Bedbug dog recommendation for Chicago/Illinois! « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Bedbug dog recommendation for Chicago/Illinois!

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rather_itchy

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Posted 9 years ago
Mon Apr 12 2010 12:47:18
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I recently had a very positive experience with Canine Detection & Inspection Services, and I'm posting this to spread the word.

I want to say from the outset that I was rather pessimistic about the whole excercise, as I'd spent quite some time on my hands and knees looking for signs of these creatures and had scoured the entire mattress for signs, and found nothing. But bed bugs were the only explanation I could come up with for these bites. So I figured that I trust a dog more than I do a human to find these little guys. And I also figured that it's better to pay more for a more reliable service than to pay several times for a less reliable service, and keep getting bitten in the meantime. And at the very least, I thought that if they don't find anything, I'll sleep better. So that was my thought process.

So they came over (the people who came were Sue and Gordon) with this dog. And very soon they had focused on one part of the bedframe, which was the only thing the dog reacted to in the entire apartment. I could see that the people were sceptical though, and they kept on asking me questions about whether I had changed soaps, and things like that - because there were simply no indicators of bedbugs! But they trusted the dog and pulled apart the bedframe, and finally found a small colony of the little guys in the stitching that holds the slats of the bedframe together. It's a very small infestation, and I have no doubt that a human would have missed it.

So in short, these guys saved me a lot of trouble. It was quick, and so reliable that I am stunned. I'm very impressed with this dog. (She also had a very intelligent face. And was very well behaved. Just sharing...)

So basically, I can't recommend them highly enough.

Just as an aside, I think I'm going for the heat treatment. Again, I think it makes sense for me to pay double the price (it's not bloody cheap) if it means that I save myself a 6 week process and several days of active effort on my part... I guess I see it as buying a few days of my life. But I'll probably post to let people know how that went too (although it might take a few weeks of biting or no biting to know).

Good luck protecting your blood from theft,

Still_rather_itchy (my bites are pretty out of control)
rather_itchy

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Posted 9 years ago
Mon Apr 12 2010 12:51:17
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Oh, they also provided visual confirmation in the form of little bugs running around. And they collected a couple to take back to their lab. They are really strange little creatures (the bugs). Never seen them before.

I'll go now.
scaredsayscared

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Posted 9 years ago
Mon Apr 12 2010 21:40:24
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Hi rather_itchy,

Thank you for sharing your story and good luck with the treatment. I'm curious what you mean by stiching in the bed frame. Curious b/c we had a K9 come in as well and only alerted to one area near our boxspring. The handler examined the mattress and box spring in much detail and only found flea dust but did not take apart the bed frame, just visually inspected it with a flashlight and an illuminated magnifying glass. After reading your story, I'm thinking about taking apart my bed frame now. Also, were there fecal and castings in this little colony they occupied. And how long did you suspect bed bugs for and for how many months had you been getting bites....Just curious..thanks!
ChronicOverwhelm

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Posted 9 years ago
Fri Oct 8 2010 4:03:49
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Thanks for sharing your recommendation, Rather. I think I will give them a call tomorrow. Was the cost reasonable?

Did you go with the heat treatment? How did things turn out?
bbpsych

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Posted 9 years ago
Fri Oct 8 2010 10:51:12
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Thank you for sharing your CDIS experience! I, too, have been happy with CDIS! I have a visit scheduled for early November when I move to my new place, but they've been chatting with me, calming me, and offering advice for the last couple of months. They also put me in touch with a company that can Vikane my moving truck and a separate company that can heat treat it. CDIS is very resourceful and helpful!

As for the move, I'm planning on having them inspect my new unit before I move anything into it, inspect my car and anything I didn't have treated with the Vikane, and if there's time left, inspect my moving truck full of stuff that had been Vikaned. I'm less concerned with the moving truck inspection, though, because I'm forcing myself to have faith in the Vikane treatment and "know" my possessions in the moving truck will most likely be bb-free after treatement I'll let you all know how the canine inspection goes!
ChronicOverwhelm

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Posted 9 years ago
Fri Oct 8 2010 11:55:42
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Thanks for your input, bbpsych. I have been on the phone with CDIS all morning going over things. My K9 inspection is scheduled for this Thursday, October 13. I also saw you responded to my separate post about a PCO in the area. Thanks

I think I slept less than an hour last night. I'm so stressed (got other things going on too -- like most people I suppose) that I feel like my head is just going to pop. Knowing CDIS is coming is taking a little bit of the edge off. We better be able to nail this thing down.

Sorry for all you're having to go through with moving, Vikane, inspections, treatment, etc. Really makes you not want to ever sit in a public place again, bring anything home from a store, order anything online (especially ebay), have anyone over, go to anyone's house, etc. I feel like I've been let in on a gigantic nasty secret that the public at large is clueless about. I think I liked being ignorant better, but at least my husband and I will know we have to be vigilant about what enters our house (including ourselves) after this. Sheesh.

Thanks again to you and Rather for the recommendation!!!
iseriouslyneversleep

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Posted 9 years ago
Fri Oct 8 2010 13:41:39
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I'll be calling CDIS on the 15th to make my appointment - hopefully they can get in pretty soon after that. I'll be sure to post and let you know how the visit goes.
bbpsych

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Posted 9 years ago
Fri Oct 8 2010 15:22:21
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Yes, definitely let us know how the inspections go! I'll also post once I have mine.

I also preferred being ignorant, and I'm looking forward to one day getting as close as possible to that state of ignorance (with a healthy baby dose of vigilance) again in the future. I'm angry enough these little visitors have already invaded so much of life . . . eventually, enough is enough
BedBugsFML

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Posted 9 years ago
Thu Oct 21 2010 23:44:45
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After reading your posts and seeing how effective the dogs were, I'm going to give CDIS a call tomorrow. This is the second time I got bed bugs (last time was 2 years ago after a vacation)... this time the little devils seem resistant to the chemicals that have been sprayed in my room/condo. I've already had 2 rounds of chemical treatments (different chemical combos) with NO success. To top that off the inspector couldn't find any bed bugs and neither can I. Now I'm desperate!! Once you guys found the clusters of bugs from the dogs, then what did you do? Vacuum them up? Spray them?
Nobugsonme

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Posted 9 years ago
Thu Oct 21 2010 23:50:24
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FYI rather-itchy joined 6 months ago, posted three times -- all of them about this dog experience -- and has not posted since.

I am not saying the review is not genuine, but this pattern is rather suspicious and in any case, the user has not logged in in 6 months and so is unlikely to see any questions posed to them.

(You can click any user's status -- for example "newbite" -- and see all their posts, when they joined and last logged in, etc.)

I started and run the site but am "not an expert."
bbpsych

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Posted 9 years ago
Fri Oct 22 2010 9:42:00
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I haven't had a canine inspection of my current unit but plan to have one of my new unit as well as the things I move. If anything comes up, I'll update.

As for the others who have used CDIS . . . how did it go?!
BedBugsFML

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Posted 9 years ago
Mon Oct 25 2010 22:11:38
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Hey guys- Called CDIS, and the lady I spoke with... Bernie, I think... was so nice and helpful. However, she informed me that I cannot have a dog inspection until 21 days after my last chemical spray, so for me that would be 11/9. This might be a miserable couple of weeks of waiting...