My question is how do I obtain bed bugs?

We had our home and cat treated (home twice) and now I am getting bites again. I am really frustrated because we have no more fleas and no tangible signs of bed bugs (no blood smears, smells, bugs themselves) and I am still getting bites. I do not get bit everyday, more like every 5-7 days. please let me know what else this could be. I cannot afford this. So far with all of the spraying for fleas, bed bug inspections and washing of everything, throwing stuff out and removal of all carpeting, I am out more than $2,000.00 HELP. I just want to know definitivly if I have them so I can treat them accordingly.

My name is Puja Seth and I am working on a documentary for animal planet on Bed Bugs. I came across your article. I would love to talk to you and see if you would want to share your story with us.

Please call me at your earliest convenience at 9173442872, 5168858773

Sincerely,

Puja Seth
Optomen Usa
100 Avenue Of Americas
New York, NY

I first want to start off by saying that using dogs to detect bed bugs is certainly not a scam. In fact, scientific studies have been done on the dogs to prove the accuracy of their findings. Now here is where that last sentence gets tricky. Yes, the University of Florida has done extensive studies in regards to the use of dogs and posted that their findings were that dogs were averaging 98% accuracy. But what you need to understand is that the University used dogs that were trained at J&K Canine Academy only. And because the University released their report without discussing who’s dogs they used, now everyone with a bed bug dog now thinks they have the right to say that their dog is 98% accurate, when in fact, that statement is completely inaccurate.

There is a third party national Certification company called NESDCA that certifies Bed Bug Dogs. First thing you should do is go to their website and see if the dog that you used is listed as an active team. If its not, I would then question the dogs ability to detect the odor of live bed bugs and viable eggs. If you need any assistance with this you can google my website and my contact info is right there. Feel free to give me a call. And let me just add that the NPMA just released that their new rule regarding the use of dogs will now need to meet the standards that NESDCA currently implements. All dogs now need to be single scent dogs and should be certified via a third party and not an in-house certification program. So again, if you or anyone out there needs help finding the best dogs in the business feel free to contact me. We can help.
Now onto the situation at hand….

I don’t know what the company that you used rules and regulations are but I will say this. When we do an inspection we rely 100% on the accuracy of the dog. Because if our handlers start second guessing our dogs, then that defeats the purpose completely. And so that you know, the extensive study that the University did stated that humans were only as high as 30% accurate in finding bed bugs. Which is the other reason we don’t search for them after the dog alerts.

Now, it is true, bed bugs can be illusive. Specially if they are nymphs (babies). In some cases they can actually hide within the fabric of your bed making them almost impossible to find. Also keep in mind that they could be elsewhere in your living space. Nightstand, couch, chairs, carpet, clock radios, etc etc. And for that reason alone, this is why using a dog like the ones we use, are a perfect fit for your situation. Secondly, if you were able to just see them on your bed, then you wouldn’t need a dog to begin with.

I recently had a customer go through the exact same thing as you. She had 4 pest management companies come in and none of them found a single bug. She then called us in and we had two alerts on each side of her mattress. I wrote in my report that the dog alerted to both sides of the bed and was also trying to crawl under the mattress. So I suggested that if her pest control company wanted to find them then I suggest looking on the mattress and look under the bed. Customer called me back 2 days later crying saying that the pest control company did not find anything at all. Her husband was calling it a scam as well. I asked if the pest control company completely searched the bed and box springs. She said yes. I asked how and she told me they had flash lights out looking all around the bed. When I asked if they took the fabric off the bottom of the box spring she replied NO. I suggested to look there, as I stated before the dog was trying to crawl under the bed. She called me back 30 minutes later again in tears apologizing to me stating that she found the evidence she was looking for. At last, they identified bed bugs.

I truly hoped this helped in some form and as I stated before, If you need help, we are phone call away.

David

Did the owner of the bed bug sniffing dog just leave it at that? If the dog jumped on a spot but you couldn’t see the bugs, perhaps they are in the mattress itself? Shirley left a comment on the bed bug treatment section that she had a similar problem and used 20 Mule Team (Borax) on the mattress to get rid of them. You’ll also see that J. Hensler used some eco spray from save-a-lot on his couches and the bed bugs dropped out of the furniture dead on the spot.

I’ve gotta say they really itched like crazy. I did all I could to not tear my skin off from the itching that the bites caused. I thought I was having some sort of an allergic reaction to dust because I had recently had my master bathroom redone in my bedroom and had just moved back in my house after staying at my boyfriends during construction. I should back track and state that I did not realize these were insect bites for a few days. I thought I had rashes caused by an irritant- such as dust. It was only after a couple of days of scratching that I could see more clearly that these areas looked just like mosquito bites.

