Bed bugs are commonly found in mattresses, but these unwanted pests can be lurking in many other items found around your home. Being able to adequately identify and locate the bed bug infestation is the first step toward effectively treating the problem. If you suspect a bed bug infestation and have called in the dogs to have a look around your NYC home, you’ll want to keep the following points in mind as the inspection date nears.
Highly Trained Dogs Will Find the Pests—If They’re in Your Home
With more than 800 hours of training under their belts, our highly trained dogs can sniff out bed bugs within a 3 feet radius, and they’re known for being 96% to 98% accurate at their job. They do this every day, so if you have a bed bug problem, our dogs will find it.
Food and Pet Containers
Our highly trained bed bug dogs are focused on the job at hand, but they could get distracted by stray food. It’s recommended that all food containers are closed up and put away before the inspection begins.
Related: Bed Bug Inspection: Where Do Bed Bugs Bite?
Removing Clutter
While we will take care of moving things around if we need to and put everything back, some homeowners feel more comfortable if their clutter is put away before the bed bug exterminator comes knocking on their door. A bit of cleanup can help to make the premises accessible, but more importantly will help keep the dogs from being deterred from their primary job—finding those bed bugs if you do indeed have any.
Keep in mind your inspection may include a variety of spaces in your home as bed bugs are known to hide not just in beds but could be lurking in your bedroom closet, bathroom, or even your living room. Our dogs will be able to sniff out these tiny pests if they are in hiding in outlets, loose wallpaper, drawer and wall joints, or between two cushions.
Caring for Your Pets
In order to effectively inspect your home, you may want to make accommodations for your pets if you think they may react adversely to having unknown dogs in their space. Some pets may react differently than normal to outside intrusions from other animals. You could simply move them to another room if your bed bug problem is isolated to one area of your home.
Minimize Distractions
Look around your home and see if there’s anything that could be quieted or should be put away before the dogs come. Look for stray medications or scents like candles that could be put away. We ask that you turn off air conditioning and close windows at least one hour before your inspection. And it also helps if you silence any media, like the radio or TV, before their arrival as well.
Prepare to Step Aside
The dogs need to be able to hear and smell for proper detection. To make the process as smooth and as effective as possible, we will ask you to leave the premises temporarily. That could mean simply sitting outside or running some errands while our dogs and handlers get to work. You can keep your mind off the potential bed bug problem and leave the worrying to us. We’ll have some answers for you soon, with an extermination plan if one is needed.