Meet Our Canine Bed Bug Detection Team

INTRODUCING FOXY …

THE BED BUG DETECTION DOG!

Foxy is able to detect Bed Bugs in your home. Canines offer a greater accuracy rate of 97%, over the human eye of 30%. Foxy can generate quicker and more accurate results, which leads to lower remediation costs for homeowners and insurers. For schools, hotels, commercial and government buildings, cost savings can be quite substantial. Our home inspections take minimum 1.5 hours. We inspect the entire home.

 

Bed Bug Dogs are the only inspection tool that can detect and pinpoint sources of the bedbugs, which is critical information in lowering the expense of elimination.

 

Foxy is able to smell bed bug eggs and her sense of smell is 10,000 times greater than that of a human. She is trained to detect the full life cycle of bed bugs, from egg to adult.

 

Foxy loves her job and has been working hard in Ontario since 2010.

Bed Bug Elimination Services

It is very concerning to hear about the man in New Jersey who set his house on fire trying to do a heat treatment himself in the home. But it does give us an idea of the desperation that these pests elicit from their hosts. Bed bug extermination is a very difficult job and heat treatments require special training and equipment. Here at Advantage Pest Control we offer our customer various bed bug services.

Bed Bug Services

• Insecticide Spray – This involves multiple services of a liquid residual insecticide treatment to all cracks and crevices. Services are between 2 and 3 weeks apart and require some preparations.
• Spray and Steam – This involves multiple services of a liquid residual insecticide treatment to all cracks and crevices and a through steaming of common bed bug harborage areas.
• Spray, Steam and Dusting – This involves multiple services of a liquid residual insecticide treatment to all cracks and crevices and steaming of harborage areas and dusting in voided areas. This is a recommended treatment for heavy infestations.
• Steam only – This is recommended in areas where insecticide cannot be placed such as cribs. Some customers do not want insecticide treatment, for those customers we offer this service.
• K-9 Bed Bug Detection – This service involves an inspection of a residence by a specially trained bed bug detecting dog. This process has been featured on numerous television shows and had received wide publicity. Because of its notorious success, canine bed bug detections are a popular service.
• Nightwatch Bed Bug Monitoring – This service is often used in vacant rooms. The monitor emits human like carbon dioxide which attracts the bed bugs. This allows us to monitor an infestation, or a suspected infestation, without humans residing in the unit. Nightwatch Bed Bug monitoring is often used by landlords or hotels to ensure no bed bugs are located in that room.
• Heat Remediation – This is our most recommended service. This works well for light to heavy infestations and generally requires one service. By heating the home to over 110 degrees, all eggs and live bugs are killed within a few hours.

Bed bugs are a difficult pest to eliminate. Unfortunately bed bugs are very easily spread and have become a major problem in urban areas like Toronto. They are not a discriminatory pest, they will live in almost any area than human inhabit. We service many areas in the Greater Toronto Area for bed bug elimination. If you live outside these areas, we may be still be able to assist you. When you speak with a specialist ask about our out of town service.

Please give a specialist a call at 416-840-4040 or toll free at 1-877-504-BUGS

Service Areas Within the GTA

 

West

• Bolton
• Brampton
• Clarkson
• Mississauga
• Nobleton
• Oakville

North

• Aurora
• King City
• Markham
• New Market
• Richmond Hill
• Vaughan

Central

• Downtown
• East York
• Etobicoke
• Malvern
• Rexdale
• Thornhill

East

• Ajax
• Oshawa
• Pickering
• Scarborough
• Whitby

 

 

If you are looking for Do-It-Yourself products, we have a Bed Bug Elimination kit available for purchase by home owners. This package contains bed bug killing aerosols and powder. We also recommend mattress covers with any type of bed bug treatment program and Bed Bug Defenders to monitor the level and success of a treatment. See all of our bed bug products.

So… Your Friend Has Bed Bugs.

It happens more often than you think. A friend calls you up to tell you that they have contracted bed bugs and have to get treated in the next couple of days. Here are the top 5 things that you can do to prevent yourself from getting bedbugs from your friend.

1. Don’t panic! Anyone can get bedbugs. It doesn’t have anything to do with how dearly or clean your home is. Bedbugs are attracted to human blood. Being supportive of your friend during this difficult time will help make this a less dramatic experience for your friend.
2. No sleepovers! You shouldn’t state your friend’s house or have your friend state your house until they bedbugs situation has been dealt with.
3. Laundry! Any clothing or bed linens in the home that may have come into contact with your friend or friends home should be washed and dried on high heat.
4. Protect your bed with a bed bug proof mattress encasements. This will minimize the amount of places that bedbugs can harbour in your residence. We also recommend boxspring encasements and pillow encasements.
5. Bedbug monitors such as the bedbug defender are useful in early identification of bedbug infestations. Each bad in your home should have these monitoring devices on them to allow for early detection.

