Truffle Hound: On the Trail of the World’s Most Seductive Scent, with Dreamers, Schemers, and Some Extraordinary Dogs

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Thank you for sending the notes, and thanks again for running the course. Really appreciated the structured approach to the training – I’ve already been practising it again with Benji, and he is definitely improving!, Toby, London This last characteristic makes the Spinone particularly appreciated by truffle hunters, especially those who are already experts, as to get the best out of these dogs a serious training is necessary, early, and conducted with regularity and awareness.

Both Mike and I thought that it was a really nice and interesting day! Thank you so much! – Dawn and Mike, West Sussex To quote someone talking about truffle hunting: “The dog is only part of the team. You are the brains. Your dog is the nose”. If you are in the wrong sort of wood or an area with the wrong soils, however good you dog is, if there are no truffles to be found, they won’t find any. Both dog and handler need educating – our truffle hunting experience days can give the human the education they need. In November 2022, they (without Poppy) attended one of these days and remarkably, with their additional understanding on the very next day, Poppy, and her “mum”, found their first truffles. Physical performance and stamina, physical characteristics necessary given the exhausting nature of truffle hunting; Thank you for such a great day last week. I told my wife that it was one of the best birthday presents I have ever had. Jim There would be almost no need to introduce it, but how can we not talk about the prince of truffles?Many thanks for Saturday, Alfie and I really enjoyed it! Not only did we get greater success than I dreamt we ever would in just one hour, it was also great fun for us both – and also reminded me of some of the basics of dog training that I had forgotten! Tim, Worcestershire A dog nose has inner flaps that control the direction of airflow. New breaths come straight in through the nostrils, but when a dog exhales, the flaps close and shunt the old air out the sides of the slits. In this way, a dog is able to continuously breathe in fresh samples of a scent trail—unlike humans, who contaminate and disperse the evidence with every exhalation.

For his research Jacobsen traveled to Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Spain, England, the United States and Canada, and relates many stories about people he met, experiences he had, and anecdotes he heard. For instance, Jacobsen describes the start of the truffle industry in the town of Livade in Croatia as follows: One day in the 1920s, a local peasant brought a tavern owner a handful of ginger-colored tubers he's found in the woods and said, "Good day, sir, do you have any idea what these stinky potatoes are? I found them underground. My pigs love them. Too bad they're so repulsive." The tavern owner knew who to consult, the repulsive potatoes turned out to be very desirable truffles, and an industry was born. Spring white truffles, often called the “bianchetto”, from Emilia Romagna and Tuscany. Photograph: @wiltshire_truffles Specially selected for fox hunting, this small dog (maximum 11.8 inches (ca. 30 centimeters) in males) is endowed with an incredible physicality: speed, endurance, and dedication to work all concentrated in one animal. The results of this work were, to say the least, remarkable, not only as far as the truffle is concerned but in general at the level of the animal.

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For the next four hours, we tramp happily through the woods, and by the end of the day I’ve got six truffles to take home. That evening, I clean them carefully with water and a toothbrush, then grate three of them over scrambled eggs. The taste and smell is truffle all right, though a fresher, more summery version of their pungent Italian cousins. The meal is over far too soon, and my thoughts turn to my own dog, Tug. Just how hard can it be to train a truffle hound, I wonder? How to clean and store your truffles I just wanted to say thanks for a great day out today. James and I both loved learning so much about the science behind truffle growing and all the different variants (instead of just eating them). I think we will be attempting our own truffle orchard in the future! Izzy, London Thank you very much for the training course on Sunday, I found it really helpful and I am sure my dog (Lux) really enjoyed it. Neal, East Riding of Yorkshire