When you think of a K-9 unit, you probably think of a heart pounding action movie or a crazy, true-life crime story where drug or bomb-sniffing dogs had to be called in to save the day and catch the bad guys. While bed bugs might not seem as high stakes as fiery explosives or large quantities of narcotics, these tiny blood-sucking pests have become a huge problem in this country and man’s best friend is increasingly being used to hunt them down. With a sense of smell often estimate to be 10,000 times more sensitive than a human’s, dogs can be trained to pick up the scent bedbugs leave behind, which is too faint for humans to smell.
In an interview with the Chillicothe Times-Bulletin in Illinois, Bob Quinn, whose Dutch Shepherd Cane hunts bedbugs, said bedbugs are a growing problem in his area and around the country and having dogs who are trained to hunt them down will actually save communities money in the long run.
“A dog has such a better chance at finding bedbugs in hard-to-see places, compared to people who have a zero percent chance of finding them in the same places. It’s not just beds they live in. They are hitchhikers and ride on your clothes until they fall off and make their home somewhere new,” Quinn said to the Times-Bulletin.
The article said the use of bedbug-sniffing dogs has become increasingly common in the past 15 years as the pests have become more common in the United States, especially in big cities that typically see more bedbug infestations than small towns. Risk of bedbug infestation also increases during the holiday season when you travel or host family and friends in your home. You can check out another recent blog post of ours for tips on staying bedbug free during the holiday season!
