Life as a Truffle Dog

As a truffle dog life is pretty good. We (that is me, Viva, and my 4 other Labrador truffle mates live in a beautiful part of the world in the southern forests of Manjimup, Western Australia. Truffle dogs have to work (funny name for something we love to do) for 3-4 months of the year, and the rest of the time is spent chilling ….

That’s not to say that we don’t keep fit for the upcoming truffle season. The others chase balls, go for walks, swim in the dams, chase the odd rabbit or duck and play fight each other. Sometimes we have to go to the beach. Sand just gets everywhere. Me, I don’t need the exercise, I am just naturally, well, perfect really.

Our humans are very particular about our diet and our waist lines. Some Labradors can get very pudgy, but not we sleek truffle dogs. Our food is the best quality and very close to our hearts, but we know that we should not eat too much. However, when our humans are not looking we supplement our diet with whatever we can find. Plums, pears, mulberries, carrots ... the list is endless. One of the gang has even figured out how to break into the shed where our food is kept. Great job! Wish she’d tell me when she is going to do it tho.

Every now and then we need to hone our truffle finding skills. Our humans hide some frozen truffle (nowhere as good as the fresh stuff) and ask us to find it. Easy peasy!! This is a very important game for the new dogs on the block but I find it a bit insulting. I’ve been hunting truffles for 8 years so I do know what they smell like!

Life as a truffle dog is not all kibble and bones….. But it is pretty close.