Aussie Truffle Dogs Working Policy

It is important that the Truffiere owners understand and have some appreciation for a dog’s sense of smell. There has been much said in relation to truffle work and the working dogs capability. Though there are variants in effectiveness between breeds, the main requirement for an effective scent dog is trust between handler and dog, effective and reinforced training routines and quality working conditions.

A dog’s sense of smell is many, many times better than a man’s sense of smell. A basic difference is simply the olfactory cells that man has vs. a dog. Just in olfactory (scent) cells count a dog nose is forty times better than mans.

Dogs continually experience multiple variations of scents though the dog’s sense of smell is primarily functional and though primarily used to locate mates, food or enemies.

The scent handler works with the dog to train them to smell what we want, then we want them to act on that scent. A dog’s nose is a physical organ that can be adversely affected by conditions impacting on its ability to work effectively. Some of these include; hot dry air, windy conditions, chemical irritants, heavy rain; uncleared terrain; other scent contaminant i.e. dogs - all of which decrease the scenting dog from working effectively.

We have been in contact with handlers at customs in Melbourne and have learnt that the best customs dogs have a success rate in the low 90’s. We think that if truffle dogs have a success rate of 80% when working out doors and in winter conditions then this is a reasonable expectation of the industry.

The working relationship between the dog and trainer/handler ensures that both understand each other’s working routine and individual idiosyncrasies - how each of you work. Dogs are unable to verbally communicate so much of what is relayed is by the handler watching the dog’s reactions and ensuring they don’t relay un-needed information to the dog.

The training of the dog starts prior to purchase; selection of a scenting dog is of primary importance and this should be conducted by completing a temperament test - to ensure the dog has the temperament to work in any environment amongst people; is emotionally stable; well adjusted to living and working with man; and has an inquisitive nature, alert and conscious of their surroundings;

Various evaluations through training need to be checked:

• Can the dog concentrate
• Will the dog search for the item using his nose
• Does the dog ‘want’ the item
• Will the dog work in various environments

Training records and working records are of extreme importance both to you as the truffiere owner and to the handler and feedback from both areas should be encouraged. It is expected that there are varying experience levels in both fields - the dogs handlers understand their working animal and the truffiere owner understand his cultivation requirements.

The scent travels in a conical shape with the ripe truffle being at the point of the cone. The centre of this cone contains no scent and the scent spreads out as the cone rises. The item can be missed if the dog is not under control and worked specifically through the area. For truffles this working routine would be working down one side of the trees and then working up the next side ensuring the dog has the opportunity to scent both sides of the tree to ensure that the scent has not moved due to air current. This is in line with working scent detection dogs in customs, human trailing etc. This is a proven method and is still in use by authorities today.

The industry is relatively new and there is a very real need to develop and ensure a working repour and respect between both the owner of the truffiere and the handler. Truffiere owners should keep a record of ‘finds’ of truffles both fresh and rotten. The only way to ensure a dog has not missed is to have two dogs work an area one after the other. Generally this would not be needed but an understanding of the maturity of truffles by both parties is important - dogs are trained to scent mature truffles, so if they are not mature on the day a follow up day will be needed. This will be specific to individual truffieres and dependent on the volume found i.e. if you have found one small truffle you may want to check in a week, yet if you have found large quantity then you may want to check twice weekly.

Feedback to the handler will ensure that the handler is kept on track with training and will help ATD to determine the extent and possible causes for missed truffle enabling us to refine our training techniques to have our dogs work at their optimum ability.

On the day of the harvest, ATD will ring our client to check on the weather conditions. Should the weather be too inclement i.e. windy, heavy rain, snow, frost, the effectiveness of the scent dog is reduced; an alternative day will be suggested. Should the weather change markedly whilst harvesting, the handler will consult with the owner and a decision as to whether harvesting should continue will be made.

Scent detection work is the most demanding discipline that any dog can work in; it is mentally challenging for dogs to maintain a high level of concentration. ATD dogs will only work for minimum periods of time which is why a number of dogs are provided and the working conditions for the dog are taken seriously.