TDWA dogs do not “track” the truffle odour on the ground but use wind and air currents. The odour can travel a long distance on the wind and it is not uncommon for a dog to trace a truffle from 50 meters or more!

A dog can not physically find every truffle in the ground! Truffle Dogs WA believe that their dogs will find 90% of the truffles, 90% of the time. There are many things that may cause a dog to “miss” a truffle; external factors like rain, temperature, wind and internal factors such as management practices and search plans are but a few. Truffle Dogs WA recommend a search at least once a week or more, when the farm is producing.

Our dogs are indicating tools only. Once our dogs have located a truffle we mark ground and work on until the search is completed. The actual decision to harvest is made on many factors but the biggest is the odour of the truffle. However we have found through previous experience that it is better not to encourage the dog to find sub standard quality truffle, rather it is better and far more cost effective to teach the dog to discriminate good from bad, this marks one of the differences between a good dog and an exceptional dog!

You can contract the service of Truffle Dogs WA either on a one off basis or for the whole season.

We will consider all contracts and we can work out a package for you. For our reasonable rates please contact us and we will discuss a package that best meets your needs.

BIO SECURITY

TDWA is a contract truffle hunting business and we have a management strategy in place to try and mitigate the possible risk of cross contamination between our different client’s trufferies. Apart from some generic weeds commonly found in the South West we are unaware of a specific threat to the Western Australian truffle industry, however we do take a positive and pre emptive stance to guard against such unknown threats. If any truffle grower knows of any specific weeds, pests or diseases on their property then they are obliged to inform us.

Our bio security plan includes:

		Using a specific pair of boots for each hunter reserved for our major clients and clearly marked as such.
		Or utilise foot baths as installed and directed by the responsible owner.
		Rinse our hands of excess dirt from another property and brush of our clothing as required, work clothes will be clean on each day.
		Having water and a chemical spray on hand to sanitise equipment such as trowels etc as required.
		Allow the dogs to swim in a dam at the end of each visit/day so as to wash off any excess dirt.
		Our vehicle may need to access the road ways/fire breaks through some trufferies, if you have a designated wash down bay we can use this as we depart the property, otherwise we will conduct regular visual inspections and remove any seeds or dirty as required. We also wash the dog area regularly of excess dirt.
		Owners or managers of trufferies are welcome to inspect our vehicle on entry to their property to ensure satisfaction of our compliance.
		Educate our staff as to our Bio Security risks and preventative measures.

For more information on bio security you can visit:

http://www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/

http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/pw/fn041_2003.pdf