If It's Not a Bed Bug It Might Be a............................

Because we see bed bug infestations early on we see a wide variety of bugs that might resemble the bed bug but aren't. This past summer we ran into one of these scenarios, which turned out to be a new one for us, too!

A customer had bites that her doctor thought were bed bug bites, she had not seen any bugs but she works with the homeless population and it was very possible she had brought them home. 

She called us in to do a home inspection to verify that she had bed bugs before treatment. Bed bug mitigation is expensive. She also wanted to know what rooms to treat if treatment was needed.

Dusty Boot inspected her home but did not alert. 

After discussing, at length her situation she informed us that she had recently brought a stray cat into her house. The cat was in need of medical attention. The veterinarian thought cat mites were a possibility. As It turned, out she did not have bed bugs but cat mites. 

Here is an except from the customer's email after our inspection:

Hi Sunny!

 

 

I took the cat back to the veterinarian for the scheduled booster dose of mite medicine yesterday.  I have had no more bites since you were here (yay!).

 

The very next day after I saw you I was visiting a new client of mine and she told me she has bedbugs and had thrown out her bed. 

I thought, "You gotta be kidding me!" ...after everything I had just gone thru. What are the chances?

I have been super careful and taking better precautions. 

 

The veterinarian wrote down the name of the mite he thought the cat and I were affected by... thought you'd like to know.

 

cheyletiella mites on humans

 

 

Take care

Cheyletiella is a genus of mites which live on the surface of the skin of cats, dogs and humans. Symptoms in animals range from no manifestations to extreme itching, scales on skin, and loss of hair. Manifestations in humans are – numerous red bumps on the trunk, arms, and buttocks; which are very itchy. Symptoms usually fade in 3 weeks.

The adult Cheyletiella mite is 0.385 millimeters long, has 8 legs with combs, and palpi which terminate in hooks. They do not burrow into the skin, but dwell in the keratin. Their 21-day life cycle is on 1 host.  

The red text was copied from this site.

Cat mite bites look very similar to bed bug bites.

Cat mites though much, much smaller do look similar to bed bugs.

We had a happy ending, the veterinarian treated the cat for cat mites, problem solved. No bed bugs, no bed bug treatment! We wish more house calls ended like this one!

Accurate K-9 Pest Detection takes no referral fees from any pest company. The only money we receive is from our customers. We do not make more money if our dog finds bugs, which is not true for all bed bug scent dogs.

Here is an addition except from customer's email:

Thank you Sunny and Brad for coming to my home. You guys are special to work with folks like me living in a nightmare and feeling so vulnerable, emotional and confused 

about learning they may have a problem.  I have some peace of mind now and have been educated about how to be more vigilant and hopefully prevent any problem in the future. Once again, thanks so much for coming and accommodating me so soon!

I'd be happy to reference for you anytime.

 

 

 

 

Can a Bed Bug Dog Tell the Difference Between a Live Dead Bug and a Dead One?

I had a call for an inspection this morning. An ex-husband's wife had had bed bugs and he was afraid with the children going back and forth from one house to the other that he also had bed bugs. Very probable! However, he indicted that the ex-wife had not had me come to check her house after treatment because someone had told her that a scent dog cannot tell the difference between a dead bug and a live bug.

I will tell you what I told him:

When you hire a bed bug dog, ask to see the handler's training vials. Are their vials clean?

If you see dead bugs, or skins or exoskeletons that dog won't be able to tell the difference between a dead bug and a live bug.

We keep our vials clean. We clean them every week to ten days. The dog is only as good as the handler is, behind the scenes. Attention to details at home makes for a great dog is the field.

Yes, "Dusty Boot" can tell the difference between dead bugs and live bugs because he has been proofed off of them. He trains twice a day, morning and night. We have two vials of live bugs and one vial of dead bugs. We hide the dead bugs along with the live ones. He is only rewarded when he alerts on live bugs. You can tell when he smells the dead bugs, there is a difference in his body language but he does not alert. He does not alert on skins, sheddings or exoskeletons, either.

Absolutely, "Dusty Boot" can tell the difference between a dead bed bug and a live bed bug.

Do you have a question I can answer about bed bugs?

Too Good Not to Share.........

James 3:7

All kinds of birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed, and have been tamed but no man can tame the tongue it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Enjoy, you dog! I do.

When Dusty Boot goes into a home to find bugs, the resident wants to meet and greet him. They expect to watch him. It is fascinating, I agree and wish I could accommodate. But we need it to be quiet, no TV, dog bones, dog food, crumbs on the floor, etc. But don't clean before I come and vacuum up the bugs!  Taking 122+ breaths a minutes and moving as quickly as possible, the dog and the handler need all the concentration they can muster, together. Presenting the bugs to the dog, is the handler's job. Hunting bed bugs is hard, tiring work--for both the dog and the handler. He and I are there to do a job. Dusty Boot does not have a cuddly personality, even with me. I wish he did. It would be fun for me to take time for the customer to socialize with my dog afterwards. It isn't going to happen. So enjoy, this lovely video and hug your dog for me.

What would you like to teach your dog to do? Maybe I can help. 

Bed Bugs and Condo Living

Accurate K-9 Pest Detectionʼs

Recommendations for the Multi-Family Housing Resident 

303-233-7901

1.  Keep a clutter free home. Cleanliness has nothing to do whether you have or get bed bugs but clutter free living spaces make detection and mitigation easier and less expensive. Early detection is the key factor for cost effective mitigation. Pest professionals are only 30% accurate while a certified bed bug scent dog is 95-98% accurate. “Dusty Boot” can do an inspection in a fraction of the time it takes a pest professional.

