Lucy’s First Find: How Truffle Dogs Find Truffles

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‍Learning to follow the truffle scent

Lucy, our truffle dog, has only recently undergone formal training, so we have been constantly reinforcing her training at home, in the garden and in the truffiere to expose her to a variety of environments and embed what she has learnt.

Part of this training is to hide targets of fresh truffle under soil in various places in the truffiere, especially under our oak trees. It’s important for me to turn over many areas of soil, including those where the targets are not hidden.

It’s important that I touch lots of areas and walk different paths to make Lucy’s job challenging. I then leave the targets alone for a short time to let the scent settle before letting Lucy in to find them.

Once ready, I let Lucy in and sent her off to hunt on my command. But she stopped at a tree that was rows away from my hidden targets, so I called her to keep walking.

She stood and wouldn’t move, giving me that look she does when she finds an odour. She was successfully implementing her training.

I walked over to her and, down on my knees, started scratching around in the loose soil, commanding Lucy to “show me” where it was.

How Lucy found her first real truffle

She pointed with her nose and, when I moved more soil, there it was: Lucy’s first real truffle and our second find for the farm!

As you can imagine, I was jumping with joy, rewarding Lucy with handfuls of her favourite treat: roast chicken.

Reflecting on the years of hard work that has gone into this farm, little finds like this make it all so rewarding and leave us optimistic about more truffle finds deeper into the winter season and in the years to come.

This was a momentous day: our scent training is working and we have another truffle!

The truffle was carefully covered back over with soil to allow the flavour to fully mature and flagged for another hunt later in the truffle season.

And more importantly, it will be sampled on a delicious risotto with a fine bottle of red to match.

FAQs about truffle dogs

How do truffle dogs find truffles?

Truffle dogs use their highly developed sense of smell to detect the aroma of truffles beneath the soil. Once they find the scent, they are trained to signal the location to their handler.

What breed is Lucy?

Lucy is a Lagotto Romagnolo, a breed known for its intelligence, stamina and exceptional sense of smell.

How did Lucy signal her first truffle find?

Lucy stopped at the tree, refused to move and pointed towards the scent with her nose when asked to “show me”.

Why was Lucy’s first truffle covered again?

The truffle was not yet mature, so it was carefully covered with soil and marked for a later harvest, giving it more time to develop its aroma and flavour.

Can visitors watch truffle dogs at work?

Yes. During the winter harvest, visitors can book a truffle hunt at Flinders Truffles and watch the dogs search the orchard.

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