Every (explosive-sniffing) dog has their (graduation) day

In the back of a gymnasium, Maggie marked her success in quickly identifying one suitcase that had traces of gunpowder from a pile of luggage with a celebratory handful of kibble.

In the back of a gymnasium, Maggie marked her success in quickly identifying one suitcase that had traces of gunpowder from a pile of luggage with a celebratory handful of kibble. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ National Canine Academy, tucked away in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, puts explosive-sniffing dogs-to-be through a grueling five-month boot camp where they learn to detect thousands of different explosives. Those who successfully graduate the training program go on to patrol some of the country’s most high-profile events like the Super Bowl, the presidential inauguration and the upcoming Republican and Democratic National conventions. In a brief ceremony Friday for this years’ graduates at the sprawling compound, seven labrador retrievers and their human handlers stood before family and friends to be presented with their hard-earned law enforcement badges. The graduates — siblings Calvin, Oakley and Murphy, who are going to Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix respectively; Maggie and her brother Zeus, who are going to Richmond, Virginia, and New Orleans; Tara, the barker of the group, moving to Oklahoma City; and Derby, who is moving to Huntsville and will work at all of the University of Alabama football games — will join the approximately 45 ATF explosives-sniffing dogs who work around the country. One additional yellow lab, Nellie, was at the ceremony but didn’t quite get her off-leash commands down in time to walk at graduation, a trainer at the facility told CNN. Nellie is moving to Wisconsin and will keep working toward her badge.