OUR DOGS
...but not our dogs. Gaze upon pictures of a Perigord farmer out in the oak woods hunting for truffles and you will see him, beret on head and a Gauloises stuck to his lip, holding a lead attached to a very large, fat and slow pig. Pigs love truffles and are masterly at sniffing them out, but as Fiona says, “You don’t want to get your hand between a pig and a truffle”. Doubtless the old French truffle hunters had their solution, we chose a less risky alternative, the powerful nasal capacity of the dog.
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Dogs can scent a truffle from many metres away that we could only smell by burying our noses in the soil. Not a useful means of searching. Dogs do not like truffles; what they do like is the treats that come their way when they find one. A doggy incentive scheme.
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Rather than own a dog of our own, we chose to involve others in our truffling by finding local dogs for training. Several dog 'interviews' were conducted (the owners also attended) and a number of dogs passed and entered 'truffle dog training school'.
Meet our current team of graduates and those currently in training.
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hepburn
Hepburn has been our ‘professional’ truffle-hunter for the last four years. Hepburn found our largest truffle; 560g.
Hepburn has a beautiful personality and is so intelligent. She loves chasing scents around the paddock. But the minute this young Australian Koolie hears the command “find truffle”, her nose is focused on unearthing these buried treasures. When she plants her paw on the spot, her confident glance says it all. It’s time for the humans to go to work.
KAI
Kai is a very clever young Koolie who graduated in 2023 to a 'professional' truffle hunter. Although he can get a little excited at first when he meets new people, he is keen to find truffles in exchange for treats and ball games (his favourite). When he sniffs out the precious fungus, he marks its location by lying down with his nose over the truffle and patiently waiting for his human to confirm his find.
At home, Kai helps out by fetching everything from shoes to gardening tools and gives great cuddles. He also enjoys agility and is often eager to show off the many tricks he knows.
truffle
Truffle (yes, that really is her name) is an enthuisiastic 7 year old Golden Retriever who has had her nose to the ground since she was a pup. And she’s a dog that wants a job to do. Originally we planned to train her as a conservation detection dog, but the pandemic got in the way – so truffle hunting is a fantastic alternative …. We are all sure she will graduate as a professional truffle hunter in 2026. T
See the dogs in action this Winter