WOW! There's been some misinformation about the use of canines for bed bug scent detection. Most of it comes from people that don't know any better or do not bother to get the facts.
PLEASE
e-mail us any questions or concerns you may have, or give us a call.
After all, your peace of mind is our top priority.
QUESTIONS? CONCERNS? CALL US TODAY FOR ANSWERS!
1-646-346-8597 or 1-845-661-2029
Or e-mail Chuck Cerbini at Chuck@BeagleNoseBest.com
Please be aware that the following information comes from Chuck Cerbini based on his 25 years of experience in pest control and as a NESDCA accredited scent detection canine handler with his teammate Barney. He speaks only for himself to those who want the facts.
Here are the misstatements - and the facts:
"Bed bug dogs find bed bugs."
Incorrect. The best scent detection canines are trained to detect the odor of live bed bugs or viable bed bug eggs. This is an important difference and probably the main source of misunderstanding.
So, a bed bug or bed bug egg can be present, the dog will alert (Barney scratches at the place where he detects the source of the odor), but you look and can't easily see the bug or egg. This leads us to the following issue:
"Too many dogs have false positives."
The term "false positive"
has been thrown around more than a football on Sunday. What people
mean by this is that the canine alerts on an area where there are
APPARENTLY no bed bugs to be found. Everything about this is wrong.
In order for someone to tell me there's no bed bugs or viable eggs
present after Barney alerts they had better do a lot of detailed,
exhaustive hunting first.
If you didn't see any bed bugs or viable eggs after an alert, my first question would be: How thoroughly did you look? If the dog alerted on a mattress, the bug may have found its way into the mattress and is not obvious and visible, just waiting on the surface of the mattress for you to see.
Do you know how tiny a bed bug egg is? They are about the color (translucent) and shape of an uncooked grain of rice BUT ABOUT 100 TIMES SMALLER! You need magnification to see them clearly. A bed bug egg is about 1.5 mm in length and so is the nymph that hatches from it.
Here's a perfect example from an e-mail I received
recently
from a NESDCA accredited team in Cleveland : "...she (Nips) alerted on 2 eggs in a lobby chair of a senior center.... The PMP really had to look to find them, but he did."
Don't forget, bed bugs are experts at hiding! Don't expect to see them so easily everywhere the dog alerts!
By the way, if you are in Ohio and need a NESDCA accredited team may I recommend "NipIt LLC." Daniel and Liz Hernandez handle their dog, Nips. I have seen them in action, they do great work. Find them at
www.nipitbedbugdog.com
"If your dog only gets fed when he finds bed bugs or viable eggs, won't he alert on purpose just because he's hungry?"
No, because it does not work that way. Barney gets fed two cups of food each day whether he works all day or not at all. When he's working, he gets a food reward each time he alerts on bed bugs or viable eggs. If there's no bed bugs around, we hide some vials of bed bugs on purpose to let him find them so he can eat and be told (in a very excited manner) how wonderful he is for finding them! He never goes hungry and in fact - at 23 pounds - gets fed MORE food each day than our 65 pound Chocolate Lab.
A similar question to the "hungry dog" phenomenon is:
"Since dogs are always hungry, why don't you use non-food rewards instead, like affection or praise?"
This is one of my favorites because it recently came from a very well respected member of the pest control community (who would have known better if he had ever owned a pet dog.) My pet dogs, Chaz and Chloe, ALWAYS come to me for affection - to get their head, belly or ears scratched - whenever and wherever I sit. So, why wouldn't a dog "false alert" just because it wants to get it's head scratched? Food, praise, affection - DOGS WANT IT ALL! And they should have it all! Here's the secret: It comes down to training and how that training is maintained daily.
"Why can't the team be certified by the NPCA (National Police Canine Association) or some other law enforcement canine association?"
Scent
Detection Canines (like Barney) that come from PepeDogs are trained by
the same people that handle and train canines for law enforcement
personnel. They undergo the same intensive training regimen as law
enforcement canines receive with little difference.
Law enforcement personnel put their lives, and the lives of their canine partners, on the line for us every day. They are charged with the awesome responsibility of keeping us safe. All canines that detect bed bugs, termites, carpenter ants, mold, etc. are used in the civilian world. Certifications are best kept separate.
PLEASE e-mail us any questions or concerns you may have, or give us a call. After all, your peace of mind is our top priority.
QUESTIONS? CONCERNS? CALL US TODAY FOR ANSWERS!
1-646-346-8597 or 1-845-661-2029
Or e-mail Chuck Cerbini at chuck@BeagleNoseBest.com