Dogs who are abandoned at shelters are often viewed as somehow flawed—to active, too unruly, untrainable—but a great program speaheaded by the Boeing Company in Washington is rescuing dogs and teaching them to be valuable players in the fight against terrorism and crime. K-9 trainer Melissa Larsen has a remarkable knack for finding shelter dogs that will become excellent bomb-sniffing dogs, and she trains them in an old airplane-simulator warehouse. Her program has even caught the attention of law-enforcement groups, who have been invited to participate. So the next time you see a dog sitting in a shelter, don’t assume that it can’t play a valuable role in society.
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When Boomer finds something he’s searching for, he is rewarded with a ball. His handler, Det. John Lewitt, says Boomer prefers tug-of-war over fetch.
Photo via KING