2.  Do not buy second hand items at garage sales, thrift stores or bring home used furniture from unknown sources. If you do buy small used items take the immediate precaution of washing the item and/or putting them in the freezer for four days or dyer for forty-five minutes.

3.  Do not waste hard earned cash on any bed bug spray or chemicals found at local big box stores. Sprays need to be professional strength and even then sprays are the least effective way to mitigate against bed bugs. There are too many failure points and the infestation may worsen or spread, as a result.

4.  As a preventive buy and spread Food Grade Diatomaceous earth liberally in crevices and a strip by egress doors. Diatomaceous earth is green, economical and effective against a number of insects, including bed bugs. However, it does not kill bed bugs quickly but retards infestation.

5.  Put 1/3-1/2 cup of Borax in vacuum bag to prevent infestation and spread of bugs by way of the vacuum. This should be done to any vacuums used in central and common halls. Common areas, lobbies and laundry areas particularly upholstered furniture should be routinely inspected for bed bugs.

6.  Inspect bed routinely, seams, around cording and between mattresses looking for small black flecks and or bugs. Donʼt wait for bites, only four out of ten people react to the bed bug bite. Yes, it is possible to have bed bugs without knowing it.

If you suspect you have bed bugs do not move to another bedroom or couch. Moving from bed to bed or bed to couch makes the problem worse by spreading the bugs to multiple rooms. Call a pest professional, immediately.

7.  Do not move infested furniture through common halls and corridors without bagging the item. Large bags may be bought from U-Haul. When discarding infested items deface i.e. pour ketchup over them, so that no one is tempted to take the items.

www.bedbugdogscolorado.com

303-233-7901 

Accurate K-9 Pest Detection

Breaking News.....

A Day in the Life........

A day in the life of Brad and Sunny Hackman aka Accurate K-9 Pest Detection and Consulting Services would keep a normal person awake all night.

“Dusty, find the bugs!” says Sunny Hackman.

“Dusty Boot”, their dog a Border Collie Mix is a four-footed sleuth. A working certified scent dog he can detect the sticky strawberry-like smell of a bed bug, as few as one or two. Bed bugs hide any where you can slide a business card into, electronics, outlets, under carpet tack strips not just in beds, don’t let their name fool you. Trained and certified bed bug dogs like “Dusty Boot” find bed bugs with 90+ accuracy while a trained pest professional’s visual inspection accuracy is in the range 30%. That is why they are in such high demand.    

“Bed bugs don’t discriminate.” says Brad Hackman. “Blood is blood, and bed bugs attack the affluent and well-traveled and the poor and ill-equipped with equal vengeance.”

Dusty Boot’s clients are ravaged by insects that invade their sleeping quarters at night. The are desperate to find relief and regain the peace thats left their castle.

For the uninitiated the increasing bed bug problem is easy to ignore but for those experiencing it personally it robs their peace and is akin to having your home invaded by criminals.  

The Hackman’s experienced bed bugs first hand in a rental property when a tenant thought she was allergic to her laundry detergent. By the time the culprit was found out the unit was thoroughly infested. Sunny Hackman believes that the problem tenant is the one who doesn’t care or believes that bed bugs are just something everyone lives with or worse yet, the tenant who doesn’t realize that the apartment is infested. In the case study, “Controlling Bedbugs in Apartments” by Dr. Changlu Wang and Rutgers University, 50% of tenants living in infested apartments are unaware they are infested either because they don’t know what a bed bug looks like, they never see any bugs or it could be due to the fact that only four out of ten people react to the bites. Unless a person is over sixty they’ve probably never seen a bed bug. 

“Our bed bug education began in the school of hard knocks and the more we learned the more fascinating it became.” added Brad Hackman 

“You could say, we’ve been captured by the bug.” said Sunny Hackman. “After spending thousands of dollars to eradicate the bugs from the rental we ended up spending a couple of hundred to start our own bed bug colony.” Dusty Boots finds bugs morning and night to earn his food and only eats when he finds bugs. Of course, the bed bugs are kept safely in special entomologist’s vials and containers.

 Accurate K-9 Pest Detection and Consulting Services offers the following services: 

Walk-though: When a property owner, manager or tenant thinks they might have bed bugs Dusty Boot can confirm whether a problem exists. Being pro-active and acting before a bed bug population is established is a cost effective measure. Bed bugs left unattended destroy property value. They infiltrate the physical structure and pollute the income stream of an investment property. Bed bug infestations once established can run in the tens of thousands to eliminate. Infested buildings lose their reputation and lead to non-desirable tenants and high tenant turnover. 

Follow-up: After treatment Accurate K-9 Pest Detection and Consulting Services can confirm if a bed bug problem has been resolved.

Routine Monthly Inspections:  For motels/hotels, rental properties, dormitories, clinics, theaters or rental properties with reoccurring problems where there is high traffic and customer confidence must be maintained. 

Dusty Boot and Accurate K-9 Pest Detection and Consulting Services do not offer pest control or remediation services and do not benefit financially from the outcome of any inspection.  

Dusty Boots was certified by the Matt Skogen and the Iron Heart Training Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Matt Skogen has trained and certified multiple bedbug detection dogs through the National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association (NESDCA) and is on the board of the North American Detector Dog Association (NADDA) By-laws and certification procedures. In addition, he certifies and trains the bomb dogs and handlers for the National Reserve Banks, including the one in Denver. Dusty Boot has had over 800 hours of intensive training and Brad and Sunny Hackman are certified dog handlers.

If you have any questions regarding bed bugs or would like to schedule a service Brad and Sunny Hackman can be reached at Accurate K-9 Pest Detection and Consulting Services: 303-233-7901 or accuratepestdectection@gmail.com.