A two-year-old Labrador cross in Cochrane is sniffing out nuisance insects known to turn vacations into nightmares.
Rebel’s sniffer is detecting bed bug infestations in hotels, condos, homes, senior’s centres and Airbnbs all over central and southern Alberta with the help of handler and owner James Wood. The duo is the only independent canine scent detection team certified by the World Detector Dog Organization in Alberta.
“We’ll go into, say, a hotel room and do an inspection in all of the rooms,” said Wood. “When Rebel hits the scent she will travel in on the point. Once she gets to the point she will sit, look at the point and look at me. Then I reward her and I do the search. I’ve got to make sure that, visually, I can see them so I can tell the client exactly where they are.”
Bed bugs have become a plight for many tourist-related accommodations as the apple-seed-sized bugs often hitch rides on travellers from destination to destination, said Wood.
“Bed bugs are common everywhere,” he said. “International travel is notorious for introducing bed bug issues.”
Wood said they often hide in cracks and crevices where they cannot be seen, and can live up to 18 months without food.
“Even though it’s been quiet in hotels and Airbnbs, the bed bugs are still there,” he said. “The big thing I’m trying to get out is the fact that hotels and condos and Airbnbs should be looking for the bed bugs now so they don’t have an issue when things start opening up. If you get a report of bed bugs on a rating it can be brutal for small businesses.”
Ideally, Wood wants to find the pests before the problem is out of control, and has an arrangement with some businesses to conduct monthly inspections as a preventative, rather than reactive, measure.
“Doing inspections on places that have been empty is so important right now before it gets busy,” he said. “Once it gets busy and there is an issue it can be devastating for businesses. It’s very expensive to get rid of large infestations. You’ve got to get the whole area treated.”
Wood obtained Rebel from Bed Bug K-9s in California after contacting the company in early 2020 to inquire about buying a trained bed bug-sniffing dog.
He got the idea while working in the residence service department at a university in Calgary where bed bugs were an ongoing problem due to the transient population.
Through research, Wood learned about dogs that were trained to sniff out bed bugs.
The university brought in a dog and handler from B.C. as there were none in Alberta at the time, Wood said.
“I thought it was spectacular,” he said. “It’s such a positive step to trying to control the issue. It seems to be such a reactive industry that we’ve got to get ahead of the issue, simply because it’s far cheaper to take care of a small infestation and treat it than it is a large infestation where you have to start getting rid of furniture.”
When Wood was laid off from his job in 2019 due to cutbacks, he decided to get his own dog and came into contact with Bed Bug K-9s.
“I decided to look for a new avenue and, knowing what I knew about bed bugs and the dogs, I knew it was a great opportunity to get a dog and start working with companies on preventative maintenance,” he said.
During the first two days, Wood worked with three dogs, but it was Rebel that stood out.
“Rebel and I just sort of made a connection right from the beginning,” he said. “We were really comfortable with each other. I could tell right away that it was a really good fit.”
Wood spent the next week learning how to work with Rebel, and continues to train her every day.
“I get vials of bed bugs with screens on them so they can’t get out that I hide around the house or a warehouse or office that someone is allowing me to use and we just go in and search for bed bugs,” he said.
He rewards Rebel with food.
When Rebel isn’t working, she’s enjoying a dog’s life playing with Wood’s pet Rottweiler, going for walks and playing catch.
“She’s an absolute sweetheart,” Wood said. “Rebel is highly intelligent and incredible at what she does.”
