Congratulations on your poodle. It's great hearing about all the different breeds that are successfully hunting for truffles. Blows away the myth that a truffle dog needs to be a lagotto!
@@TheRealTruffleHunters what is your opinion on Golden Retrievers? Mine are field type as opposed to the show type that are more of a house dog. Great videos btw. They motivated me to find my first truffles. Thank you from Croatia!
Thanks Neven. Glad you found the videos useful and Croatia is a fabulous place to hunt. Unfortunately I cannot answer your question about Golden Retrievers with a lot of certainty as I have never worked with this breed. However I imagine that they would make ideal truffle dogs - they are smart, working dogs that will do very well in the conditions where you will be hunting together. He may even bring truffles to you in his mouth as our WHP does ua-cam.com/video/5gMa10JrsHo/v-deo.html
Thanks for the great tutorial. Quick question does it matter if your scent is on the target scent? One of my relatives who is a fisherman is always looking for ambergris on the coast. I will advise him to train a dog then guide him to your video series. The foil and cotton will stop the dog eating it right?
Hi Faisal. In some cases the dog might be following your scent. You will only find this out when you make the transition from truffles you have buried to truffles growing in the wild. To avoid this problem you can occasionally get sb else to bury the truffle for you. The cotton wool has been impregnated wirth a drop of truffle oill, it is wrapped in foil which stops the dog chewing the cotton wool ball and can be changed if it gets dirty. Some trainers prefer to put the cotton inside one of those Kinder egg capsules or a table tennis ball instead of foil. They are sturdier but I am a little concerned about potential choking risks.
Any truffle oil will do the job. All of the oils on the market contain the chemical compound you are teaching the dog to sniff out. There are differences between the aromas of the various truffle species but generally speaking, once a dog can find one kind of truffle it can find them all. Which is handy! Good luck!
Ive already taught my dog to hunt for a scent ball just as a game so i think i have the first steps down but he does tend to pic the pot up sometimes. Ive recently been asking him to sit when he finds it but he still grabs it then sits. This week ive been trying to teach him to touch it with his nose instead. Any tips for getting the dog to be gentle and not ruin the truffle? My boy is a bit of a bull in a china shop.
The fact that he grabs it is a good sign for a truffling dog as it shows he is enthuastic about the whole game. It is more of a problem when the dog is indifferent to the scent. Having said that,you need to knock truffle destroying behaviours on the head swiftly. So make sure that you are right next to your good boy's side. The moment he finds the ball, take it from him and assertively tell him that the ball is for you and immediately give him his treat and all the praise so he knows that he is getting a fair exchange and does not feel disgruntled. You should aim to have him just nudging the scent ball with his nose. Hope that helps!
@@TheRealTruffleHunters thank you. I tried burying the sliver fould ball yesterday and he did pick it up with his mouth but was happy to drop it for the treat so thats a good sign. Thanks. I wasn't really sure how soft truffles are on the outside and was a bit worried it would be spoilt by a tooth or nail puncture. Hes an enthusiastic border collie so very happy to get involved
@@lyndseyanne4022 The truffles on my land are tough old cookies, i had been stumbling on funny shape black rocks for years, before i realised they were truffles. I feel a bit of an idiot now, but l’m sure i will get over it if i manage to train my dog to find them for me. I have the advantage of already having two dozen to use for training.
I wish I found your videos earlier this year. Seems like I made a few mistakes, I stayed maybe too long on stage 2 and my dog started losing interest. He knows the smell definitely but he doesn't seem so interested to find the toy anymore. He loves going for nature walks but when I give him the command to find the hidden truffle toy he seems too busy with hunting turtles or other animals ... Any tips you can give me?
Hi.....There are two things you can try -keep a truffle/truffle scented ball in your pocket when you are out walking in truffle areas. Let the dog sniff it, then give the command. To make sure that the treats you are offering are extra tempting. feed your boy after your walk, not before.He will be more focused if hungry.. There are a few more tips in this video if you have not seen it ua-cam.com/video/J3gRxcphLG4/v-deo.html
@@TheRealTruffleHunters thank you for replying. After watching your videos I realized that I was training my dog in the wrong time of the day (when he is lazy) and I always feed him first thing in the morning, so definitely 2 things to change. I will watch this recommended video. Thank you once again
No, you can use any kind of fresh truffle or any variety of truffle oil. They all contain the same compound you are training the dog to sniff out. Truffle sniffing skills are pretty much transferable - if a dog can find one variety of truffle out in the wild he can usually find them all.
@@TheRealTruffleHunters if I want to train a dog with a fresh truffle should I somehow process it? Maybe drying, cooking? Also could it be potentially bad to do the training with truffles that are still imature? In my case Uncinato that is still white inside.
An immature truffle won't smell as strongly as a mature one , the dog should be able to pick up the scent but this is not ideal for a beginner - perhaps put some truffle oil on the uncinatum?
@@TheRealTruffleHunters I cooked pasta with white truffle oil and dogs loved it. I am not sure should I use only the cotton ball method or give them truffles to eat.. because in future I want to plant chestnut trees mycorhhized with truffles, and then I will have to keep my dogs away if they get used to eat truffles. And I love having my dogs around and free. Maybe I could use a tennis ball with oil? Simmilar to your method and makes them asociate with playing retrieve..not with eating. Im really not confident how to proceed because this is for life.
Glorious!! Thank you - can't wait to get the Parsons Russell on the job now!
How lovely! Good luck to you both.
Great videos, well done. I trained my standard poodle mix last winter to find truffles in Washington, but am always looking for more tips :)
Congratulations on your poodle. It's great hearing about all the different breeds that are successfully hunting for truffles. Blows away the myth that a truffle dog needs to be a lagotto!
