Dogs used in the hunt for bedbugs

For decades, bedbugs have been almost mythical, the fodder of bedtime nursery rhymes. Recent restrictions on pesticides have created a resurgence of the bloodsucking creatures.

Local pest control companies say they have a wide range of customers trying to get rid of them. And the National Pest Management Association reports a 71 percent increase in bedbug cases since 2001.

Donna Coberly of Tampa trains dogs to detect the next generation of parasitic pests. Her top performer is Cinch, a Jack Russell mix with a great nose for nests of bedbugs. Coberly plants vials of live bedbugs, then rewards her dogs when they sit down, signaling detection of the scent.

"We teach them to equate food with the bedbug smell," Coberly said.

Her company, Excelsis Detections, has grown from one or two jobs a month two years ago to daily calls. "It's been a very busy year," she says.One sunny day in early November, she loaded up her dogs and headed to a job at an apartment near the University of South Florida. Four students feared an infestation because of persistent small bites on their arms.

Cinch's job was, well, a cinch.

Within minutes he detected several colonies of bedbugs under mattresses, lining the wall and even in the phone jack.

Coberly said the case probably was the most pronounced she'd seen, and Kyle Carson, a manager with Turner Pest Control, agreed.

Carson's specialty is eradicating bedbugs, from Tampa to Tallahassee. He buys bug-sniffing dogs from Coberly, and said they're invaluable in the detection of the creatures. Carson said calls reporting bedbug problems have increased tenfold since 2007, adding that they are equal opportunity offenders.

"We seen them from five-star hotels down to local neighborhoods," Carson said.

The first visual signs of a bedbug infestation are fecal spotting on the undersides of your mattress. Before you see them, though, you'll probably feel them, Carson said.

"You'll typically show up seven to 10 days after a bedbug bites with a series of bites along the bloodline on your body," Carson said.

Those in the pest control business call the bites "breakfast, lunch and dinner," Carson said.

Carson treats bedbugs by vacuuming, then applying steam heat to the colony. He then follows up with concentrated chemicals. Residential treatment costs $600 to $1,000 on average.

Insect experts theorize bedbugs are coming back with a vengeance because of bans on DDT and other harsh insecticides. Whatever the reason, Coberly, who charges $200 to $300 to detect the bugs, enjoys seeing her business going to the dogs.

"It's consistent - daily calls - which is wonderful," she said.