Bed Bugs Can Be Located by Trained Dogs

You have probably heard of several ways to take care of the issue of bed bugs. You can use do-it-yourself methods, or hire a professional to thoroughly clean anything that appears to harbor these pests. However, you have probably not heard of one newer, effective way to detect this issue: dogs. This is considered a unique yet thorough way to find out whether you have bed bugs. Not surprisingly, while dogs are great at sniffing and finding things, they are not very reliable for getting rid of tiny pests, so you would have to hire a different professional for this job. But before you spend the money trying to get rid of certain insects, spend a fraction of that money making sure you even have them.

You may wonder why you should use dogs when they cannot eliminate the actual problem once it is detected. This means you will have to pay two companies to complete the elimination of these insects. The main reason to do so is that many people mistakenly think they have bed bugs. They wake up with a few red or itchy spots on their skin, and assume the worst. However, it is often a different kind of bug that just happens to be in their home, or it is allergy instead. Even if you are sure it is actually this type of bug that infests your home, it is not always obvious where the infestation is. It might not be in your bedroom at all, but your couch, chair, or rug instead. Clearly, it is worth it to first spend a little money making sure you have this pest in your house, and then finding out where the infestation is so that you can tell the pest control company where to begin.

Many dogs are fast at this task, as they take a no-nonsense approach to the job. They like sniffing around, and can run around quickly, dodging furniture and even sticking their nose underneath it. A dog can sniff a large house in an hour or so usually, and a large building tends to take less than a day. The faster you get the pests detected, the sooner you can get them eliminated, so this trait is important.

Of course, one more reason to use this route for detecting bed bugs is that using a dog for a job is just neat. It is much more interesting than having a person poke around your home or use fancy machinery to locate pests. Instead, you can be proud to give a dog a task that he is happy to do, as he is kept busy and then rewarded with treats. Plus, you may get to sit back and watch the dog do what he is good at, as many animals naturally sniff out other living things anyway. This is why they are used to help humans so often, with the police being just one common example.

If you have the opportunity to use a dog to search your home for bed bugs, take advantage of it. It is generally a reliable, fast way to get started on pest control for your home.