The good dog who is bad at sniffing out bombs

This is Lulu, the Labrador who joined the CIA as one of their newest recruits. Her mission: to sniff out explosives.

But weeks into her training programme Lulu just wasn’t making the grade. A life at the United States Central Intelligence Agency, it seems, was not for her.

So she had to be dropped from the puppy class of 2017.

In a series of updates on Wednesday, the CIA’s official Twitter account posted detailed reasons why Lulu would no longer be part of their sniffer-dog programme, the K-9 Corps.

Dogs in the corps have to be able to sniff out 19,000 explosive scents which they learn in an intensive 10-week training program, with 10 tests at the end. The top dogs then report for duty searching vehicles and buildings for explosives, mainly in the US.

During emergencies the dogs also help local police, schools and other government agencies, but at some point in the canine career a mission overseas is possible.

But treats and playtime come at a cost. The newly graduated pups work about 60 hours a week.

Even “when they are away from ‘the office,’ they are always on call,” explained the CIA on their website.

The dogs – mainly Labradors, German shepherds and Golden Retrievers – are selected by CIA trainers from Puppies Behind Bars, a programme which pairs inmates with puppies to teach the dogs basic commands.

For Lulu it has been a challenging time.