Using dogs for bed bug detection

As part of an effective solution for prevention, detection, and treatment, we are pleased to share that we now work with Canine Search partners to put in place the best possible solutions for dealing with bed bugs.

Many people will be aware that sniffer dogs have been used with great effect for the detection of drugs and explosives. Dogs’ sense of smell is vastly superior to ours as for every smell receptor we have, they have approx. 50.  This means that their sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than a human’s. Certain dogs can be trained to recognise the smells left by bed bugs. This is completed by trained professional handlers and can take up to three months of intensive training (although to the dogs it appears as if they are involved in a game where they are rewarded). 

Faster discovery of bed bugs infestations

Our technicians are highly trained and efficient, however human pest controllers may spend hours inspecting an entire room and dismantling furniture to visually locate bed bugs. By partnering with our canine detection teams, they can detect live infestations within minutes through their keen sense of smell. This includes in hard-to-reach areas such as beneath floorboards and underneath carpet that technicians cannot usually access.

Dogs sniff all the common areas likely to harbour bed bugs, but they do this with greater speed and efficiency than a human, meaning there can be more rooms checked in the limited time available between the room being available for use again. In cases with really large infestations of bed bugs, the smell available to the dog might mean that they can accurately tell which room is infested from the corridor alone.

Ideally, trained sniffer dogs help provide a proactive service of preplanned inspections, highlighting where there may be an issue, allowing treatments to be carried out, before it spreads throughout the building. Dogs are also great if there is a limited time for inspection following a complaint of a suspected bed bug. Please note however, that to ensure the wellbeing of the dogs, they cannot enter rooms that have been treated using insecticides for a period of six weeks, as to do so may damage their receptors.

The dogs used by Nurture Pest Control have been accredited by the Bed Bug Foundation due to the accuracy of their work and our dog trainers are also BIPDT qualified. Using dogs for bed bug detection is a much faster way of inspecting a site, taking only one hour for 20 rooms, so large premises such as hotels can be inspected much quicker. Dogs are also highly effective and able to identify bed bugs across various points in a room making them extremely accurate at locating the source of any infestation. Moreover, dogs can be used as part of a proactive approach to prevent bed bugs through scheduled visits across the year, catching any infestations early, or in a reactive way once an infestation has been found, by establishing how far bed bugs have spread across multiple rooms.

For more information on our Bed BugDetection Dogs please get in touch with a member of the team.

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