Spurred by his trainer's whispered command to "Seek, seek," Buggsy snuffled his way along three suitcases searching for the culprit.

When his nose found what it was looking for, the 2.5-year-old Beagle mix sat down and looked expectantly at trainer and owner Eric Taylor.

"Show me," Taylor said. Buggsy sniffed some more and pawed the pocket where a vial containing the triggering scent was contained.

What did Buggsy smell? Bedbugs -- the ancient pest that is coming back with a vengeance and giving people worldwide a collective case of the willies.

Buggsy, who works for Kaama K-9 Inspection Services LLC in Allendale, was only doing a demonstration. But the dog, who is specially trained to sniff out even one live bedbug or viable egg, has found his fair share of the tiny vermin since he started working this summer.

It may not make the news like it does when a hospital, clothing store or movie theater announces an infestation, but exterminators say area homeowners are calling and the epidemic is here in West Michigan.

"We probably do three or four treatments a week," said Pat Sperlik, owner of Terminex on 40th Street SE in Kentwood. One of his employees said he takes seven to 12 calls a week from people wanting an inspection.

Terminex is one of the local exterminators who is contracting to have Buggsy do inspections for them.

Buggsy is the first certified bedbug-sniffing dog in West Michigan, but he won't be the last. Taylor, who owns Kaama K-9 Inspection Services with Mark Sperlik, owner of Kaama Pest Management in Wyoming, plans to have four bedbug sniffing dogs.

And Jim Rutherford of Action Canine Institute in Freesoil said dogs are a growing trend in the battle against the nighttime biters that feed on human blood.

"My phone won't stop ringing, and we've got a waiting list of 12 dogs right now," said Rutherford, who this summer gave Taylor and Buggsy their certification from the National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association.

Rutherford got into the dog training business in 2004 after he saw the benefits of termite- and ant-sniffing dogs for his exterminator business, Action Termite & Pest Control. Now Rutherford trains bedbug dogs for $10,000 to $12,000 a piece. He said it takes about four months to train one dog and regular maintenance training after that.

Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association, said dog searches have been proven more effective than human searches because they can locate bugs hiding where humans can't see them.

"(Bedbugs) like to hide, so they can be behind your walls in areas where it isn't visible to the human eye," she said.

Dog searches also are quicker.

Rutherford said two trained inspectors could take 45 minutes to do a thorough investigation of a hotel room. A trained dog will take 90 seconds to two minutes.

"And the guys, they're only going to be 30 to 40 percent accurate," he said.

A 2008 study by the University of Florida showed dogs can be trained to detect even one live bedbug or viable bedbug eggs with accuracy above 95 percent.

"It really gives the customer peace of mind," said Mark Sperlik, Buggsy's other owner.

Taylor said his client list is growing, and Buggsy has been busy. Respecting the privacy of his customers, he won't name names. But he has searched a local hospital, a local government building and the resident of someone who works at a local nursing home that had an infestation.

Taylor said Buggsy alerted in every room of that person's apartment. At the hospital the dog found one bedbug egg in the head of a screw on a hospital bed.

Grand Valley State University has been a client of Kaama Pest Management for the past decade and now uses Buggsy for any bedbug suspicions -- none have been found, yet.

"They want to use us when an incident comes up," Taylor said. "They had one where a student (downtown) thought they were getting bitten in their bed, but Buggsy did not hit on anything."

During Buggsy's recent demonstration, however, GVSU called again, this time to inspect a room on the Allendale campus.

"A call comes in and we put our capes on and fly over," Taylor said.

E-mail Cami Reister: creister@grpress.com