm even when provoked.

Criminal investigation demands different instincts.

Max's colleagues jokingly give Trison a new professional nickname: Oper, short for an operative officer. The Labrador is amused by his unexpected promotion, but soon discovers that police work involves much more than wearing a uniform or chasing criminals.

His first nights on duty expose him to domestic violence, disorderly conduct, theft, dangerous confrontations and the exhausting unpredictability of police work.

At first Trison wonders why anyone would voluntarily choose such a profession. Then he realizes that without people willing to intervene, ordinary citizens would be defenseless against violence and intimidation.

His respect for Max and the officers grows.

One of his earliest serious assignments involves a drunken troublemaker terrorizing residents of an apartment building. Police officers surround the building, but the man disappears.

Using his sense of smell, Trison discovers that the suspect is hiding in an underground utility shaft. When he approaches, the frightened man slams the heavy cover onto the Labrador's paw.

Despite the pain, the discovery allows the officers to apprehend the offender.

Trison is taken to a veterinarian. Fortunately, his injury is not a fracture, but he limps for several days. Andrei Maksimovich, whose sensitivity to the movements of his guide dog is exceptional, notices the change immediately. Max and his mother invent an explanation to conceal what really happened.

The episode makes the contradiction of Trison's secret second profession unmistakable: the dog whose duty is to protect a blind man is himself being exposed to danger without that man's knowledge.

Meanwhile, family life continues around him.

Katya provides a constant source of entertainment and trouble. One day she takes meat intended for the family and gives it to Palma, believing that the old watchdog deserves something more delicious than her regular food. The adults are angry, but Trison recognizes the kindness behind the little girl's disobedience.

The novel repeatedly explores this distinction between breaking a rule and doing something morally wrong. Good intentions do not eliminate responsibility, yet obedience alone is not a sufficient measure of kindness.

When Andrei Maksimovich is hospitalized for treatment, Trison temporarily moves into the Vildanov family's apartment.

There he becomes Katya's favorite companion. He must endure her extravagant ideas, including an attempt to give him a fashionable haircut with her father's electric trimmer. Fortunately, the device refuses to work.

Trison also reflects on the dangers of leaving young children alone with animals, however intelligent or reliable those animals may be. A dog can protect a child from certain threats, but cannot replace adult supervision.

That warning soon becomes terrifyingly real.

During a family gathering, Katya is allowed to play in the courtyard with a boy named Valera. The adults instruct the children not to leave the property.

A little later, Valera returns alone.

Katya has gone away with a man she calls Uncle Fedya, who promised to take her to buy lemonade.

The family is thrown into panic.

Rashid joins a police officer named Sergei in the search, and Trison accompanies them. They reconstruct the child's route, travel by tram and investigate the stops where Katya might have left with the stranger.

Using his powerful sense of smell, Trison eventually picks up her trail and leads the searchers toward an apartment building.

The police organize surveillance, suspecting that the man may still be nearby.

When an elderly stranger emerges from the building carrying a bag, Trison unexpectedly knocks him to the ground. The frightened man insists that he has done nothing wrong.

The situation initially appears to be a terrible mistake.

But the old man reveals that a young girl named Katya is in his apartment with his wife and granddaughter. A man had left the child there, claiming that someone would come to collect her.

Katya is found alive and unharmed.

The presumed kidnapper has already disappeared, apparently using the elderly couple to conceal his movements. The police cannot immediately arrest him, but Trison's intervention has helped locate the child before she could be taken farther away.

The experience exposes a dangerous feature of child abduction: the offender had deliberately made himself familiar to Katya by appearing in her courtyard on an earlier day. To the child, a man she had seen only once already seemed like someone she knew.

For Trison, the rescue is an extraordinary achievement, but also a disturbing moral experience. He has had to decide when force is justified to protect someone vulnerable.

Exhausted by the ordeal, he returns home and falls into a deep sleep.

In his dream, Trison receives an official appointment as a district police officer, complete with a uniform cap, pistol and the rank of sergeant. He patrols alongside Major Anton Stanislavovich Podosenov and discovers a world where dogs enjoy the same legal rights as human beings.

One particularly absurd encounter involves a bulldog with a human-style name, Dog Bulldogovich, who owns an apartment and indignantly protests the policeman's questions.

The dream becomes a comic satire of bureaucracy, professional vanity and the strange rules people invent to govern society. When Trison wakes up, he is once again simply a guide dog — although perhaps one with a more expansive understanding of justice.

Another unexpected friendship develops during his stay with Katya's family.

Trison meets Poseidon, an extraordinary cat who has become a guide for a blind dog named Teftel. Poseidon walks beside his companion, helping him avoid obstacles and find his way.

Initially skeptical of cats, Trison is astonished by this example of courage and responsibility. He begins sharing his own professional experience with Poseidon, explaining how a guide must anticipate obstacles, remember routes and pay attention to dangers both on the ground and above.

The episode widens the novel's understanding of service. Kindness and intelligence are not the exclusive possessions of any species, and even a creature Trison once considered lazy or self-absorbed can possess the qualities of a remarkable guide.

