Please note: This page contains program information for a festival that has already taken place. Information about the 2014 festival program will be added as details are finalized.
One Day Truffle Dog Training Audit without personal dogs
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| Truffle Dog Training Seminar 2011 |
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| Truffle Dog Training Seminar 2011 |
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| Truffle Dog Training Seminar 2011 |
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| Truffle Dog Training Seminar 2009 |
A wonderful irony lies at the heart of the truffle’s mystique: the grandest of culinary delicacies lives hidden underground where only pigs and dogs can find it. We humans who value truffles so much are unable to enjoy them without the help of animals.
Most truffle hunters employ dogs in the search. And so, besides days spent on quiet journeys through damp autumn and winter woodlands, the life of a truffle hunter is also one of constant companionship with rewards beyond the ordinary. Who wouldn’t enjoy such a life? Alas, another part of the truffle’s mystique is the exclusivity and secrecy around its harvest. It is a life that few people can ever experience.
While pigs need no instruction, the knowledge required by hunters and dogs is usually passed down through generations. The hunter learns where to go and what to look for from older members of his or her family or community, and dogs typically learn by tagging along with an older, more proficient truffle dog. Learning to find truffles without someone to show us where to go, and short of spending a fortune on truffles for training isn’t easy.
Until recently, this charming partnership between dog and human in search of culinary treasure could be experienced only in the hills of southern Europe, leaving the bounty of truffles in North American woodlands undiscovered. With burgeoning truffle orchards, and an abundance of native truffle species throughout the forested regions of the continent, the need and opportunity to employ truffle dogs is growing.
We are proud to have established The Truffle Dog Training Seminar, the first event of its kind in North America. It has taken a long time to introduce truffle dogs to this continent, but now in its third year, OTF’s Truffle Dog Training Seminar is a unique opportunity to both observe the handling and training of skilled truffle dogs, and to teach your own dog to detect the scent of truffles.
This singular event begins on Friday January 27th in the classroom, with lectures on canine scent detection and the fundamentals of scent training, as well as practical sessions with your dog at the Festival Headquarters Hotel. On the second day, participants and their dogs have a one of a kind opportunity to engage in an authentic hunt for wild truffles in their natural habitat; unearthing truffles from their source that no one has hidden for you. And yes, you absolutely do get to keep the truffles you find.
Training a working truffle dog requires ongoing repetition and dedication over months or years. However, the past two years have shown that while not every beginning dog will locate wild truffles during this two day introduction, many will succeed, and everyone who attends will gain the basic instruction necessary to carry out the longer term training required by every good truffle dog.
This seminar is intended for those with an interest in commercial harvest of truffles, either from natural woodlands or orchards of trees inoculated with the European truffles, as well as those whose interests are primarily recreational.
As part of a larger celebration of truffles, the Truffle Dog Training Seminar would, of course, be incomplete without the culinary experience of truffles. The program therefore includes multi-course luncheons including truffles in every course on both days.
The Instructors
D. Glenn Martyn, currently a canine behavior consultant with decades of experience and a broad background in scent and service dog training. Glenn serves on various international university faculties and nonprofit dog training organization directorships. His work has included training dogs for television and movies, obedience, show, field, police service, search and rescue and tracking, as well as years of instructing, managing and directing dog trainers and dog training programs.
Jim Sanford of Blackberry Farm Resort, renowned elephant trainer and handler of North America’s first “professional” truffle dog who in one season has located as much as 200 lbs of French black truffles in truffle orchards in east Tennessee. Jim also directs North America’s largest breeding program for Lagotto Romagnolos as part of his work at Blackberry Farm.
The Details
Attendance to this unique event is limited to 18 dogs. Final approval will be determined by the instructors. Dogs in attendance must be well-behaved with other dogs as well as other people, and no females in heat will be allowed. The instructors also reserve the right to have seriously misbehaving dogs excluded from further activities if necessary.
The Truffle Dog Training Seminar will be held Friday, January 27th, and Saturday, January 28th, 2012. Friday’s event is at The Hilton Eugene, Headquarters Hotel for the Oregon Truffle Festival. Saturday’s event is in the field, consisting of a truffle hunt for the native Oregon truffles.
Because attendance is limited to just 18 dogs, a limited number of people will be allowed to audit the Friday session *without dogs*.
Tickets can also be purchased as part of Experience Four, The Epicurious Harvester, which includes Friday and Saturday’s evening meals, the Sunday Truffle Brunch, and the Oregon Truffle Marketplace.
Please contact Dr. Charles Lefevre with questions.
Phone: (541) 513-4176
email: charles@truffletree.com
website: www.truffletree.com
Our host hotel, The Hilton Eugene, is dog friendly, providing a separate area in the hotel for everyone’s comfort and enjoyment.
PURCHASE TICKETS
One Day Truffle Dog Training Audit without personal dogs - $295
Early Bird Pricing until October 1st
Friday, January 25, 2013
7:30 am - 4:00 pm ONLY
Since we expect the Truffle Dog Training Seminar to sell out as we have space for only 24 dogs, we are offering an opportunity to come without your dog to attend the lectures on canine scent detection of truffles, observe hands-on training, and have questions answered by expert trainers as they work with a variety of other dogs. Include entire weekend curriculum.
Includes:
- Continental breakfast and truffle luncheon - Friday
- Truffle Dog lectures and demonstration - Friday
- Participants in this one day event will have the opportunity to arrange follow up sessions with their dogs and one of the Seminar trainers after the festival.
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