Lulu the dog is a very good girl but she is not, unfortunately, a very good bomb-sniffing dog — and that's why she got fired by the CIA.
Lulu, a 1 1/2-year-old Labrador retriever, is one of six dogs selected for the CIA’s fall puppy class to be trained for explosive detection work.
She was, in fact, part of the government intelligence agency's first all-female puppy class.
Then a couple of months later, she was kicked out.
"We are sad to announce that Lulu has been dropped from the program," reads a blog post on the CIA's website.
According to the post, there were a few crucial factors that led to Lulu's expulsion, the most important one being that "she wasn’t interested in detecting explosive odors."
"Even when they could motivate her with food and play to search, she was clearly not enjoying herself any longer," the post goes on. "Our trainers’ top concern is the physical and mental well-being of our dogs, so they made the extremely difficult decision to do what’s best for Lulu and drop her from the program."
Could it have been predicted from the start that Lulu would get sacked? There are perhaps clues in how she and her classmates are described in an early blog post.
Indigo, for example, is said to be "feisty" and that she "likes to work." Freya has "an incredible drive and energy." Then comes Lulu, said to be "hyper and silly when she plays" with "an easygoing sweetness." (Aw, Lulu.)
In any case, Lulu didn't stay unemployed for long. The CIA gave Lulu's handler the option of adopting her, and he accepted.
So Lulu's new job is something of a paw-motion to a gig she seems to have a lot of aptitude for. Now, she works as a pet.
Congrats, Lulu, on finding your true calling!