When Andrei Maksimovich returns from hospital, Trison resumes his duties in the Yeliseyev home.

The reunion is joyful, but the Labrador's involvement in police work is not over.

One evening, Max takes him along on an errand. They witness a man snatching a woman's handbag. Max gives chase, and Trison helps stop the thief.

The criminal threatens the Labrador with a knife. Trison leaps at him and catches his arm, but the attacker manages to slash the dog's leg.

Despite the injury, Trison holds on long enough for Max to subdue the robber.

The stolen handbag is returned to its owner, Oksana Anatolyevna Shestakova.

What begins as a frightening encounter becomes the beginning of an unexpected romance.

Max and Oksana are immediately drawn to each other. They exchange telephone numbers and begin meeting regularly. Trison, who has spent much of his life observing human relationships, notices their growing attraction and is delighted to realize that he has helped bring two people together.

The dog who prevented a robbery has unintentionally played the role of matchmaker.

His own recovery is relatively quick, but the second police-related injury should have been a warning. Both his duties and his family would be endangered if the secret arrangement continued.

Instead, the adventure brings new relationships and opportunities to do good.

Max and Oksana become increasingly concerned about the lives of blind people and children who face special difficulties.

During a conversation about a sixteen-year-old blind boy who dreams of receiving a guide dog, they question the rules that prevent some young people from obtaining the independence such animals can provide. Their discussion broadens to the accessibility of education, specialist equipment and the responsibility of society toward people with disabilities.

They also visit a residential institution for children with intellectual disabilities, bringing Trison to meet the residents.

At first some of the children are frightened or withdrawn. Max and Oksana encourage the Labrador to perform simple tricks, and his unexpected expressions and playful obedience soon dissolve the tension.

Children who were afraid begin laughing, touching and embracing him.

The visit becomes one of Trison's most satisfying experiences. He understands that helping does not always mean catching a criminal or rescuing someone from immediate danger. Sometimes an affectionate gesture can bring happiness to a child who rarely receives enough attention.

Afterward, Oksana is troubled by the wording of the institution's official sign, which publicly emphasizes that its residents are orphans or have intellectual disabilities.

She argues that children should not be forced to encounter labels describing their losses or limitations every time they walk through the door. A welcoming name such as Hope or Rainbow would preserve the institution's identity without reducing the children to their difficulties.

Trison admires the young woman's sensitivity. He understands why Max is falling in love with her.

The family's daily life contains numerous other stories that deepen the novel's moral questions.

There are humorous quarrels between Trison and Siemens, the Siamese cat, whose arrogance frequently irritates the Labrador. There are conversations about animals kept on chains, the difficulties of raising children and the importance of training dogs through patience rather than intimidation.

During a visit from an experienced police dog handler, Artemy Valyuzhenich, Max discusses obtaining his own search dog. The specialist explains that effective police work depends on cooperation and trust, not fear. A dog must be educated before it can be successfully trained.

Max begins thinking seriously about acquiring a bloodhound, a breed well suited to tracking old scent trails. It would give him a working companion of his own and allow Trison to return to his proper profession without the risks of secret police assignments.

The novel also explores the emotional life of animals through a deeply moving family tragedy.

Siemens is struck by a car and survives the immediate accident. The family nurses him back to health, and Trison is genuinely relieved, despite their previous quarrels.

But veterinary examinations subsequently reveal that the cat is suffering from a severe illness: feline infectious peritonitis.

His condition gradually deteriorates.

Anna Mikhailovna refuses to abandon the dying animal in a shelter. Instead, the entire family tries to make his remaining days as peaceful and comfortable as possible.

Trison is shaken by the suffering of a companion he had often ridiculed.

When Siemens can no longer walk properly, the Labrador lies beside him and begs him not to die. He even promises that the cat may dip his paws into Trison's water bowl as often as he likes — the very behavior that previously caused one of their fiercest quarrels.

The cat dies with Trison lying close enough to feel his final breath.

For the Labrador, the loss reveals how trivial their old conflicts were. Affection and grief have exposed the strength of a bond that neither animal had fully acknowledged.

Katya must also confront death. The adults tell her the truth rather than inventing a comforting story about Siemens going away.

Trison reflects on how children experience bereavement, on the responsibility humans assume when they bring an animal into their homes, and on the cruelty of abandoning a companion merely because it becomes old or ill.

Another story reinforces this lesson. At a reunion with former colleagues, Andrei Maksimovich hears about a grieving dog that became aggressive after its beloved owner died. The animal was taken into a new household, but nobody understood its behavior until a perceptive young woman recognized its grief.

Only when the family acknowledged the dog's loss and helped it understand what had happened did it begin to recover.

The story offers a powerful parallel to Trison's own experience with Siemens: grief cannot be eliminated by commands, and loyalty survives the death of those we love.

Meanwhile, Max and Oksana's relationship reaches a turning point.

One evening Max brings Oksana home and announces that they have decided to marry.

Anna Mikhailovna is overwhelmed with happiness. Andrei Maksimovich warmly welcomes his future daughter-in-law. The rest of the family gathers to celebrate, and Katya contributes her usual comic questions about marriage and family relationships.

