Putin knows all the pressure points of world leaders. He knows Angela Merkel is TERRIFIED of dogs so he brought his into a meeting with her. He knows where all the warts and Achilles heel(s) of trump are and of course is using them to get complete obedience from him in public in private between the sheets and elsewhere. An obedient useful idiot is about the best Putin could have hoped for and the lucky got exactly what he wanted! A made-to-order obediently servile servant.