Pet owners learn to train dogs for lucrative black truffle hunting in NSW

In a paddock outside Narooma on the New South Wales South Coast, pet owners are attending a workshop that trains dogs to locate black truffles, a fungus that can command prices of about $2,000 per kilogram. Kate Le Bars, who has spent seven years hunting truffles with her Australian Koolie Hepburn, leads the sessions, using a cotton ball infused with synthetic truffle scent as a stand-in for the costly real thing. After mastering the cue word and finding the scented ball, dogs earn treats, and the most proficient are invited to the Gulaga Gold truffiere at Dignams Creek for real-world hunting.

Australia’s truffle industry, now the fourth-largest globally, prefers dogs over traditional pig hunters because dogs are less likely to consume the find. Participants include hobbyists like Olivier Kapetanakos, who brings his cocker spaniel Ted to prepare for his own truffiere, as well as owners looking for a novel bonding activity. Successful dogs can uncover up to 60 truffles per hour, marking them for later harvest. The initiative highlights both the economic potential of truffle hunting and the growing popularity of canine scent-training.