Each Bell Environmental bed bug dog has been trained to pinpoint bed bugs where they’re located. Our dogs indicate with a passive alert: they nod and point when they find live bed bugs or eggs. The bed bug dogs are not trained to bark or scratch as a form of alerting for bed bugs. Do not be fooled by people who say “wherever the dog barks there must be a bed bug infestation.” The dogs will alert to the areas where the bugs tend to live and hide— the bed, the furniture, wall outlets, and carpet seams. Many times the bed bug dog will pinpoint precisely where the bed bugs are hiding, however due to air currents carrying scent, the indication may be within a four foot radius of where the bug or egg is.
Bell Environmental’s canines are trained regularly, in addition to scheduled bed bug inspections. The trainers also perform physical conditioning with the dogs and maintain their health and well-being. Our bed bug dog detectives are working dogs and have a residence at our office; they do not go home with our handlers. Our handlers and trainers are committed to train and work the dogs daily.
Bell Environmental’s bed bug sniffing dog see the hunt for bed bugs as a game; they enjoy the process and take pride in their jobs at bed bug inspection. Bell’s handlers vary the training, including daily physical conditioning in parks and dog runs and changes to the locations inspected and the placements of hidden live bugs and eggs. We regularly train outside of scheduled bed bug inspection routines against two types of double blind hides: a third party puts out bed bugs, where neither the handler/dog knows where the hides are located, and a third party has the bed bug dog team inspect a room without any hidden bugs without the canine team knowing that there aren’t bed bugs present in the room. Control insects such as dermestid beetles, and common items the dogs will encounter such human food and rodent scents are also included. We perform this training to ensure that our bed bug sniffing dogs do not alert to bed bugs when they are not present (false positives).
Our canine teams also train in areas where there are distractions (such as a Petco) to make sure our bed bug dog sniffers do not alert to pet food and can work through encounters with other animals.
Bell Environmental’s dogs are also socialized with people and other dogs. Our canines also obey basic commands.
Posted in: Bed Bug Canine Team