Question Of The Day: Where Do Bed Bugs Come From

It seems like no one ever heard of bed bugs until about 5 years ago when infestations started to pop up everywhere! Now a days it is the most common pest in residential homes. It is also one of the most difficult to eliminate. There are several theories on why bed bugs have risen to such prominence. Firstly an increase in international travel and international migration have meant that there is more opportunity to transmit bed bugs internationally. Secondly the continued increase and growth of urban centers has meant that more people are now living in closer proximity. This has meant an increased trend in multifamily living which also has meant a wider networking area for spreading an infestation (through neighbours, friends and family). Also with the development of craigslist, kijiji, and other posting sites, the intake of used clothing and furniture has gone up exponentially. These are just some of the trends that may have contributed to the rise of bed bugs.

Pest Profile: Silverfish

Silverfish are a nocturnal pest. That means that they are active mostly at nighttime. They prefer dark places such as basements and crawlspaces. Silverfish feed on both sugars and starches. Often this includes things that contain cellulose (including food packaging), glue in books, linens and fabrics.

The most common way to uncover a silverfish infestation is through seeing the bug. Often it is found tapped in a bath tub.  Silverfish are grey in colour. Generally they measure between 12-19mm. They have many sets of legs.

We offer both products and services for silver fish. Give us a call at 416-29708010 or 1-877-504-BUGS

Yearly Mouse Problem?

Scratch, scratch, scratch and Angie groans. It’s that time of year again. Angie spends all winter trying to prevent mice. Despite her efforts, somehow in the spring that’s when it all happens for her. She used to ignore the scratching, thinking it was just her imagination but eventually that chain of events would follow – holes in food packaging and garbage, droppings and then finally… the sighting. The mouse would sort of tilt its head as Angie would briefly stare at it before launching into hysterics making her husband and son jump up from the couch and hurry to the kitchen. It was after that first encounter that we met Angie. She called our mouse specialist and wanted to have service the next morning. Ever since then every time Angie hears a scratch, we are treating mice for Angie. Some years, Angie gets lucky and doesn’t have any mice but other years they come in from the outside (they can fit through a hole the size of a dime!) and we are called back several times. Either way, we are here when Angie has a mouse or any other pest problem. Thanks for your continued support Angie!

Relocating Baby Racoons

Yesterday we received a call about some baby racoons that had made their home at a customers residence. Our technician took these pictures before these little guys were relocated to a new home.  Raccoons can be a troublesome pest for homeowners as they can be frightening and cause significant damage. Raccoons should be dealt with by a professional who will have the tools to safely remove and relocate both the adults and babies. For service inquiries please call us at 416-840-4040 or 1-877-504-BUGS!

New Poll: Pest Control Problems?

Bed Bugs In Toronto Still On The Rise

As the article below describes, bed bugs continue to be a huge problem in Toronto. We are still getting many calls from some very emotional customers. Bed bugs have the biggest emotional impact on individuals than any of the other common household pests we deal with. Predominately it is the fact that they attack when the human is sleeping. This is terrifying for most people to think about because sleep time is when we are our most defenseless. Here at Advantage we understand the emotional toll this takes on both you and your family. We offer treatments for many different types of structures such as apartments, houses and vehicles. We also offer heat, steam, insecticide, dusting and integrated pest management approaches.

Call us today for more information 416-840-4040 and 1-877-504-BUGS.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/05/22/toronto_bedbug_war_still_rages_especially_in_parkdale_fiorito.html

Recommended Pest Products

We offer several package deals to our customers for Do It Yourself Pest Control. These packages include many of our recommended products for pest elimination.

If you have ants we recommend the Ant Elimination Package. This package includes one Diatomaceous Earth Dust, one Pro-BugX, two Green Way Ant Gel tubes, and six ant cafes or multi-baiters.

If you have bed bugs we recommend the Bed Bug Elimination Package.  This package includes 1 Diatomaceous Earth Dust, 2 Aerosols, 4 Bed Bug Defender Units.

If you have cockroaches we recommend the Cockroach Elimination Package. This package includes Diatomaceous Earth Dust, one Pro-B1, one Aerosol spray and Insect monitors.

If you have mice we recommend the Mice Elimination Package. This package includes 3 bait stations, 2 pkgs of bait, 10 glueboards, and 4 snap traps.

Now if you have multiple pests in your home or you just want to be extra cautious, we have our Total Pest Elimination Package which includes 1 package bait, 2 mouse bait stations, 5 glue boards, 1 Pro Bug X, 1 Aerosol, 200g Diatomaecous Earth, 3 Insect Monitors

We have many other pest products available, check it out at http://www.pestservices.ca