Program manager Sarah Maffei leads her dog Phiona through a training course where a container of black powder is hidden in one of a series of concrete blocks Friday at Merrills Detector Dog Services in Readfield.

Program manager Sarah Maffei leads her dog Phiona through a training course where a container of black powder is hidden in one of a series of concrete blocks Friday at Merrills Detector Dog Services in Readfield.

Live bedbugs sealed in a ventilated plastic case, like these, are used to train dogs at Merrills Detector Dog Services in Readfield.

These three puppies, seen Friday at Merrills Detector Dog Services in Readfield, are the company's newest trainees.

Kendra Laliberte leads her dog Jordanna through a conference room during a demonstration Friday at Merrills Detector Dog Services in Readfield, searching for a container of bedbugs.

Kendra Laliberte leads her dog Jordanna through a conference room during a demonstration Friday at Merrills Detector Dog Services in Readfield, searching for a container of bedbugs.