K9 Inspection

The best way to determine whether or not bed bugs are present in your home or business is by using a highly-trained K9 to detect them.

When the University of Florida independently tested J & K Canine Academy dogs to find bed bugs in a hotel room environment, the confirmed success rate was 97.5%. When the University of Kentucky endorsed the use of bed bug detecting dogs in 2008, they said the “reliability of the dogs has been impressive provided they are properly trained.”

With our feature canine, “Rockie,” you get exactly what the universities of Florida and Kentucky are endorsing: a reliable, accurate bed bug dog. She’s as friendly a dog as you will ever meet, yet the on-site experience she gained in the 2nd half of 2010 made her one of the most utilized bed bug K9’s in the country. She’s received the highest level of training in the United States, having bee trained at J & K Canine Academy, and she’s achieved the highest standard of certification available, having been certified by the National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association.

As we were one of the 1st independent NESDCA bed bug inspection companies in the tri-state area (and the 1st in New Jersey), it’s been Rockie who gained the experience necessary to handle even the most difficult bed bug inspections. She’s a high-energy, yet methodical and disciplined dog. When she determines bed bugs are present at a location, it allows you to begin the remediation process quickly. Yet when she doesn’t detect, it saves you countless hours of unneeded preparation, not to mention the expenses associated with remediation. You’ll get much deserved peace of mind as well.

(for an excellent article on how K9 scent detection works, please refer to the following link: http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/7_11/features/Canine-Sense-of-Smell_15668-1.html )

Visual Inspection

As accurate and reliable as K9 inspections have turned out to be in locating bed bugs, the public’s preference that visual inspections accompany a dog’s findings has been a welcomed development at our company.

Our experience with providing visual inspections was in place long before we employed a dog to detect bed bugs, having had inspected thousands of individual locations in New York City and New Jersey in the 3 years prior to our bed bug K9 purchase. The majority of independent bed bug inspection companies that are currently utilizing K9’s for bed bug detection have no visual inspection experience to fall back on at all. Even pest control companies are hiring dog handlers that have no experience visually inspecting for bed bugs.

Yet visual bed bug inspections are not easy, and the best pest control companies & technicians in the tri-state area can confirm this. It requires detailed knowledge of how bed bugs live and breathe, an understanding of where bed bugs will deploy themselves, signs an inspector needs to be able to identify when bed bugs are present, and then the patience and work ethic needed to properly search for these insects.

The most experienced bed bug inspector will often times have a tough time locating a bed bug infestation, especially when a small number of bed bugs are present. When we were inspecting for bed bugs at one of New York City’s highest volume pest control companies, we learned that there wasn’t a place in an apartment or home where bed bugs wouldn’t be found when the infestation was heavy. Inspections were always more difficult to perform when infestations were light, because the result would often be inconclusive. Yet having the experience at our back was vital in conducting the search.

Our commitment to our customers includes visually supporting our dog’s findings, and we’re able to do with the experience you should expect from a bed bug inspection company.

Electronic Detection

Among the emerging technologies being created to help detect for bed bugs is the invention of the BBD-100 Personal Bed Bug Detector, and in instances where we’ve been able to supplement our K9 inspections with this device, the results have been promising, particularly in concealed locations.

The BBD-100 is manufactured by a company (Termite Detection Systems, Inc.) that invented an electronic detector that was successfully able to locate termites. When the inventor realized bed bugs could be located using the same technology, he patented a device specifically tailored to detecting bed bugs. This device became available for purchase in April of 2011, and we became the 1st inspection company nationally to utilize this technology in the field.

The idea behind electronic detection is that there are specific gases that a live bed bug omits that can be differentiated by the BBD-100 air pump in taking these gases. When enough of the gases are captured by the BBD-100 air pump, it will indicate with an affirmative alarm sound.

The challenge with this technology is that the gases a bed bug omits dissipates very quickly into the atmosphere, and the BBD-100 must be deployed in locations where bed bug gases are not dissolving quickly in order for the alarm to go off. In our field testing of the BBD-100, we’ve learned that the device will pick up bed bugs in concealed areas, giving us reason to be excited as this technology continues to be refined by its inventor.

While K9 inspection continues to be the best bed bug inspection method available, our company will always be committed to finding new, emerging detection methods, such as the BBD-100.