22/08/2023
Hello all! Hope you are having a great start to your week! I am relaxing after doing my narcotics recertification. I was able to keep dad straight and we passed. I am ready to keep poison off the streets for another year!
I know some of you might not be familiar with how we get tested on this stuff, so I figured I would explain the process.
We started the day in a huge open floor room. In the room were 25 boxes in a circle about 20 feet in diameter. Each box has a small hole in the top with a screen over it. In 5 of the boxes was a small amount of some type of narcotic. In the other boxes were different things that smell to try and distract me. Some of them have dog food, tennis balls, etc. Dad stands in the middle of the circle and I go to each box to smell what is inside. I had to tell dad which of the boxes had narcotics in them. I would have failed if I missed any of the five, or if I incorrectly told dad to check any of the boxes with the distraction odors.
Then we go to a big office building that dad says is used as a call center. There are over a hundred cubicles with desks in each cubicle. Dad says they are kind of like human kennels where people have to stay 8 hours a day and can only leave for potty breaks and once to eat. Anyway, inside a drawer in 2 of the desks was a very small amount of a narcotic. I had to search every cubicle and find out not only which 2 cubicles had the drugs, but which draw of the desk inside the cubicle had the drugs. It took me about 2 minutes to find them, mainly because dad just stood at the end of the aisle and let me run at my own speed. I had a time limit, and once again I had to show dad the exact drawer. If I was wrong, I failed.
After that, we went to a parking lot with tons of different cars. 2 of the cars had narcotics, and the rest did not. I had to search the outside perimeter of each car and tell dad which two had the narcotics. If I didn't find them, or told him the wrong car, I failed.
Finally, we went to a big open field like where they play that game called football. On the field somewhere was a small bag about 1 inch square that had narcotics. It was under a small board. But there were a BUNCH of boards all over the field. I had to show dad exactly which board it was under, and you guessed it, if I chose the wrong board I failed.
It was a FUN day and luckily dad was paying attention to all my cues and knew when I had found the right spots. It was really hot, so I took dad out for some ice cream afterwards.
Hope that helps some of you know what a test for me is like. I do practice every week, and have to do that big test once a year. It makes sure we find all the bad guys without bugging any of the good guys.
Anyway, I am going to take a nap. Hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Zena
