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Febuary 08, 2008

We now have our first Bed Bug Detection K-9 Team. Handler Sam Smith and Elvis have just returned from ceritfying through NESDCA. This certification proves as a team they have the ability to find live Bed Bugs and Viable (live) Eggs. Presently they are the only team in our area to have this capibility. This unique ability allows our company to treat a Bed Bug infestation and then return in a few weeks to verify that we have successfully eradicated the bed bugs from your home. Other companies will have to wait the nationally recognized "60 days with no bites" before being able to give you a total clearance that the infestation is gone. We can give you clearance in as little as 14 days from our treatment. We also now do proactive inspections for Motels and Hotels across the US.

May 09, 2007

Once again R.E. and Handler Sam Smith have recertified as a K-9 Termite Detection Team. This year certification was more stringent than in years past. R.E. and Sam certified under the new NESDCA (National Entomology Scent Detecting Canine Associations certification rules. NESDCA is committed to upholding the highest certification qualification for all entomology scent detecting team. NESDCA certifies Termite Detecting and Bed Bug Detecting work dog teams. The association was founded by PCO's (Pest Control Operaters) and the certification rules were developed to meet the standards PCO's want to see in a dog team. This is different from other associations that are run by the dog trainers themselves. NESDCA is the only Entomology Scent Detecting Canine Association that does not permit trainers to certify dogs and handlers they have trained, adding a huge credibility to the certification not seen prior to this association. The association welcomes all PCO's, handlers, trainers, and evaluators to join. You can visit thier website at www.nesdca.com

DECEMBER 17, 2003 BY MARK HIBBS
Carteret County News-Times

MOREHEAD CITY - The new termite inspector on staff at Arrest-A-Pest (now Pest Arresters) does not brag about his impressive credentials. He never complains when sent into tight spaces to search  for pests. His dogged eagerness to work is matched only by his proficiency in pinpointing termite infestations.  Company owner Sam Smith said his new inspector scored a 100 percent accuracy rating in independent testing. Mr. Smith said most inspectors are right only about a quarter of the time. That kind of precision separates this inspector from the rest of the pack. "And he loves his job. He lives for his job," Mr. Smith said.

Mr. Smith's new termite inspector is a specially trained 18-month-old Brace beagle named R.E. R.E.'s termite-finding abilities are far beyond those of any human, according to  research conducted by the University of Florida. Mr. Smith said that's because of the way a dog's nose works. "A person can walk into a kitchen and say, 'That stew smells really good. A dog, if he could talk, would say, 'That meat and those carrots and those potatoes smell  really good. Termite infestations are often concealed from view, especially in dry wood. Visual inspections may not locate infestations until considerable damage is done.  R.E. can pinpoint a single termite – as long as it is alive. R.E. stands for Radar Elvis –  Radar, because of his uncanny ability; Elvis because of the one-sided snarl he often wears when relaxed. R.E.'s work begins when Mr. Smith moves the clasp of his leash from the red collar around the dog's neck to the black harness he also wears. "That's his signal that it's time to go to work," Mr. Smith said. "He knows the difference." The spoken command, "Find your Ts," launches the dog on his termite seeking mission.  Nose to the ground, sniffing, snorting and slobbering, R.E. methodically moves along the  base of each wall of the structure. Inaccessible areas, such as behind thick shrubs or inside  tight crawl spaces are no problem to the compact beagle. R.E. enthusiastically wriggles through  the smallest openings. "If he can get his nose to it, he can tell if there are live termites in there", Mr. Smith said. Mr. Smith said that scientific studies confirm the dog's accuracy.

Researcher Shawn Edwards Brooks studied dogs' ability to detect varying numbers of termites and whether dogs trained according to U.S. Customs Service methods can differentiate between five species of termites. That training method, due to its elimination of contaminated testing materials, reduces the number of false positive identifications, the pest control industry's biggest concern with the use of dogs. Mr. Brooks' study deter-mined that dogs trained in this manner reliably located termites in more than 96 percent of their tests, with only four percent undetected and less than three percent false positives. The animals did not differ in their ability to find most termite species. The Eastern Subterranean termite is the most common and most widely distributed termite in North America.

R.E.'s trainer, Pepe Peruyero of Gainesville, Fla., trained the dogs used in the University of Florida study. He has trained about 4,500 dogs for more than 2,000 clients. Mr. Peruyero trains search and rescue dogs, drug dogs, bomb-sniffing dogs and service dogs. Ongoing studies show his dogs continue to perform flawlessly. "We do independent testing to make sure the dogs were credible and their work could stand up in court if ever challenged," Mr. Peruyero said. He said the research was the first extensive study of any dog training program and it allowed him to refine his methods to achieve near perfect accuracy for termite detection dogs. "If a bomb dog can be 100 percent accurate why can't a termite dog be 100 percent accurate?" Mr. Peruyero said. Mr. Smith said that was the score he and R.E. earned together when evaluated before he brought the dog home earlier this month. Mr. Smith spent several weeks training with the dog before the adoption.  "The test deals with me being able to read the dogs' body language. I can tell before he pinpoints termites that he's picked up the scent," Mr. Smith said. Mr. Smith demonstrated the dog's skill by having an assistant hide live termites along the outside of an Emerald Isle beachfront home he was inspecting. R.E. had no problems finding a single live termite hidden in a crack in the cement foundation. The use of dogs in termite detection is not without controversy, however. Competing pest control businesses have tried to cast doubts on the dogs' accuracy. Some call the dogs a gimmick. The N.C. Department of Agriculture, the state regulatory agency over structural pest control, requires that a licensed inspector - not a dog - make the official determination on infestation. "We don't recognize a dog as being able to do an inspection," Ned Dillon, compliance manager with the NCDA's Structural Pest Control division, told The News-Times.  "The individual inspector has to see the actual termites or their evidence himself. He can use the dog as a tool, but he can't rely on the dog alone," he said. Mr. Peruyero said that's exactly how the dogs are intended to be used. When a dog detects termites, it is up to the inspector to decide whether to open the wall to confirm the extent of the infestation or to proceed directly with treatment. "When you have a dog that's this accurate, it allows someone like Sam to focus on that area in a preventative manner. The human inspector is really limited to what he can see and a large percentage of the home is behind walls and beneath floors," Mr. Peruyero said. Homeowners Ray and Carol Gignac of Emerald Isle were one of the first in the county to have their home inspected for termites with a dog. They do not doubt the beagle's ability. "I've got a lot of trust in the animals. We have a German shepherd and we know how bright he is," Mr. Gignac said. Mr. Smith is so confident in his new companion he plans to purchase another inspector next year - an investment of more than $11,000. "We expect to get another dog in March - we’ve already picked him out too," Mr. Smith said.