K-9 Units are essential to law enforcement communities around the world.
From carrying out search and rescue missions to sniffing out explosives, these fuzzy coworkers help their human counterparts out in innumerable ways and they save lives doing it. From dogs searching the rubble after a hurricane to the police K-9 units we see all the time, dogs are often well-equipped for jobs that are bigger than just your average hugs and kisses.
At the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), they’ve been giving updates on their newest batch of canine trainees with #CIAK9 on Twitter. They recently gave an update on one of the dogs, Lulu, and she’s taken the internet by storm.
The CIA announced in a blog post and on Twitter that Lulu just wasn’t interested in explosives detection, the job she was assigned to do. The dogs are tested from a very early age, but for Lulu, it just wasn’t clicking.
Determining a dog isn’t right for the CIA is a long process, and it includes using dog psychology to determine if it’s just a bad day or if an adjustment needs to be made to play time. A lot of time and investment goes into these working dogs, so they want to be sure before any decisions are made.
But even with adjustments, it wasn’t making sense for Lulu, and it became clear she wasn’t enjoying herself. A dog who isn’t interested in explosives detection could miss something, making it a dangerous situation for her handler and possibly the public. (This photo of her looking bored and unimpressed has now become a hilarious meme that plays on all of the conspiracy theories surrounding the CIA.)
When a dog fails their training and is retired, the handler often has the opportunity to adopt the dog they’ve grown to love, and that’s what happened with Lulu. Now she gets to hang out at home with her other dog friend, free of such an intense responsibility.
Ultimately, the CIA will welcome a new trainee into the program, while Lulu lives out her days as just a normal dog. And that’s okay! Dog, handler, and the country will be safer now that Lulu is spending her days chasing squirrels instead of bombs.
Now that’s a good dog if I’ve ever seen one. Lulu gets an A for effort and an A+ for being totally adorable. I’m sure she’s loving retirement!