truffle found, one blank found. If this was a truffle, we
were in, if this wasn’t then we were done.
“Truffle,” I tell the judge.
“Truffle!” she confirms. We did it. We found the elusive
truffle and made it out of the round that was no doubt
designed to weed out clueless neophytes like the Bigster
and me.
The judge compliments me on my ability to read my
dog’s tell and says she has a dog just like him. I grin and
just keep stuffing treats into him.
“Biggie, you are amazing,” I tell him. Given that the
top price for Oregon truffles has been around $500 per
pound, Biggie could more than earn his keep, I fantasize,
if we figured this truffle-sniffing thing out.
TRUFFLES IN THE WILD
“When your dog finds his first truffle, it’s like your first
kiss; you never forget it,” Jacobson says.
While expensive Italian truffles are mainly found in
cultivated orchards, Oregon truffles are found in the wild,
— or, more precisely, on old farmland with young, 15-to-
35-year-old Douglas fir trees, according to Lefevre and
Jacobson.
Most Oregon truffles are actually found on private land,
and since 2013 the Oregon Board of Forestry has required
a permit for truffle hunting on state and private lands.
There are 100,000 acres of suitable truffle land in this
state, according to the feasibility study.
Another reason Lefevre, who also professionally inocu-
lates trees with truffle spores to create orchards, doesn’t
come down hard on rakers is that truffles thrive on land
already disturbed by humans. Most Oregon truffles are
found west of the Cascades in Oregon’s Willamette Valley,
and black truffles are found in the Coast Range and the
foothills of the Cascades.
Out of the 26 or so original competitors, 16 make it into
the second round, including Biggie and six Lagotto
Romagnolos. The second round involves finding truffles
in a simulated wild setting — buried in the arena dirt
among logs and trees.
The next day the top five dogs from that round then
head out into the forest for an actual field trial where the
winner takes home $500 and the Keeper DeGlane award,
named, of course, for a truffle dog.
Sanford, who together with Tom, his Lagotto, is prob-
ably one of the best known truffle hunters in the country,
tells me after the first round, “One in 10 dogs can go out
there and will sniff a truffle, because he knows something
different is there.”
“Yeah, that was my dog today,” I respond.
“Dogs harvesting truffles ensures quality,” he says. He
says he (and Tom) come to the Truffle Festival not to promote
the Oregon truffle, “but a dog-harvested Oregon truffle.”
Jacobson agrees and says she’d like to see dog-harvest-
ed truffles labeled, the way dolphin-safe tuna is labeled.
At the end of the Joriad’s third round, Marilyn Richen
and her yellow Lab Gucci take home first place. Lefevre
says they found a truffle every minute and 45 seconds “for
a solid hour.” Second place finisher, Sunny Diaz and her
Lagotto Stella, averaged one every two minutes, he tells me.
Biggie and I? Not so much. As Russell points out, dog
training takes time. Lots of time, you can’t rush it.
“Repetition, repetition, repetition,” she says.
When Biggie and I walk out before the audience for
round two, he gleefully sniffs around for a while. We find no
truffles. But he does take a nice poop in the truffle arena.
Afterward, I gave him lots more treats for being a very
good dog and, as I like to tell people, he did beat 10 or 11
actual trained truffle dogs, proving any dog, even an
unwanted L.A. pitbull, can become a truffle dog.
The Oregon Truffle Festival and the Joriad return to
Eugene Jan. 29-31, 2016. Biggie and I will be practicing. ■
Go for a truffle hunt with Umami Truffle Dogs at umamitruffledogs.com.
Truffle train your dogs with Trifecta Training Center trifectatraining.com and
check out New World Truffières at truffletree.com for more on growing truffles.
Community Alliance
of Lane County
Presents:
Asian Food
Market
Largest Selection
of Asian Groceries
Seaweed, rice, noodles, frozen products,
deli, snacks, drinks, sauces, spices,
produce, housewares, and more.
We carry groceries from Holland,
India, Pakistan and Polynesia
a Dramatic Reading of
A Time
To BreAk
SiLenCe
April 12, 2015
4-6 pm
Sushi & Asian deli take-out
KWVA SPRING
CLEANING
MONOPHONICS
RECORD SWAP
WITH SPINLADEN
4/4/15 • 8PM • $13 ADV/$15 DOOR • 21+
4/4/15 • 12-4PM • FREE • ALL AGES
Easter
Special
Open Easter Sunday 10-6
10%
OFF EVERYTHING
IN THE STORE
* Excluding rice, case prices
and phone cards.
Offer expires 4/8/15
www.sunriseasianfood.com
ELLIOTT BROOD
M-Th 9am-7pm•F 9am-8pm•Sa 9am-7pm•Su 10am-6pm
70 W. 29th Ave. Eugene • 541-343-3295
WITH SHELBY EARL
A dramatic reading of
Martin Luther King Jr.’s
April 4, 1967 speech
linking opposition to
the Vietnam War and the
struggle for civil rights.
Delivered at New York City’s Riverside
Church, Dr. King’s speech was organized by Clergy
and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, the precursor to CALC.
His words still speak to us today as we consider the endless
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and envision changing our
national priorities as we work for peace and justice.
First Christian Church
1166 Oak St, Eugene
for more informATion:
CALC: 541.485.1755
calcpeace@efn.org • www.calclane.org
PASSAFIRE +
YO MAMA’S BIG FAT
BOOTY BAND
WITH STRANGER
4/6/15 • 7PM • $7 ADV/$10 DOOR • 21+
4/8/15 • 7PM • $13 EARLY BIRD/$16 ADV • 21+
MAIN SQUEEZE MICHAL
MENERT
WITH PAUL BASIC +
+ THE CONGRESS
MARCELO MOXY
4/9/15 • 9PM • $10 ADV/$12 DOOR • 21+
4/10/15 • 8PM • $14 EARLY BIRD/$17 ADV • ALL AGES
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT MEDICAL CANNABIS?
• Please come in and talk to our educated staff
about what Cannabis can do for you.
• We have many non-smoking,
High CBD (non-psychoactive) varieties to try.
• We are one of Oregon’s most trusted
& respected Medical Cannabis Dispensaries
• No card required for consultations
SERVING
PATIENTS
S INC E 2013
−
−
8th & Charnelton • CozmicPresents.com
• CozmicPresents@gmail.com
eugeneweekly.com • A pril 2, 2015
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