Off duty, they live quietly and unassumingly in Cochrane as James Wood and Rebel.

On duty, they are the bed bug busting partners of Assured K9 Detection Services.

James Wood and Rebel are bed bug busters whose expertise is in high demand throughout Alberta. They are the only independent canine scent detection team certified by the World Detector Dog Organization (WDDO) in Alberta. Since they are not affiliated with any pest control company, they can work with just about anybody and travel all over the province to do just that.

James Wood, who has lived in Cochrane for the past 17 years, has extensive maintenance experience in residence facilities. “Through the 13 plus years, we dealt with bedbugs on a regular basis and it was always a reactive dealing. When we found out we had an issue then we would throw away all the furniture and then we would refurnish and that would be it.  And it became a very expensive endeavour every time we had an issue. Through some investigation and homework, I found out dogs were able to detect bed bugs and realized there were no viable options for a bed bug detecting dog in Alberta at the time.”

Enter, Rebel, a 2-year-old yellow lab mix rescue dog that came from southern California, who now calls Cochrane home. James found Rebel through a trainer who trains rescue dogs in different detection abilities like drugs, cadaver, or bedbugs.  James headed to California and he says, “There were a couple of dogs I was working with. Rebel and I seemed to sort of you know really get along and really work well together and that was pretty evident right off the hop so, we started working and training together and then eventually I brought her up here.”

Rebel has honed her canine scent detection skills with over 1,000 hours of training and the dynamic duo of bed bug busters are kept very busy. Wood says that they train every day to keep Rebel’s skills sharp and keep their communication levels strong.

Rebel’s abilities could be expanded to sniff out other forms of evil, like the COVID-19 virus. James says he has discussed it with a couple of trainers, but the biggest issue is that you would have to expose yourself and the dog to COVID. “We kind of know what it's going to do to people but we have no idea what it’s going to do to the dog how it affects the dog long term how it affects the dog short term. And to expose the dog to enough of the covid scent to gain the training would be worrisome. Rebel has done over 1000 hours for bed bugs and James just wasn’t comfortable exposing his partner to the risk of COVID on that level.

The duo keeps busy enough with just the bed bug issue. Wood says, “The issue is everywhere, we’ve worked with some preventative maintenance groups making sure that we are just monitoring hotel rooms to large infestations in apartment complexes to smaller infestations in senior centres. So, yeah we have travelled and put on a few miles for sure.”

Rebel is more than happy to report for duty in the fight against bed bugs. James says, “When she puts her vest on, she puts her work clothes on and she is 100% on point. She absolutely loves working.  With a lot of scent dogs and a lot of detection dogs, that is their release and that is their fun and it is 100% that for Rebel. Her personality really comes out when she is working.  She is diligent, very accurate. She knows when that vest comes out, it’s time to show off a bit.”

It is obvious when James talks about his canine partner that he has a deep respect and affection for Rebel. Wood says they have travelled many miles together around the province, she is by his side whether they are working or not and he couldn't have a better companion.

If you check out Rebel’s smile in her picture, it looks like she feels the same.

Now that you know about the duo of Assured K9 Detection Services living quietly in our midst as James Wood and Rebel there should be no doubt as to “Who ya gonna call?” when it comes to detecting bed bugs.

assuredk9.com           assuredk9@gmail.com