Bed Bug Dogs Save Time and Money
A human inspection can take hours. A bed bug dog takes minutes.
Bed bugs are experts at finding places to hide. They are visible but their small size makes them easy to miss. Their eggs are even smaller and not easily visible to the naked eye. Bed bugs and their eggs often wind up in places that are difficult to inspect visually. This includes wall voids, seams in walls and floors, inside box springs and furniture. A human inspection can take hours and might not turn up anything. A bed bug dog on the other hand can sweep a room in minutes.
There are a few different kinds of bed bug monitors that can also be used to detect bed bugs. Some simply fit under the legs of the bed and trap any bugs that try to climb up. Others emit a combination of heat and carbon-dioxide to attract bed bugs into a trap. Using monitors to trap bed bugs can be a slow process, possibly taking days. Using a bed bug dog is instant.
Earlier Detection, Less Money
Many pest control operators do not use insecticides unless they can visually locate bed bugs. The result is that small infestations of well hidden bed bugs can go undetected, and the bed bug population builds in the background. When they finally are detected, the now much bigger infestation can make successful extermination much more difficult, time consuming and expensive.
Bed bug dogs can tell which rooms have bed bugs and which don't. This helps an exterminator target their efforts to just the areas that need treatment. This also saves you time and money.
Better Follow Up Inspection
After an extermination, it can be difficult for a bed bug exterminator to ensure there are no live bugs during a follow-up inspection. This follow-up inspection is a necessary step and indicates whether the extermination effort has been successful or not. It is possible that the exterminator finds signs of bed bugs and the remains of dead bed bugs but no live bed bugs. There may not be enough evidence for additional treatment.
If live bed bugs and eggs escape the extermination and the follow-up inspection, you still have a problem on your hand. Chances are the bed bug population will rebuild. A bed bug dog can tell if there is even a single living bed bug left after extermination. This precision helps eliminate much of the doubt that would exist from just a visual inspection.
Bed Bug Dogs are Here to Stay
We already use detection dogs successfully in so many different ways. This is just another way in which we can harness dogs' excellent sense of smell.
« Read Part 2: Bed Bug Dog Accuracy
More information: http://www.nesdca.com/docs/Ability_of_Bed_Begs.pdf