Living in New England I naturally became suspect of any kind of insect during our freezing winters and began to try to figure out what had got me. My first suspicion was a large house plant I had outside my bedroom door. Every once in a while I had the tendency to over water it- and thought it might of been a good breeding ground for some sort of insect to thrive, so I quickly threw it away. Just to be on the safe side, the next morning I had an exterminator come and do an inspection of my home to make sure i was safe and pest free.

The exterminator who came to do the inspection told me that my bites looked a lot like classic bed bug bites and explained that he needed to do a thorough inspection of my house … especially of the bedrooms. He turned my house upside down looking for bed bugs. After a long search he said that he felt very certain that I did not have bed bugs and went on and on about all the telltale signs of bed bugs and how nothing in my home shows evidence of any (except for my bites!).

Anyways after a week or so of bite free, restful sleeps in my bed, I woke up last tuesday morning with 8 or 9 bites on my left wrist and arm! I was/am upset, disgusted, frustrated and in pain. I envy those who are not allergic to these awful bites. Consider yourselves lucky.The following morning I called my dermatologist and he saw me that afternoon. I suppose I wanted to see him because I felt desperate to hear that it wasn’t bed bug bites. I was actually hoping he was going to tell me it was eczema. My dermatologist said that he was 95% certain that I had bed bug bites and 100%certain that they are insect bites either way. At this point I am really starting to lose my mind. Not only have I spent $40 on a dr visit copay, but $185 on pest inspection and nothing has changed: (

The funny (not really) part about this buggy saga is that just when you think you have been pushed to the brink of insanity—you get pushed even further.

Now I have spent nearly 200 dollars, lost a lot of sleep, and look like I have some sort of a skin condition you could catch. not a pretty picture.I spent nearly all of wednesday night becoming a web MD/expert on and about bed bugs .After doing all my online research while I was paralyzed by fear of falling asleep- I decided the smartest thing I could do is to hire special dogs to come and sniff the exact location bed bugs!

Okay, so I hired this company with hounds that only can identify the scent of bed bug. Scam? who knows? I certainly didn’t care because I was/ am so desperate to get these things out of my house! So here is what happened. Yesterday the man with the dog came over to my home. The dog goes up to the beds in my house and apparently really reacts to something on both the bed in my master bedroom and the bed in my guest-room. You can’t imagine how excited I am that I am THIS close to hard evidence of real, live, disgusting, blood sucking bed bugs! I am this close to a solution!

Okay, the bed bug dog guy, dog, and I go back to the bedrooms to hone in on the exact spots the dog reacted to. This way I can find out where I need to treat the infestation. The doggy is good and shows me the spot again. I look at the box spring and then at the guy and dog and say “Uh, okay- umm can we see them… or like one” ? the guy tries to find one for me but goes on to say “how hard it is to find these little suckers” and “gosh they are just so sneaky”. Ughhh. My hope of the beginning of the end of bed bugs has quickly been deflated.. All I can think to my self is what an crazy, gullible idiot I have turned into in a mere 2 weeks. I will not even say how much money I spent on this. It is shameful…

Believe it or not that was my day yesterday. C’mon people- HELP ME!

Jennifer

If you are serious about starting something like this I may be able to push you in the right direction. You can find my contact info on our website at thek9pi. com

These tests could be brought to the dog if necessary. A website created for national certification with the names and information of the dogs that were certified, and the trainer responsible for each dog. A yearly re-certification could be required and any hotel could verify the claims of each dog.

Heck, you could even create a packet to send to the hotel containing the escape proof bed bug and container so the hotel could test the bed bug sniffing dogs themselves.

The possibilities are endless for this business and the start up fees almost nothing! This would be perfect for a dog lover like myself!

Thank you!

Clarice

ALSO, When companies advertise their dogs are 98% accurate you need to understand that those test were done by the University of Florida’s Entomology department. The same department whom helped create NESDCA. That being said, its NESDCA dogs that are proven 98% accurate, not the wanna be’s. To see a list of NESDCA dogs nation wide go and google NESDCA’S website and search for active teams in your area. If someone claims to be NESDCA certified and they are not on the list, that person is try to pull a fast one on you.

Good luck and best wishes.

The Team at K9 P.I. (Bed bug scent detection)

Stop the spread of infestation with early detection. Our dogs will show exactly where the problems exist so that rooms can be isolated and treated. Regular checks with our dogs will help hotels, apartments and commercial buildings keep these pests at bay. Even the individual homeowner may want confirmation of a bed bug problem, before thousands are spent on extermination. We are not associated with exterminators, therefore eliminating any conflict of interest.

During our bed bug inspections, we transmit immediate, real-time data providing the exact location of any “finds” to the facility. At the end of our inspection, we provide a certificate stating that the property has been screened for bed bugs by a certified bed bug dog.

We are a family owned business detectdog. com and each handler has been certified in bed bug detection, and each dog carries a bed bug detection certificate.