You have itchy, red bite marks.  You suspect, but you cannot find any signs of bed bugs.  No one else in the house has bite marks.  No one understands your concern.  You want to hire a bed bug dog, and wonder why trust a sniffer dog to find what you cannot find?

A sniffer dog is a scent detection dog, a specialized working dog, trained to pinpoint a specific scent target.  Bomb, drug, and search and rescue dogs, all scent detection dogs, have established a position of trust in society over many years.  Why are they so successful?

Nose, Eyes, Ears

If you have watched the Dog Whisper, you have heard Cesar Millan repeat:  “Nose, eyes, ears”; the order in which a dog processes information. A dog naturally ‘sees’ with the nose first.   A dog's world is not filled with colour, but with layers of different scents and each ones tells a different story to the dog.

Science of the Nose

A dog’s nose is far superior to our own olfactory senses or any mechanical device created to date.  A dog differentiates odours at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than man does.  While man detects a freshly baked apple pie, a dog discerns the specific ingredients:  flour, salt, shortening, water, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, apples and butter.

Instinct to Hunt

The dog’s natural instinct to hunt is cultivated through expert dog training to search out a specific scent – a scent we want to locate.  The dog truly wants to locate the target scent and to seek out bed bugs and bed bug eggs after two to three months of praise and reward system training.

Bed bug dog, Loola Loo of Bed Bug Mutts, searching for bed bugs.

A dog follows his nose, a nose with superior olfactory senses to hunt – a natural canine instinct.  Through specialized scent detection training the dog uses its natural drive to hunt for what we want to locate, the specialized scent target – live bed bugs and bed bug eggs.  It truly is a wonder to watch the intensity and skill of a scent detection dog at work.

If you suspect bed bugs and you live in the lower mainland of Vancouver, BC, Canada, Bed Bug Mutts is available to help you find those masters of hide and seek – bed bugs.