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Trust K9 understand that finding out you have bed bugs can be distressing at the best of times.  However, when you are preparing to bring a new baby into your house, the last thing you need to worry about, or waste time on, is getting rid of bed bugs.

Trust K9 frequently get calls from pregnant women who have discovered they have bed bugs.  The most common scenario is that they want to get rid of the bed bugs before the baby arrives – and they want to know this for SURE.

Whilst chemical is an effective way to treat bed bugs when applied correctly, it can take weeks, sometimes months, to fully get rid of all of the bed bugs.  Heat offers an immediate solution.  We heat up the structure of your house or flat for around 24 hours to ensure that all of the bed bugs and eggs die immediately.

But how do you know for sure that the bed bug treatment was effective?  Trust K9 can then use our highly skilled team of sniffer dogs to give you the peace of mind that the bed bugs really have gone.

Even if they feel they can wait a month or so for all the bed bugs to die using the chemical treatment, most expectant mothers want to minimise the amount of pesticide used in their home so close to delivery of their new-born. Heat kills bed bugs immediately without the need for chemical.

A combination of bed bug heat treatment and bed bug sniffer dogs gives you an immediate solution for bed bugs, and the peace of mind that you can get on with the important task of preparing for the arrival of your new baby.

Trust K9 had a break from bed bugs for an afternoon to have an early Christmas celebration to send off our colleague Tracey in style-she is off for 6 weeks to visit Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand (alright for some!)

At Trust K9 we know pretty much all there is to know about bed bugs.  Bed bugs spread by hitch- hiking onto people’s luggage, handbags and clothes. Bed bugs are not just in the UK – they are a worldwide problem.  Anywhere with a regular changeover of residents are a high risk for bed bugs, hence why hotels and hostels experience infestations. Australia and Thailand are popular with back packers and also a risk for bringing bed bugs back, so Tracey has already booked in to get Trust K9 to pick up her luggage on her return to be taken away and heated up to remove any chance of taking any bed bugs or their eggs home.  Find out about our mobile heat options here

Trust K9 has been extra busy detecting and getting rid of bed bugs recently.  We previously blogged about the Olympics and the suspected increase in infestations bought by the influx of visitors to London, and have seen an increase in outbreaks when compared to this time last year.

There was an article it the paper today, about the lady covered in bed bug bites after staying at a leading hotel chain. She described it as “like being in a bush tucker trial”. It looks like this Hotel could do with a full bed bug dog search to check how far the problem has spread and then regular monitoring moving forward.

Unfortunately bed bugs cannot be prevented; however, regular proactive dog searches give Hotels and their guest’s confidence that any issues will be detected before they reach the levels indicated by the number of bites in these photos.

Next time you stay at a Hotel make sure you ask how they monitor for bed bugs.  We recently had a call from a 5 star hotel who wanted their rooms checked on request from a customer! This goes to show that reputable and responsible hotels will listen and act.

Click here for more information on Bed Bug Dogs either click here or give us a call on 0208 299 4090.

Last week Mark and I were given a break from all things bed bugs to go to lunch at the Savoy for the UKHA Annual Business Lunch. It was great fun and we got to meet many people involved in the Hotel Industry.

Trust K9 recognise that housekeepers are pivotal to keeping bed bugs under control in Hotels.  The UKHA meets regularly and ensures that its members are informed about issues such as bed bugs. Mark has given presentations and demonstrations with Lola, one of our Bed Bug Sniffer Dogs, at a couple of their meetings.  Knowing the early signs of a bed bug problem and how to treat effectively is key stopping bed bugs spreading throughout a Hotel.

Both of the Guest Speakers at the Savoy were very entertaining, particularly the Head Butler, Sean Davoren who told us a story about the lengths they sometimes have to go to to please their guests.  Unfortunately he wouldn’t give away any names!

So what can you do to make sure you don’t encounter bed bugs when staying at a Hotel? Trust K9’s advice is to ask Hotels what their policy is for bed bugs.  At the minimum you would expect them to train their staff and chambermaids on what to look for and have processes in place to track any reports of being bitten.  However, for real peace of mind, some of the more reputable Hotels will have regular searches with bed bug dogs, so do ask if they use them, to ensure that you can sleep tight!

Tracey