She even concludes that Trison must be her uncle, since he belongs to her grandfather's household and participates in the family just like everyone else.

The joke contains an emotional truth. The Labrador has become far more than a useful animal.

He is family.

Max and Oksana begin preparing for their future together. Their parents meet, discover common interests and gradually form a larger family circle.

The dog whose intervention brought the couple together watches their happiness develop with quiet pride.

But the secret that made Trison a police dog cannot remain hidden forever.

One day, after another night shift, Max's colleague Oleg Litvinov brings the Labrador home.

Andrei Maksimovich has discovered that his son has repeatedly taken Trison on police operations without permission.

The retired officer is furious. He understands the dangers of law enforcement better than anyone, and he is outraged that a guide dog entrusted with the safety of a blind person has been put at risk.

He demands an explanation from his wife and prepares to confront Max.

But Oleg's nervous behavior soon reveals that something far more serious has happened.

Max is in hospital.

He has been shot during an arrest.

For a moment the household is paralyzed by fear. Anna Mikhailovna can barely speak. Andrei Maksimovich, drawing on a lifetime of police experience, calls the officer in charge and demands an accurate account of the situation.

He learns that his son is alive — and that Trison may have saved him from being killed.

The narrative then returns to the events of the night.

Police officers had responded to a report from a convenience store where a man had robbed the cashier after waiting for the other customers to leave.

Max and Trison searched the surrounding streets. They spotted a man moving away through the trees, caught up with him and asked for identification.

The suspect appeared cooperative.

He produced a passport.

While Max examined it, Trison noticed a pistol in the man's hand.

The weapon was aimed directly at the young officer.

In that instant the Labrador faced the most difficult decision of his professional life.

Everything in his guide-dog training had taught him to avoid aggression against people. He had spent his life learning restraint, patience and obedience.

But obedience would now mean allowing a murderer to fire at someone he loved.

Trison did not hesitate.

He lunged at the gunman's arm and clamped his jaws around it.

A shot rang out almost simultaneously.

The Labrador held on despite the criminal's furious attempts to kick him away. The man dropped his weapon, and the arriving officers subdued and handcuffed him.

But Max had been hit.

He collapsed and was taken to hospital while Trison was sent home.

The Labrador had stopped the attacker and prevented further shots, but he could not know whether his friend would survive.

At the hospital, the entire family waits anxiously for news.

Anna Mikhailovna is devastated by the thought of losing her son. She begs the others to persuade Max to leave police work once he recovers.

Andrei Maksimovich understands her fear but refuses to condemn his son's vocation. He has spent his life confronting criminals and knows that public safety depends on people prepared to take such risks.

The tension between a mother's fear and a father's respect for duty becomes one of the novel's most powerful human conflicts.

A surgeon eventually emerges with news.

Max will survive.

The injury is serious, and further treatment is required, but his life is no longer in immediate danger.

The family can finally breathe again.

In the epilogue, Trison explains that Max recovers and that he and Oksana make an unexpected decision.

Rather than postpone their marriage, they arrange for the civil registry officials to come to the hospital and register their union while Max is still a patient.

The wedding celebration itself will take place after his full recovery.

The joyful event brings a deeply personal resolution to Trison's police adventure.

Andrei Maksimovich repeatedly tells everyone that his guide dog saved his son.

Anna Mikhailovna embraces the Labrador and thanks him for protecting her child.

Katya reaches her own characteristically direct conclusion: Trison has saved her uncle — and therefore, in her understanding, his own brother.

Max, however, makes a firm decision. Trison will no longer accompany him on police duty.

The Labrador has already suffered three dangerous incidents: a crushed paw, a knife wound and a confrontation with a gunman. His remarkable courage is no reason to expose him to further risks.

He has served more than enough.

Trison accepts the decision with his usual dignity, although he remains ready to help whenever someone is in danger.

He has not become a professional police dog in the ordinary sense. He has not earned a badge, a permanent rank or an official appointment.

Instead, he has demonstrated that the defining qualities of a good officer — courage, judgment, self-discipline, compassion and a willingness to protect others — are not confined to people in uniform.

The police adventures have also changed the Yeliseyev family. A robbery has led to love. A secret has ended in gratitude rather than punishment. A moment of extraordinary danger has brought a young couple to marriage and reminded an entire family how fragile happiness can be.

Yet Trison's story does not close with his retirement from police work.

He overhears Andrei Maksimovich talking to an old colleague who now lives in Israel. The retired officer is planning a visit — and intends to take his guide dog with him.

For the Labrador, this means that another journey is already approaching.

The book ends with the same spirit that has carried Trison through all his adventures: humor, curiosity, determination and faith in the value of helping others.

Its central moral is not that good deeds guarantee safety or reward. Trison's kindness repeatedly places him in danger, and his courage does not protect him from injury or sorrow.

Rather, the novel suggests that goodness becomes meaningful precisely when it requires effort, sacrifice and the willingness to act.

Trison's Law of Kindness and his first companion's motto, Never give up, ultimately become two parts of the same conviction.

To do good is not merely to wish others well. It is to take responsibility for them — even when doing so demands courage.