What an exciting and, above all, educational weekend we have had. The weather was on our side too. It stayed dry and was even sunny at times. Wonderful!

I have already attended two truffle training seminars and have continued practising the basics at home. However, recently I felt that I was missing the right approach to make the transition from searching for hidden training truffles to searching for real truffles in a natural environment.

I often wondered whether the truffles I used for training were contaminated with my own scent. Perhaps the dog was not only following the scent of the truffle itself, but was also picking up my scent trail, similar to mantrailing, where dogs are able to follow a person’s scent even after quite some time has passed.

That is why I was so happy to have the opportunity to join someone with a great deal of experience and to take our truffle training to the next level.

The weekend was worthwhile in so many ways. Maple first watched the experienced dog for a moment and then eagerly started searching herself.

For me, it was fantastic to watch how she searched and how much she enjoyed the work.

Of course, we were very excited about her first find. She put her nose into the leaves and started scratching at the ground two or three times. Then she moved away from the spot. And there it was. The first real truffle she had found completely on her own, right there in my hand.

What an incredible feeling! All the preparation, the seminars, the training sessions in our own forest, hiding and burying truffles again and again and letting her search for them had definitely paid off.

The entire weekend was incredibly valuable for both Maple and me. For my little girl, it showed how much she enjoys this kind of work and how much stamina she has. For me, it was a great opportunity to learn how she works, how to read her body language better and, as a result, to gain more confidence in her search work.

We are keeping up the training and will be back in the Teutoburg Forest on Thursday for another full day of training at a truffle plantation.

We are very excited to see how things develop, and I will keep you updated.

Maple & Nadine

Truffle Seminar with Nina Orth / Scent Dog Training

It was a very interesting day. We learned a lot again, and the dogs had so much fun!

I started the day with Maple, and she did an absolutely fantastic job. She was incredibly motivated and did not find the first exercises particularly difficult. She moved across the area like a lawn mower, running from one Kinder Surprise egg to the next. The eggs were filled with real truffles. She found every single one and even discovered some that the dog before her had missed. Amazing! Her reward was liver pâté straight from the tube.

The exercises gradually became more difficult. The eggs were hidden in holes and later buried in the ground so that Maple could no longer see them and had to rely much more on her nose.

This was more challenging for my little girl. At first she was still very fast, but she soon became calmer and more focused. And she mastered this challenge too.

At the end of the day, the eggs as well as a real truffle were buried in the ground. The level of difficulty increased once again because the dogs now had to learn to dig out the truffle and clearly indicate their find.

One truffle was even hidden as a little treat for the dogs to eat.

But Maple was not interested in eating it. For her, searching was much more exciting, and the praise and reward after finding it were all she needed!