A dog named Lulu has been dropped as a CIA recruit after it became apparent that she was not sufficiently enthusiastic about sniffing out explosives, the US intelligence agency has said.

"A few weeks into training, Lulu began to show signs that she wasn't interested in detecting explosive odors," the CIA said in a statement.

The agency said that even food and play were unable to motivate her to be a detector dog.

CIA photos show what appears to be a black Labrador retriever.

The agency said that Lulu's decision was the right one for her, and wished her all the best for her new civilian life.

As is the custom when a dog drops out of the CIA's K9 program, Lulu was offered to her handler for adoption. The handler agreed and Lulu has begun civilian life as a playmate for children with another canine companion in the household as well.

Successor already selected

According to the CIA, the K9 training program, founded in 1991, takes 10 weeks and utilizes dogs' ability to sniff out 19,000 explosive scents. At the end of the training period, the dogs and their handlers undergo a rigorous exam to test suitability.

A successor to Lulu called Heron or "Harry" has already been selected.

The agency said that although he was the youngest pup in the class, he had an "incredible drive to learn & and is super smart."

The CIA has recently been trying to improve its image, among other things, amid reports alleging that it is using technology to unnecessarily intrude into people's private lives.

Read more: Assange: 'Only 1 percent' of the CIA material has been published

tj/msh (AFP, AP)