That’s right, they’re not fake dogs, but THEY ARE not professionally trained bed bug sniffing dogs. Here’s an example:

A Tail of Two Dogs (sorry, had to)

The “real” bed bug sniffing dog is trained for weeks at an established dog training facility with a proven track record of success. Example: Falco K9 Academy in California with 30 years of experience. The dog and trainer must pass a rigorous test before they certify their dogs.

Not a “real” bed bug sniffing dog

The other a “home schooled” dog, trained by the owners law enforcement friend. This is not possessional training, there is no certification or guarantee this dog knows a bed bug from a carpet beetle.

This type of opportunism is bound to occur, but you don’t have to be a victim of it, if you:

• Ask to see the certificate
• Write the name of the school down
• Make a phone call to the academy to confirm they did train the dog.
• Check the training academy on the internet and watch their videos.

You can and should ask about certification when you call for a bed bug inspection. Then do your research on the academy, and call back if you feel confident. You can call the academy to confirm the dog did actually get trained at their facility. It’s worth the call to you, believe me.

I would never have a dog that was not trained at a professional academy with a proven track record and positive history, inspect my house for bed bugs. Not even for free!

A free inspection or cheap inspection with an “untrained” dog is worse than free. It can mean an inaccurate result that doesn’t inform you whether you have bed bugs or not. I’m linking this post to the full website, because I think this is so important.

Bed bug dog inspections are a fantastic tool, but unprofessionally trained dogs can make things worse for those trying to determine if bed bugs are their problem.

There having been so much time elapsed since the end of the infestation and now, I’m going to do some catching up over a series of posts. I might ramble, or jump around in time, so it could get confusing but only for you. : ) See I’m smiling because I don’t have bed bugs anymore, but I’ve really only embraced that “reality” in the last few weeks. Huh? That’s right, after all this time, I’m finally ready to say with confidence, nervously, but with certainty that I do not have bed bugs.

Yep the last bed bug I saw in my home was in June 2009, that’s how crazy they made me. How anxious, uncertain, fearful and worried that they were somehow not really gone. Why did it take so long? Fear really, it’s that simple, and a series of small random but creepy events that made it hard to know “are they really gone?”

So this is the first of many revealing events of the last 2 and half years or as I’m going to call it My Bed Bug Odyssey.

Also, in retrospect there is a different post on the same subject here on the blog. I wrote that a while ago, before I felt as fervent as I do now about the idea of pre-emptive strategies. I think that comes from the growing infestations, and therefore ever increasing possibility of coming into contact with “them.”

Using a low vapor steamer and a bed bug dog a young couple eliminated bed bugs from their home. It wasn’t free or quick, but not as costly as professional heat treatment.

IMPORTANT: If you have applied pesticides to the floors/baseboards recently you cannot use this method. Steam will vaporize the pesticides, which you would then risk inhaling. It is recommended that a protective mask be worn when steaming

Here’s how they did it.

They made arrangements with a bed bug sniffing dog handler to have a series of inspections until they were bed bug free.

They had their first dog inspection to determine where the bugs were. Then they could treat those areas in depth, with the knowledge that yes, bed bugs could move to another location. Their plan provided for that.

They procured a low vapor steam cleaner (low vapor so as to minimize the risk of mold by emitting very little water).

They treated the items in their home according to typical precautions; Laundry, clutter, sealing things up in bags, cleaning. (I don’t know if they had a Packtite, but this would be very helpful for cushions and paper, etc.)

They isolated their bed after they steamed and ensured all blankets and pillows had been cleaned.

Keep in mind you would NOT use pesticides or DE during this process as steam will remove them and possibly poison you. If I were taking this approach, I would definitely use DE after the bed bugs were declared gone, just in case.

Then they began steaming everything in and around the areas that had positive “hits” by the dog. They did this repeatedly. They were meticulous in not re-infesting their bed by bringing one onto it.

Then they had another dog inspection. They pinpointed the positive hits and steamed again, and again.

This is how they did it. Until there were no more positive hits. If my memory serves me this took only a few weeks from start to clear. I’m really happy to hear stories like this. I know how hard they worked to succeed.

I admire their determination. That’s what kills bed bugs, determination.

There’s more information on our website Bedbugsnorthwest.com

I think it’s important to consider where they may have come from, but not to obsess about it. Better to obsess about how to get rid of them. Anyway, he reported it, later than he should have, but you know how it goes. He was given an inspection, treatment and follow-up treatment. In addition he was given no-pest strips and garbage bags to disinfect his possessions.

and now the rub….it’s up to the tenant to treat his possessions, and ensure he is taking proper precautions during and after treatment. And of course it has to be this way, each involved party; the tenant, and the landlord/manager must act quickly, knowledgeably and consistently until the bed bugs have been eradicated.

Among pest control people there are different opinions about isolating your bed during your infestation. But let’s look at this from a different point of view. What if (a BIG what-if, I know, but hypothetically, go with me) every bed was isolated from the wall and legs are in ClimbUp Monitors (yes, I’m an affiliate, but still). Then let’s just say a bed bug finds its way into your home and bedroom. That one singular bed bug would not be able to feed on you in bed, making its life much more complicated. Now it has to find you on the sofa or a chair, but it also has to survive long enough to do so. It’s chances for survival (if you employ a couple of tricks like doing the soap/DE/Alcohol mix under an area rug, where they would love to hide) go way down, and if it comes in contact with the DE mix, it’s going to die in about 10 days.

The DE mix came from a blog and I used this after my residuals wore off (about a year and a half now) around my baseboards and under my area rug. The soap (just dish soap) makes the DE stick as it’s in a spray bottle of soap and alcohol. It doesn’t fluff up under my carpet and I only applied it to the carpet binding around the entire base of the carpet. Carpet tape? Not sure what you call it. But any bug that decides under the carpet is a nice place to hide is going to make contact with that dried mixture. Let me say once again – DO NOT PUT DE ON FURNITURE/SOFAS/CHAIRS/OR YOUR BED. You do not want to inhale it.

If you have the legs of your bed in ClimbUp Monitors you now have an early warning system. Any bed bug in your house will try to get into your bed. 100% they are going to try because that’s what they do. They eat and reproduce, and with the ClimbUp they would get stuck in the cup portion and would be unable to escape. Now you have two protective measures to keep bed bugs from getting to you if one gets in your home.

What do you think?