MEET THE TEAM : DIXIE

Hotels around the world are taking preventive measures in order to keep bed bugs at bay.

Salisbury Hotel has a preventive program in place that involves one adorable, but highly professional bug detective, named Dixie. We are proud to have Dixie as a member of the Hotel team. Her training allows us to feel confident that we are proactively protecting our guests from this international travel problem.

Dixie started her bed bug sniffing career four years ago. She was profiled to be genetically fit as a scent detection dog. She was evaluated to have the drive needed to be successful on the job. Dixie has been trained and certified to sniff out any possible trace of bed bugs. This eliminates unnecessary chemical treatments. The key to using dogs for inspections is the teamwork between the dog and its handler.Dixie lives with her trainer Steve in the countryside where she gets plenty of exercise. When not hard at work, she relaxes playing outdoors and chasing butterflies.

University studies have shown that canines are 98% effective in detecting bedbugs, compared with humans who are only successful 30-40 % of the time at low level exposures. There are many misconceptions about bedbugs. Cleanliness doesn't prevent bedbugs and they don't transmit disease. They are most commonly transferred in the luggage of unknowing travelers. It is a good practice to have your luggage shrink wrapped at the airport to avoid exposure in the freight compartment and storage areas.

Hotel management ( and Dixie ! ) will continue to do be vigilant to protect our guests.

Dixie with her handler Steve