As Calgary readies itself for the Stampede, a team of canines are helping make sure the city's hotels are bedbug-free.

The dogs are specially trained to detect the scent of bedbug pheromones, which allows them to sniff out the insects.

Handler Sherry Chapman says her scent detection dog, Pasta, is in high demand these days. Chapman works for Orkin Canada, a national pest control company.

Specially trained dogs are being used to detect the scent of bed bug pheromones, which allows them to sniff out the insects at Calgary hotels. (CBC)

"We noticed last year that two weeks after Stampede time it just went crazy," said Chapman.

"We were so busy… because we get over a million people coming into the city. So, our hotels are super busy and the increase of bedbug activity really skyrockets."

An infestation of the wingless, blood-sucking critters is Scott Mann's nightmare.

A bed bug is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. The wingless, reddish-brown, blood-sucking insects are oval shaped and look somewhat like an apple seed. (Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Press)

He manages the Wyndham Garden Airport Hotel, which has been getting monthly bedbug inspections from Chapman and Pasta.

"Well, certainly it's not great publicity to ever be associated with that. …So, this is just a good way for us to proactively use the program so we can detect if there is any activity in the hotel."

Mann says the hotel has never had to deal with bedbugs and he wants to keep it that way.

In the meantime, Chapman and Pasta expect a busy month ahead, with business already up 40 per cent from last year.

Facts about bedbugs: