Wu Qi, a Chinese man hailed as “the father of China’s therapy dogs,” is going viral after revealing he quit his high-paying job as a programmer to focus on pet therapy.
44-year-old Wu Qi graduated from Nanjing University with a computer science degree and scored a cushy job at a games company, but he tossed his career aside in favor of working with dogs.
Qi says he first fell in love with dogs when he was nine years old after rescuing a puppy who’d been thrown away in a trash bin. As a child with autism, Qi says his furry friend helped him learn to speak and navigate the world around him.
When he grew up, Qi got a husky. This notoriously high-energy breed becomes destructive when bored and needs lots of stimulation — something he learned after coming home from work to find his couch shredded to bits.
To curb this behavior, he sent his pup to a training camp, but the trainers’ methods made the dog timid and wary. Clearly affected by this sudden change in his previously happy pet, Qi set out to learn about animal behavior and science-based training techniques to make sure dogs learnt to behave and keep their spark.
Chinese man inspires social media by training therapy dogs to help those in need
Qi started posting about his learnings online and soon became an internet celebrity in China, even getting invited on a talk show in 2012, where he encountered an autistic child who mimicked his interactions with his dog — something his mother said was a first for the kiddo.
Inspired by this, Qi went on to found Paw for Heal, a company that trains pups to become therapy dogs for special needs children, people struggling with mental illness, elderly people with dementia, patients in palliative care, and even juvenile offenders.
As of 2025, it has trained over 5,000 dogs, with 400 going on to become professional service dogs, and has served over 150,000 people.
Qi hopes to increase awareness of the importance of service animals in China, where there are merely ‘hundreds,’ instead of thousands like the US, which has an estimated 500,000 service dogs.
Qi told the story of his journey from game programmer to therapy dog spokesperson in a speech in October 2025. His speech is going viral on Chinese social media and is even inspiring viewers abroad.
