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Nowadays in all dog technique doctrines there is not a great difference
between a pedigree dog and a mongrel. Even in agility, born especially
for mongrels, are required dogs with specific caracteristics such as agility
and small size.
In the search of truffles a noteworthy number of pedigree dogs have also
been used so that a specialized italian dog-breeding has selected pure-bred
dog: Korthals, Labrador, Springer Spaniel and Border Collie. Each of these
races has merits and defects whose greatest quality is to be perfectly
set.
In the center of Italy, where the summer truffle is abundant, truffle-seekers
use a generic dog which is suitable for all sorts of truffles and trained
to retrieve. Labrador is the most given to this job and particularly efficient
in cold and snowy areas. Another dog which is very good at retrieving
is the Griffon Korthals which, thanks to its moderate speed, its sistematic
research and its sharp sense of smell, is the most suitable dog for white
truffle. Korthals because of its coat do not suffer from neither cold
nor hot temperature. In seeking for the white truffle this sort of dog
can succeed both in Piemonte at -10° C and in Morocco when seeking
for the north-african truffle. Labrador and Korthals are used by Spanish
professional truffle-seekers in their search of the precious black truffle
(T. melanosporum) around cold sierras.
Springer Spaniel is a small size dog, agil, very fast, easy to be carried
either by car or plane and capable of working under the truffle-seeker
commands. Spaniel, as well as Labrador and Korthals, if trained when young
(around fifty days old) he will become so interested in truffle that he
won’t think of hunting anymore. From past experiences, in which sporting
dogs have been used in seeking truffles, it can be infered that dog is
a seeker and finds what man wants especially when he is trained with a
specific object since early days.
Border Collie is the smallest but he is the best guide for herds: in doing
this job he wonderfully replaces man. In his future, besides his great
success in agility or as an actor in movies or in advertising, there is
the truffle. In France, Border Collie Jason is always amongst the best
in dog truffle competitions. This breed has been more and more used in
French wide plantations where dog has to be resolute, fast and at the
digger commands: no dog can do it better than the Border because he uses
not only his nose and ears but also his eyes the use of which derives
form his guiding herds. As in Australia melanosporum truffle-grounds have
started to be cultivated it won’t be difficult for Border Collie
to become the national dog both for herd and for truffle.
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