Sniffer dogs are being used in hotels and homes to detect bed bugs.
Among their number are two spaniels called Rosie and Daisy, who have been trained to sniff out bed bugs from just a small sample of air from an affected room.
Dogs like them are up to four times better at detecting early bed bug infestations compared to humans doing the same job, according to pest control company Rentokil.
Pest control companies have reported being “inundated” with calls about bed bugs.
Tony King, owner of Pied Piper Pest Control, said they had been “flat out for at least the last eight or nine months with them” while Luton Council said it was receiving an “alarming number of bed bug jobs”.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Reports of infestations in Paris led to increased scrutiny on bed bugs on this side of the Channel – with experts warning things were just as bad in London.
Bed bug detection dogs go through similar training to the dogs used by airport security, the police and army to sniff out drugs, money and explosives.
The difference is that they are trained to detect the pheromones emitted by bed bugs.
Labrador retrievers, German shepherds, beagles and Belgian shepherds are the breeds often used as sniffer dogs.
When there is a severe bed bug infestation, humans are able to smell their musty odour. But at lower concentrations, dogs are much better at sniffing them out.
They can do this in two main ways. The first is taking the dog to the site of the possible infestation, where they will sniff around mattresses and furniture for any hiding bugs.
The second involves taking an air sample from a room using a backpack vacuum, without fully opening the door or entering the room.
The sample is then sent back to the testing facility where sniffer dogs are able to detect whether there are bed bugs in the room just from smelling the air.
Read more:
Inside a London house infested with bed bugs
Eurostar on alert as Paris grapples with bed bugs
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Rentokil has recently launched this new service. Paul Blackhurst from the company said “canine detectives are highly accurate at detecting bed bugs”.
They can sniff out the bugs “in areas that might be challenging for humans to access or inspect thoroughly”, he added.
That makes them particularly useful in large buildings such as hotels, where infestations can spread quickly if they are not caught early.
The UK saw a 65% increase in bed bug infestations from 2022 to 2023, according to data released by Rentokil in September.
