It is still amazing to me when you meet that prospective client, and they had no idea that dogs are used to detect bed bugs…………………
When I first saw the Merlin Bed Bug detection canines over five years ago, I remember sitting there in my national corporate company while the demonstration was taking place, thinking oh how cool is this. Also, how easy would it be to sell this service to the masses. So, when the offer to work at Merlin came up, to say I jumped at the chance is an understatement. Five years into my journey with Merlin and I am now able to really understand the canines and how they work.
The first part of the process is the right canine for the job, this is not as simple as most people would think. The canine needs a certain kind of drive and needs a certain personality. Yes, they need to be lively, but again not too lively. They need to be good with people and other canines, as this will be a daily occurrence in their working. Once the right canine candidate has been sourced then the hard work really begins.
We are very fortunate at Merlin to have our own dedicated training facility, with an amazing twenty-four acres for the stretching of four legs when required. We have a purpose set up training environment for the first stages of the canines training. This then leads onto environmental training in live situations and awareness for the canine of the areas they will be working in. From start to finish this can be completed within six to eight weeks, again this is dependent on the canine, and everyone is different. Some take to the training very quickly, where others are a bit more paced in their approach. There is no one size fits all when dealing with animals.
Once the canine is at a certain part of their training this is when the handler is introduced. This bonding time with the new handler is as vital as the canines training. As without a strong bond, there is no team to be had. It becomes very clear very quickly if the canine and handler are the correct fit, if not then this will not be forced, and other provisions will be made on where the canine will be placed and with who.
The training that our canines receive is very important. Our canines will only indicate on live scent of living bed bugs. This is at all life stages and includes viable eggs. This is not a one train and done scenario, as our canines receive Continuation Training on a weekly basis by our Head of Canine. If a canine is under performing or not doing what is required, it will be removed from service and will undertake some intensive focus work. This will continue until our Head of Canine passes the canine for active duty again. Even when this has been achieved, the canine will be monitored closely to ensure that he/she is performing to the best of its ability on every job he/she is sent to.
The welfare of our canines is top of the company’s agenda. The investment into these animals is huge and every care is taken to ensure that they can work to the best of their ability every day. All the canine vehicles are specially fitted out for the comfort of our animals. We provide the best vehicle kennels in the industry which are crash resistant and offer escape hatches for any eventuality. All our canine vehicles are fitted with run locks to enable the vehicle to be running and locked at the same time, this allows the air con to be on in the summer months for the canine’s comfort. All our canines live at home with their handlers and they are all housed in purpose-built kennels in the gardens of their handlers. It is important to remember that these are working canines and are not pets, that is not to say that they don’t have plenty of interaction with their handlers and their families, and even as a working canine, they soon become part of the family.
So, what can our canines do? The answer is simple, they find bed bugs where we would not be able to. As a professional pest controller with fifteen years’ experience, it would take me around an hour and half to inspect a standard sized hotel room. For a canine it takes them normally three to five minutes. When they have found the bed bugs, they will provide a passive indication by getting themselves as close to the infestation as they can. Our canines are trained not to bark or scratch when they find their quarry. This makes them ideal for hospitality environments, alongside aviation and transport.
We cover many hotel chains along the country, and many of these chains have proactive inspections on a quarterly basis. This provides an early warning system for issues that could manifest into major problems for the hotel. When you put into the early warning system the ability to provide a non-toxic spot treatment at the same time as the canine screen, it really does become a preventative one stop shop.
In my time at Merlin, I have seen some amazing work carried out because of these amazing canines. Their ability to find the unfindable really still amazes me every time I see it in action, and for those of you who know me already, you know I can’t help myself by saying how cool it is. For those of you that don’t know me, or indeed, the amazing Merlin canines, and you want to see it for yourself, then let me know and I will gladly bring some canines to see you.
Written by Tim West – Commercial Director