@@TheRealTruffleHunters what is your opinion on Golden Retrievers? Mine are field type as opposed to the show type that are more of a house dog.
Great videos btw. They motivated me to find my first truffles. Thank you from Croatia!
Thanks Neven. Glad you found the videos useful and Croatia is a fabulous place to hunt. Unfortunately I cannot answer your question about Golden Retrievers with a lot of certainty as I have never worked with this breed. However I imagine that they would make ideal truffle dogs - they are smart, working dogs that will do very well in the conditions where you will be hunting together. He may even bring truffles to you in his mouth as our WHP does
ua-cam.com/video/5gMa10JrsHo/v-deo.html
@@TheRealTruffleHunters this dog is perfect! Well trained.
Thanks for the great tutorial. Quick question does it matter if your scent is on the target scent? One of my relatives who is a fisherman is always looking for ambergris on the coast. I will advise him to train a dog then guide him to your video series. The foil and cotton will stop the dog eating it right?
Hi Faisal. In some cases the dog might be following your scent. You will only find this out when you make the transition from truffles you have buried to truffles growing in the wild. To avoid this problem you can occasionally get sb else to bury the truffle for you. The cotton wool has been impregnated wirth a drop of truffle oill, it is wrapped in foil which stops the dog chewing the cotton wool ball and can be changed if it gets dirty. Some trainers prefer to put the cotton inside one of those Kinder egg capsules or a table tennis ball instead of foil. They are sturdier but I am a little concerned about potential choking risks.
@@TheRealTruffleHunters thankyou for your advice, it is greatly appreciated.
GOOD
Hi, would white truffle oil work for training my dog to find black truffles?
Thanks
Any truffle oil will do the job. All of the oils on the market contain the chemical compound you are teaching the dog to sniff out. There are differences between the aromas of the various truffle species but generally speaking, once a dog can find one kind of truffle it can find them all. Which is handy! Good luck!
@@TheRealTruffleHunters thanks!
Ive already taught my dog to hunt for a scent ball just as a game so i think i have the first steps down but he does tend to pic the pot up sometimes. Ive recently been asking him to sit when he finds it but he still grabs it then sits. This week ive been trying to teach him to touch it with his nose instead. Any tips for getting the dog to be gentle and not ruin the truffle? My boy is a bit of a bull in a china shop.
The fact that he grabs it is a good sign for a truffling dog as it shows he is enthuastic about the whole game. It is more of a problem when the dog is indifferent to the scent. Having said that,you need to knock truffle destroying behaviours on the head swiftly. So make sure that you are right next to your good boy's side. The moment he finds the ball, take it from him and assertively tell him that the ball is for you and immediately give him his treat and all the praise so he knows that he is getting a fair exchange and does not feel disgruntled. You should aim to have him just nudging the scent ball with his nose. Hope that helps!
@@TheRealTruffleHunters thank you. I tried burying the sliver fould ball yesterday and he did pick it up with his mouth but was happy to drop it for the treat so thats a good sign. Thanks. I wasn't really sure how soft truffles are on the outside and was a bit worried it would be spoilt by a tooth or nail puncture. Hes an enthusiastic border collie so very happy to get involved
@@lyndseyanne4022 The truffles on my land are tough old cookies, i had been stumbling on funny shape black rocks for years, before i realised they were truffles.
I feel a bit of an idiot now, but l’m sure i will get over it if i manage to train my dog to find them for me. I have the advantage of already having two dozen to use for training.
I wish I found your videos earlier this year. Seems like I made a few mistakes, I stayed maybe too long on stage 2 and my dog started losing interest. He knows the smell definitely but he doesn't seem so interested to find the toy anymore. He loves going for nature walks but when I give him the command to find the hidden truffle toy he seems too busy with hunting turtles or other animals ... Any tips you can give me?
Hi.....There are two things you can try -keep a truffle/truffle scented ball in your pocket when you are out walking in truffle areas. Let the dog sniff it, then give the command. To make sure that the treats you are offering are extra tempting. feed your boy after your walk, not before.He will be more focused if hungry.. There are a few more tips in this video if you have not seen it
ua-cam.com/video/J3gRxcphLG4/v-deo.html
@@TheRealTruffleHunters thank you for replying. After watching your videos I realized that I was training my dog in the wrong time of the day (when he is lazy) and I always feed him first thing in the morning, so definitely 2 things to change. I will watch this recommended video. Thank you once again
Hi. I was wondering if it is possible to train my fish to find truffles ? Or at least my chicken
I don't think that fish have noses, do chickens have holes at the top of their beaks? They might be nostrils
Do I need specific type of truffles for training dog?
No, you can use any kind of fresh truffle or any variety of truffle oil. They all contain the same compound you are training the dog to sniff out. Truffle sniffing skills are pretty much transferable - if a dog can find one variety of truffle out in the wild he can usually find them all.
@@TheRealTruffleHunters if I want to train a dog with a fresh truffle should I somehow process it? Maybe drying, cooking?
Also could it be potentially bad to do the training with truffles that are still imature? In my case Uncinato that is still white inside.
An immature truffle won't smell as strongly as a mature one , the dog should be able to pick up the scent but this is not ideal for a beginner - perhaps put some truffle oil on the uncinatum?
@@TheRealTruffleHunters I cooked pasta with white truffle oil and dogs loved it.
I am not sure should I use only the cotton ball method or give them truffles to eat.. because in future I want to plant chestnut trees mycorhhized with truffles, and then I will have to keep my dogs away if they get used to eat truffles.
And I love having my dogs around and free.
Maybe I could use a tennis ball with oil? Simmilar to your method and makes them asociate with playing retrieve..not with eating.
Im really not confident how to proceed because this is for life.