The CIA, America's prime federal investigative agency, is pretty famous for their bomb squads and the organisation takes personal pride in the fact.
They employ some of the bravest men and women, and alongside them, are some of the most well-trained dogs one can ever come across, with a nose for sniffing out bombs from any nook and cranny an unscrupulous individual might be inclined to hide.
However, not everything need go according to plan, such as in this case, where the agency has been forced to retire one of its sniffers-in-training, and for one peculiar reason: She lost interest in the job. How...human.
Meet Lulu, a black Labrador. One of many young pups taken in by the CIA for their K-9 division, Lulu was trained as any of the ones with her, or the ones who came before her. However, sometime during her training, Lulu began losing interest in the training, but once Lulu's desire to train fell off the wall and broke, all the motivation, treats and belly rubs could not put it together again, and the CIA was forced to let go of her.
We’re sad to announce that a few weeks into training, Lulu began to show signs that she wasn’t interested in detecting explosive odors. pic.twitter.com/c6lxHPfC09
— CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017
Well, to be fair, if I were a dog, and my job involved sniffing shady looking canisters, I'd probably lose interest too.
#CIAK9 Pupdate:
— CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017
Sometimes, even after testing, our pups make it clear being an explosive detection K9 isn’t for themhttps://t.co/nPZl6YWNKb pic.twitter.com/07TXRCH7bp
Apparently, the situation over at K-9 is so weird that the people there become impromptu doggo psychologists. A killer job for any dog whisperer, it surely is, the risk of dismemberment and death notwithstanding.
There are a million reasons why a dog has a bad day & our trainers must become doggy psychologists to figure out what will help pups. pic.twitter.com/iaeRpGiSUR
— CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017
Sometimes a pup is bored & needs extra playtime, sometimes they need a little break, or it’s a minor medical condition like a food allergy. pic.twitter.com/pPaBPohhqB
— CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017
Lulu's puppy-dog eyes were evidently too cute for the CIA to ignore. Good effect on target is probably the perfect phrase for this particular situation.
Lulu wasn’t interested in searching for explosives.
— CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017
Even when motivated w food & play, she was clearly no longer enjoying herself. pic.twitter.com/puvhDk1tRX
Thankfully, many stories have happy endings, and for a dog, there is no better thing than getting a family to play with once the job becomes too boring.
When a pup is removed or retires from our K9 program, the handler & their family is given the chance to adopt them & many do. pic.twitter.com/EMfua7zhbT
— CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017
Lulu was adopted by her handler & now enjoys her days playing w his kids & a new friend, & sniffing out rabbits & squirrels in the backyard. pic.twitter.com/WOImM75P1D
— CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017
So join your hands in praise of the dog who, with the power of boredom and puppy-dog eyes, was able to squeeze her way out of a risky job, and scored a nice life of food, play and squirrels to chase as a bonus. Quite the golden parachute, eh?
We’ll miss Lulu, but it was right decision for her & we wish her all the best in her new life!https://t.co/nPZl6YWNKb pic.twitter.com/Mbcr9C7wUY
— CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017