By KATIE SCHNEIDER, SUN MEDIA
The Calgary Sun
This four-legged exterminator won't let the bed bugs bite.
Kia, a black lab-Chesapeake Bay retriever-border collie cross from Florida, is the newest addition to a Canmore-based environmentally-friendly extermination company, recruited to sniff out nasty bed bugs in homes and businesses.
Rosemary Gartly, co-owner of Progressive Maintenance that serves Calgary customers as well, found the pooch while searching online for ways to better detect the tiny pests.
"I was researching more about bed bugs and how to detect them -- they are really good at hiding-- and came across Florida Canine Institute," she said.
There she found the one-year-old former rescue dog who has had 600 to 800 hours of training for scent distinction.
"And she is trained on the scent of bed bugs," she said.
With Kia's intense sense of smell, she is able to quickly sniff out the bugs' exoskeletons or feces and alert her owners, who can do a visual inspection of the more localized area so they can treat it.
"We're thrilled to have her -- it's absolutely amazing to watch especially when we do our own visual inspection," she said.
"If I ask her to show me she shows me exactly where they are."
She can also be used on a preventative level too, by for example inspecting hotels once a month, Gartly said.
Kia will be a welcome addition to the Progressive Maintenance family, she said.
"She will be the first bed bug dog in Calgary," she said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/11/06/11655971-sun.html
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