TRUFFLE HUNTING IN OREGON

Trifecta Training Center

   In the Pacific North West we have the perfect conditions for a rare delicacy. The mushroom called Truffle. We do have other mushrooms. Lots of them, but the truffle is one of the ones desired by the gourmet cook. This delicacy is yet another gift from Europe. The hunting of truffles here, is becoming more and more popular. In Europe they used to use pigs. And, the pig is a great hunter. It also likes to gobble the truffle before the handler can rescue the delicacy. Dogs make great truffle hunters as they can be trained to refrain from digging and eating the truffle. They can be trained to alert the handler they have found the truffle; and, not only found the truffle but the ripe and most desired truffle. Other methods of truffle hunting without the use of a dog or a pig result in digging up truffles that are not yet ripe and in effect losing many of the truffles from a particular area.
I am a dog trainer. I enjoy very much training dogs and training people to train their own dogs. I have been doing dog training for over 30 years. I am not a truffle hunter, if I were I would not be teaching others the secrets. I am, however, fortunate to live in a park like setting amid acres and acres of Douglas Fir trees in the Coast range just outside of Eugene Oregon. This is a prime area for truffle hunting. For more on Trifecta Training Center click here. I have previously trained several dogs to do scent discrimination so I was very familiar with the old fashioned techniques.  But the old method took a long long time, so I decided to experiment with a new way of training and it surpassed my expectations.

Training a dog to do anything that is not its normal tendency (i.e. retrievers retrieve naturally) is not easy. My new and innovative way of training a dog to scent truffles does require several stages but works fast and gets great results. The training proceeds from teaching the dog to work with you, to training the dog to enjoy searching, training endurance and training the dog for a specific scent. It is important the dog be secure at each level of training so when it ultimately has to go out in a truffle area it can ignore millions of other scents and keep working to find the one it is trained for. It takes building a foundation slowly and methodically ...dog training is always about baby steps. It takes energy, enthusiasm and endurance on the part of both the dog and the trainer. All dogs can be trained to do this work. But the energy and working ability and enthusiasm to work for the handler must be trained and nurtured as well. Many different breeds are doing well scenting truffles. It takes a good dog trainer to teach new enthusiasts how to read the dog and work with the dog to keep it enthusiastic on task and consistently identify the correct scent. This training process takes a few months. And; is best accomplished with the continued guidance of a professional. You will be successful if you are dedicated. It takes time and patience. Often I am contacted during or right before truffle season. Again it takes months to get a dog ready for sustained productive searching. Do not believe it can be done in a few hours. I am happy to consult and answer questions. (45 min consult is $25.) The consult can answer a lot of questions about the real story behind training a truffle dog.

I only do private sessions and it seems to take three or four sessions to go through the learning steps. My fee for the four session package is $295.(Includes phone support)
Get ready for truffle season.

The sessions are about an hour and a half and can be scheduled when you are ready to move to the next level. I do an approximately three hour one day session for $275. The one day seminar includes the entire step by step protocol I use to train a dog to do scent work. Also included is my dog training packet with dog training secrets & instructions to motivate your dog to do sustained work. The scent training is only part of training a good truffle hunting dog. Dog training is a set of steps to ultimately reach the goal. Sessions can be scheduled for week ends as well as week days.

Please understand my focus is for my clients to have a nice working dog but one that can be a nice family dog as well.

    Warning

I’ve heard from many people who are encouraged that their dogs are voluntarily finding and digging up mushrooms. This can actually NOT be a good thing. Please note unless they are specifically trained for a certain type of mushroom they will not necessarily be digging up safe edible mushrooms. Also, encouraging the digging behavior encourages the eating behavior; and, if the dog has an opportunity may go foraging on his own. This is very dangerous as there are many varieties of mushroom and some of them are poison. Once encouraged or started this habit, of foraging and eating, is very hard to break. I suggest if you want to hunt mushrooms for safe consumption you train your dog on the specific mushroom and train them to give you a signal rather than digging up the mushroom.

 

If you are interested in more information about dog training or truffle training call 541-935-0112 or email trifecta_training_ctr@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

Teach Your Dog to Hunt Truffles

The Manual (21 pages pdf format)

written by Pat Russell dog trainer
Trifecta Training Center

First to train a dog to hunt truffles
for the

First North American Truffle Festival Dog Training Seminar
held in Eugene, Oregon ... January 2006.

Available NOW

Link to: More info on the new Manual

Regular Price $42.95...Christmas Special $29.95
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send request to trifecta_training_ctr@yahoo.com

 

 

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