bed bugs.

Getty Images "Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!" At one time, this was just a spooky thing to say when you tucked in the kids, but it was always just a cute but meaningless threat after bed bugs were mostly eradicated in developed countries. If you live in New York City, however, you know all too well that these little pestering parasites are back on the loose, attacking Abercrombie and Fitch, scaling the Empire State Building, and even haunting the Hamptons. (There's no escape, people.) Though most of us would be happy to see these vexing vermin on the endangered-species list, bed bugs are quickly becoming an unwelcome fact of life, not just in NYC, but in a number of major ...

David Quinn Barney the basset hound wasn't born to be a bug sniffer. David Quinn, a five-year veteran of the pest control industry with a soft spot for dogs, initially acquired Barney the basset hound from a puppy-mill pet shop after watching him grow larger and less sell worthy over the course of a few months. Shortly after adopting Barney, Quinn heard about the skills that certain dogs (especially bloodhounds, a breed to which Barney is closely related) have for detecting termites and bedbugs. Barney's long ears, low-to-the-ground frame and loose jowls make him a natural bug sniffer. Bedbugs, which feast exclusively on human blood, have a distinctive odor that is barely detectable to ...