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Although there are a number of pests to be worried about, few of them make people shudder quite like bed bugs. Cockroaches are disgusting. Flies are annoying. Spiders are creepy. Bed bugs, however, seem to be on everyone’s hit list. After all, their primary goal is to suck your blood while you’re sleeping in your own bed. What could be more disturbing than that?
One of the big problems when it comes to a bed bug infestation is finding the nasty little critters. Many homeowners are now turning to a novel approach to solve this issue: the use of bed bug dogs.
Bed bug dogs used for detection
Locating bed bugs in your home can be one of the most difficult parts of the process. Despite the fact that bed bugs can be seen by t
he naked eye, they’re still quite small and difficult to detect. Plus, they love to hide in the cracks and crevices of your home, whether it’s inside furniture or within your walls.
This is why many homeowners have turned to bed bug dogs for detection. As you’re probably aware, all breeds of dogs have an amazing sense of smell. They have been used to sniff out drugs, bombs, and other various items. Some of them, especially labradors and beagles, are now being trained to assist pest control professionals. First, they’ll help in determining if bed bugs are present in a person’s home. Then, they’ll sniff out all of the specific locations where extermination should be concentrated. The best part is that their detection ability is much higher than humans, which makes getting rid of an infestation much easier and faster, with less hassle.
Can bed bug dogs smell other types of bugs
If trained correctly, bed bug dogs can do an amazing job helping to locate the critters in your home. While a human’s accuracy teeters around 20-25%, a highly specialized canine can reach an accuracy as high as 95-97%. For this reason, you would think that dogs would be trained to detect other types of insects.
However, insect detection using highly trained canines has mostly been limited to bed bugs. The reason for this is somewhat unclear. A number of bugs give off a specific smell, well within the realm of a canine’s scent capability. Regardless of the reason, we should simply be thankful that we have a strong line of defense for detection.
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