Truffles are a delicious delicacy used in cooking because of their aroma and exclusive taste. More and more people are taking up truffle hunting with the tools they have at their disposal.
What are truffle dogs and which are the best ones?
Truffle dogs are canines that have been trained to search for truffles. Any dog can be trained, although it is recommended to use breeds that are not too large, calm, sociable and obedient. Hounds, hunting dogs, portuguese rabbithounds and mixed breed dogs are often used.
Females tend to have a more developed sense of smell than males, so they are preferred when searching for truffles. It is also advisable to train truffle dogs from puppyhood because they learn much quicker than in adulthood. For training truffle dogs, it is recommended to use fresh, not frozen truffles. You can also buy truffle dogs already trained for this purpose.
Other truffle hunting animals
A dog is not like a pig, an animal that instinctively forages and pulls truffles out of the ground, as it needs to learn how to forage for truffles. The good thing about them is that they will not be tempted to eat the truffles, something that pigs would do if they could, as they forage for truffles for food.
Truffles are characterised by the great aroma they give off, although our sense of smell is not capable of perceiving them and therefore we resort to animals with a better sense of smell to look for them, such as goats, dogs, the aforementioned pigs and wild boars. However, although in countries such as France, dogs and pigs are used, Spanish legislation only allows the use of dogs in the search for truffles.
