Readmore: Local, News, Bed Bugs, Bead Bug Dogs, Dogs that Sniff out Bed Bugs, Not just Drugs or Bombs. Newest Sniffing Target for Dogs: Bed Bugs, Yarro, Bed Bug Dog, Yarro the Bed Bug Dog, Merrill's Detector Dogs Service
Dogs can be trained to do some amazing things, like track down lost children, detect bombs or find drugs. Now, there are canines in Georgetown County that can sniff out a nasty pest that is dogging the tourism industry: bed bugs.
Yarro, a two-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, has a favorite game. It involves sniffing out a jar full of bed bugs that's hidden in one of five large white containers set up in a row on the property atMerrill's Detector Dogs Service near Browns Ferry.
When Yarro alerts on the right container, he'll sit right down and stare at it. To reward him, the trainer releases a tennis ball, Yarro's favorite toy.
When it comes to detecting bed bugs, Yarro and his buddies at Merrill's are amazing.
"The pillow today (that Yarro alerted on in an earlier test) just had a couple of bed bugs in it. We train from one to hundreds," said Yaro's handler, Kathy Heselton.
Merrill's Service has been in the detector dog business for many years, but recently added bed bugs to the things their dogs are trained to detect. The dogs will ignore dead bugs.
"It's the live bugs," Heselton explains. "They give off a pheromone that the dogs can smell and that's what they alert to."
Bed bugsare a growing problem in the U.S., especially for hotels. Merrill's has quickly expanded from one bed bug detecting dog to five.
"Right now, they're strong in Florida, Georgia. South Carolina is our focus with this Southern group. We have dogs in Maine and New England as well."
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Not just drugs or bombs. Newest sniffing target for dogs: bed bugs
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