By Keith Coddington
Cimex K9 would like to introduce Zane, Ross, Isis and Olivia Arizona’s best option for bedbug inspections. Each one of these dogs has been hand-picked for this special field of detection. It often takes evaluating 100-200 rescue dogs before one is selected for this line of duty.
The intelligence of the dog doesn’t have as much to do with the selection as other factors. What is most important is the drive behind the dog. Meaning the dog will do absolutely anything to receive their reward. These four are all toy / praise reward dogs which means they work so they can play with their toy and handler. We prefer this method over food reward due to how often we find food in the areas we are hired to search in and we enjoy the high drive our dogs posses.
Another extremely important factor in the selection of a working dog is how the dog behaves in public with the distractions of people, other animals, noises and just about any other distraction you can think of. Our dogs are very obedient, conditioned to work through any distractions and they are trained to primarily work off-leash independently of the handler or on-leash when required. The more the human can stay out of the dog’s way the better, after all the whole reason we are using the dog is that they are the natural expert hunters.
Initial training can take several months, but the training never stops and having a trainer on staff providing quality control is what we believe sets our program apart from others.
It is important to understand that the K-9 and the handler are a team and work together to make sure the customer is 
receiving the most accurate inspection possible. Often the K-9 will quickly find bedbugs or evidence of bedbugs in a room in a matter of seconds on their own yet other times the handler must detail certain areas to be sure. This combination along with visual verification is by far the best option possible in today’s battle against these persistent bedbugs.
All of our dogs live a normal pet dog style of life when they are off duty. They know when it is work time and when it is off-duty time. They live with regular families and live in wonderful loving homes with other dogs as well. Our canine’s favorite activities when not working are by far playing with their toys. These dogs are absolutely obsessed with their toys as this is what they also work for. They will play fetch for hours on end until your arm falls off. They also know when it is time to settle down and they all do have their “off-switch” Olivia’s switch can sometimes be the hardest to turn off, even after her handler takes her on a 10 mile walk/run. Ross and Zane currently live together and not only love playing fetch, but love to wrestle. Isis loves her GIANT ball more than anything.
One of the most rewarding things about working with these dogs is knowing that they were saved from the shelter and more than likely destruction. These high drive dogs do not make good pets and are usually dropped off at the shelter because their energy can’t be channeled into something positive which leads to destructive behaviors. Fortunately we have given these dogs an outlet for this energy and it is helping us humans against the dreaded bedbug!
For more information on our dogs or bedbug dog detection teams contact Cimex K9, LLC at 888-928-4364
Interquest, via the use of highly trained and certified detection canines provides a deterrent program to minimize the presence of unwanted drugs and other contraband potentially found on the school campus or in the workplace.
