Josh stepped inside and was about ready to say something, but Maya turned and took off before he could. She sprinted to her bedroom, slammed the door shut, threw on different clothes and then brushed her teeth as quick as she could. Her hair looked like a bird’s nest, red curls tangled and sticking out every which way. Maya solved the problem by pulling it back in a ponytail and throwing on a Marine baseball cap. She stepped out of her room like she had planned this all along.
“I’m going to grab a cup of coffee and then I’ll be ready to train,” Maya said, noting that Juniper had herself leaning up against Josh’s leg and was giving him lovey eyes. “You want any?”
“Sure. Thanks. Nice place you have here. What a great location. I love your view.”
“Uh, thanks.” Maya marched over to the coffee maker. She pulled down two mugs and poured coffee, handing one to Josh. “You take cream or sugar?”
“Cream would be great.”
Maya opened her empty fridge. There was no milk or cream. “Um, sorry, all out.”
“That’s fine. I’ll drink it black. Looks like you do have a pyscho dog after all.”
Maya shook her head, embarrassed by the mess. “I think it’s good Juniper’s going back to work. I’m not sure my cabin will live. I also need to get an outside kennel built.”
“You need help cleaning it up?” Josh grinned, still scratching Juniper.
“No, that’s okay. But thanks,” Maya said, gulping her coffee. The coffee hit her stomach and made it churn.
“Did my windbreaker survive?”
“Oh. Yeah. No teeth marks on that.” Maya set her cup on the counter and handed Josh his jacket. “After you put that in your car, are you ready to hide some dope and maybe get bit? I know Dr. Asher wanted Juniper to have more time off, but based on how my cabin looks this morning, I think she’s ready to go back to work.”
“Sure, hiding drugs and getting bit are my favorite things to do on my day off,” Josh said.
“K-9 handlers, we’re all a bit psycho too,” Maya said with a laugh. She liked how Josh didn’t seem to judge her and brightened things up.Stay focused.“All right. Let’s do it then.”
She showed Josh the lockbox with the narcotic training aids. Inside the box, there were jars with different contraband that included marijuana, meth, heroin, and cocaine. All of the drugs were evidence that had been released to use for training. Maya had to keep everything secure and make sure that she could return the exact amount and weight of each narcotic.
“Let’s give her three hides,” she said, using the slang for concealing drugs. “I don’t want to overdo it, but I do want to see if she’ll keep searching after her first alert. Juniper and I will go back inside and wait until you tell us that you’re ready.”
“You got it,” Josh said, putting on latex gloves so his scent didn’t transfer to the training aids.
Inside, Maya had Juniper’s reward, a squeaky ball with a rope tied through it, in her cargo pants pocket. Juniper knew the toy was there and had gone from a destructive house dog to a well-trained narcotics dog. She sat and stared at Maya, waiting for the command to go to work.
Maya heard Josh yell, “Okay!” Juniper’s body shook with excitement.
“Let’s go find the dope,” Maya said. Juniper’s ears pricked straight up, and she leaped forward in front of Maya. Maya opened the door and Juniper shot out in front of her. Maya began to direct her dog’s search pattern.
“Check over by your driveway and the small ditch,” Josh said.
Maya knew he wasn’t giving her the location of the hide, but rather helping Juniper not tire herself out by narrowing down the area to search. Maya and Juniper ran a grid pattern alongside her driveway. A slight breeze picked up, but they worked into it. Directing Juniper into the wind would help her find the hidden narcotics.
Maya allowed Juniper to have the freedom to follow her nose. Juniper’s body tensed up; she air scented for a second and then put her nose back down in the grass. Maya knew she had the odor and quit asking the dog to work the back-and-forth grid pattern, but instead followed Juniper, feeling the vibration down the leash.
Juniper shot forward, passed a large rock, stopped, whipped around, and went back to the boulder. She sat and stared at the rock, waiting for her reward.
Josh nodded that her alert was correct. Maya flung the ball in front of Juniper, who joyously latched on to the toy. Maya played tug for a second and then let go, allowing Juniper to chomp down on the toy and fling it around. Sometimes Juniper would deliberately drop it, letting the ball bounce different directions before snapping it back up in her mouth.
“She did well,” Josh said. “Looks like she loves working narcotics.”
“She did do well. I think she’s happy to be back to work,” Maya said, taking out her notebook while Juniper continued to play. “What did you hide?”
“That was cocaine,” Josh answered.
Maya recorded the drug and amount for the logbook she was required to keep. Down the road, when they would go to court, Maya would need proof that Juniper could indeed find narcotics.
After making her notes, Maya went to take away the toy from Juniper. She had lain down and was now aggressively chewing on the ball, making it squeak in quick staccato tones. She flicked one eye toward Maya. Knowing that Maya was going to take away her toy, she deliberately turned her body away.