How Do Pest Controllers Use Sniffer Dogs To Detect Bed Bugs?

Did you know that it’s possible to detect bed bugs with sniffer dog? You see, the pest control industry thrives on innovation. Pests are constantly evolving. In response to this, humans are always coming up with new and innovative ways to find and destroy them. The latest technique is sniffer dogs that are trained to find bed bugs. But is this actually real, and how does it work?

Using sniffer dog to detect bed bugs

Dogs have a marvellous sense of smell. Humans have used this ability for centuries. Dogs are able to detect almost anything… from drugs, to explosives, to humans trapped in collapsed buildings. Believe or not, these animals can also be used to detect bed bugs in places around the home. This isn’t the first time that these pets have been used to find pests. This practice dates all the way back to the 1970s, when dogs were first used to find termites.

Bed bug dogs first appeared in around 2001. It’s hard to say who thought of this idea, but these dogs have gained popularity over time. There are even organisations, such as the World Detector Dog Organisation. Also, these dogs are surprisingly good at what they do. In one study, the dogs were able to find bed bugs with 98% accuracy, which is impressive.

Do you need bed bug detector dogs?

But here’s the real question, do you really need a dog to detect bed bugs? For most people, the answer is no. These dogs really aren’t necessary. Not only that, they’re not something that most people need. First of all, pest controllers are perfectly capable of finding bed bugs without the assistance of a dog. Second, most bed bugs are easy to locate. If you have these pests in your home, there’s a 90% chance that they’re in your bedroom even if you can’t coax them out.

Yes, dogs can be useful when there’s a lot of ground to cover. If you’re exterminating an entire hotel, and you want to pinpoint which rooms have pests, then dogs are useful. Otherwise, this really isn’t something you need.

Third, dogs that detect bed bugs are not commonplace. This is a niche thing. We only know of three people who offer this service in the UK. One is in London, and the other two are in the Midlands and West Sussex. The point is that it’s unlikely that you live near to someone who provides this service. It’s a lot easier to hire an ordinary exterminator to check for signs and forget about the dog. Finally, as you can imagine, hiring these dogs is pricy. You’re already spending money on pest control. Adding a dog to the mix is an unnecessary expense.