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Why it Is Difficult To Declare That A Bed Bug Infestation is Eliminated.

02/12/2013

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* There are no absolute reliable monitoring devices that exist today.
* Visual inspections can miss low-level bed bug populations as these can hide behind walls, outlets, baseboards, cracks in the walls, inside electronics etc.
* A treatment may miss eggs that were inaccessible and these may hatch later.
* Bed bugs can go into hiding for quite some time after a meal and thus are more likely to escape the effects of pesticide treatments.
* There are no standardized, cookie-cutter methods for treating bed bugs. 
* Partly because every situation is different and every treatment approach should be tailored to it.
* Bed bugs proliferate very rapidly and thus can build resistance relatively fast to pesticides.
* One bed bug population that originated from one source can develop an entirely different resistance level  to pesticides compared to another bed bug population from another source.
* Bed bugs often stop biting after an insecticide treatment.
* No one really understands how bed bugs behave in the absence of hosts.
* There is no way of telling whether bed bugs that suddenly reappear weeks later are newly introduced since the last treatment or are remnants of the last infestation.
I would therefore highly recommend to ask our K9s to conduct a bed bug inspection and detect those pesky elusive critters all the way down to 1 live bed bug of egg.  Call us at 508-713-8267 or contact us here.
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Thoughtful Senior Health Care covering costs of bed bug inspection and treatment of visiting family's home. 

11/23/2012

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Inspected a couple of rooms in the Altzheimer's wing of this Senior retirement and care facility near Billerica MA.  We also were tasked to inspect a hallway with some chairs and couches as well as a living/TV room area.
According to the executive director, a nurse had found on 2 occasions within a short timespan a bed bug crawling on this poor old woman's clothing, once in her room and once in the hallway on the couch.  
The inspection resulted in no alerts, which brought a huge sigh of relief for the executive director.   However,  she wanted to know what else she could do to prevent an infestation from going out of control.
I suggested to have a candid talk with the family of this elder woman as most likely someone in the family keeps bringing in bedbugs when visiting. And to offer to have an inspection of their home conducted as well as have their home treated if needed, all of this at the expense of the facility. Think about it!  In the end, the facility will save a lot of money getting to the source of the problem and helping with the cost of treatment rather than wait for an infestation to get out of control.
I was pleased to see that she wholeheartedly agreed with me.
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More and More jobs in Apartment complexes.

08/24/2012

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This week, we have been booked solid with jobs in Peabody, Newburyport, Rockport, Chestnut Hill and Needham. 
We were on our way back home past the last Framingham exit on the Pike before 495 yesterday at 3:30 PM when we got a call from a luxury hotel in Boston, asking us to conduct an inspection of 15 floors "now":  bedrooms, housekeepers' carts, trash rooms and the loading dock that still was holding some of the linen carts a truck had recently delivered.  Unfortunately, the hotel got notice a bit late that some of the linen carts may be infested with bed bugs.  They had already distributed the linens to the housekeepers on several floors.  So we had to turn around and conducted the inspection until  late that evening.
Congrats go to our partners, Nicki and Malamar who were very good sports in conducting this search late that day after 2 jobs already performed since the early morning.  They did a fantastic job.  Best employees I ever had!
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Another Bed Bug Inspection in Allston, MA

06/19/2012

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Malamar taking a nap after a canine bed bug inspection job in Allston today.  A multi-units apartment complex, basically rented out to college students.  Ah! the days of College.  Long gone, so much fun indeed.  But I certainly do not remember living in such disastrous, messy, cluttery, dirty conditions.  Especially the kitchen area. 
Oh well!  Malamar is perfect for this type of inspection job.  She just follows my lead and sniffs out everywhere and everything.  She was not too distracted by a cat that was running loose in one of the units.  Genrally, she would go wild at the sight or smell of a cat.  And another unit has a dog in it.
Kudos to Malamar who just behaved.
 
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A Bed Bug Inspection in Carlisle

06/14/2012

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Off to Carlisle, MA for yet another residential bed bug inspection.  These people were helping their sisters move out and into a new apartment.  And found out she had had a bed bug infestation.  So now they want to know if they brought those great hitchhickers back into their home.  I get a lot of these types of requests.  Off we go, Nicki and Malamar and I...
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Bed Bug Inspections in New England

06/13/2012

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Lately we have been doing bed bug dog inspections all over the place in VT, RI, Boston, Newton, Allston, Somerville and we are on the brink of landing a big contract with a well-known, large property management company for repeat business.  Kudos to Nicki and Malamar!
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First Time Ever I had to Decline an Inspection

06/12/2012

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A 2-decker near Boston.  First floor was impeccably clean and well-kempt.  Just a stunning apartment with old wooden panels and the people were so cooperative and so professional.
The top apartment, where the bed bug infestation had started was just absolutely horrific.  These were relatively young people - I could smell the drugs - I am very sensitive to that.   No self-respect, and the place looked literally destroyed, disgustingly filthy and just unsafe.  I swear I saw needles near one of the beds.  Food all over the floor as well as ashes. I was so shocked, I even forgot to take pictures.

At any rate, I declined to perform the inspection as it was unsafe and un-healthy to my dogs.
They dared look at me in dis-belief but I held my ground!
I mean, seriously!
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World-renowned Resort not Spared by Bed Bugs

06/07/2012

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Yes, indeed!  Can't tell you which reputable, world-renowned resort is having problems with bed bug infestations because I swore my client I would not divulge the name ot it.  It turns out that she went to this resort on vacation a month or so ago and her son got bitten all over his little body.
Upon returning back home, she called the resort to find out if they had had a problem with bed bugs on the room they were in. 
2 weeks later, the resort confirmed the bed bug infestation.
The rest is history.  We got a phone call to K9- inspect her home that day. 
Fortunately, neither dogs alerted.  It was interesting to learn that the resort had requested that 2 independent canine inspections be performed within a week from each other.  They paid of course for all the charges, the travel costs, lodging and then some to their clients.

I could tell you more but it would have to be in dog language.   They really don't want humans to know...
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Can Drinking a Glass of Wine Keep Bedbugs Away?

06/05/2012

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Read on about this interesting research:  http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/can-drinking-a-glass-of-wine-keep-bedbugs-away
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Bed Bug Inspection in East Boston

05/04/2012

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We did a K-9 inspection of an apartment in East Boston this week.  This young lady was moving from Cambridge to stay with her boyfriend in East Boston.
She had found a bed bug in her apartment in Cambridge.  She decided to have all of her belongings fumigated and her boyfriend's apartment K-9 inspected for bed bugs before she moves in.
Malamar performed her sniffing duties very well, even though the smell of cats was lingering everywhere and kitty litter was strewn on the living room floor.
No bed bugs - thank you very much!
If you do have a similar problem with bed bugs, call us at 508-713-8267 or fill out this contact form.

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