When you meet a truffle grower or hunter, it doesn’t take long for the conversation to turn to dogs. Your choice of breed (or half-breed) is only one potential topic. There are many others. How do you train your dog? What’s the best reward? How long will it work? Does it concentrate on its job or chase rabbits? This is unsentimental interest, not some pet-lover’s ooh-ing and aah-ing about their overfed pooch. If a truffle dog isn’t working well, the owner is losing money. One missed truffle that rots in the ground is hundreds of dollars or euros of lost income. We exchange this information because it’s important.

There are controversies too. Some people insist that dogs work best when rewarded with little cubes of cheese, while others insist that cheese ruins their noses, and that little bits of sausage or meaty treats are the only effective reward. Professional trainers often suggest that dogs should be rewarded by being allowed to play with a favourite toy – but that only attracts scorn from the French. These are subjects that are not open to rational resolution, and their convoluted exploration excites trufficulteurs in much the same way as the weather endlessly fascinates the British (and me).

So what follows is my particular perspective on truffle dogs and their training. It is not the last word on dogs, and there will be many dog experts and truffle hunters who will disagree, perhaps violently, with what I have to say. Nevertheless, Peg was the first-ever champion truffle hound in New Zealand, so the two of us know something, at least. Obviously I believe that beagles make wonderful truffle hounds (though it’s still too early in Peg’s career for me to say exactly how wonderful), but I think the question of breed is secondary to having a dog that you can work with, that fits in with your circumstances – and your family. I would also suggest that you should, if at all possible, get your dog as a young puppy – around eight to twelve weeks old or as soon as the breeder is prepared to let you have it. Some experts suggest that you should work with a dog of the opposite sex, and I can’t quarrel with that. Others would suggest that you visit the litter with a truffle in your pocket and pick the puppy that shows the most interest in the smell. I didn’t have any truffle, and it didn’t seem to matter.

Cordane Precious Peggotty, also known as Peg, is Limestone Hills' truffle hound. Trained by Gareth, she has won the NZ truffle dog championship for the last two years. Click the link below to view an excerpt from the TV NZ news report covering last year's trial. (3.5MB, Quicktime)

In Spain, truffle dogs move with the times. Meet Lycos, so-called because she's a search engine.