SULLY NOSE WHERE THE TRUFFLES ARE

TRUFFLE hunter Sullivan ‘nose’ how to sniff out ut the highly sought-after underground fungus foodies have come to enjoy.

The almost fouryear-old field spaniel is about a quarter of the way into the annual truffle season, which lasts between 11 and 13 weeks.

Aussie Truffle Dogs co-owner Lisa Blackwell ll said Sullivan was still in training but had a family y history of truffle hunting that extended to his dad and aunty.

“He’s got the nose on the ground and is getting the general idea of things, but he still misses some things,” she said.

“There is a lot of preparation prior to truffle season to get the dogs ready. They can’t be couch potatoes because sometimes they’re hunting 1000 trees up and down hills which can be tiring. That’s why we only work a dog an hour and then change.”

Ms Blackwell, who is also a dog trainer at Highton Vet Clinic, planted truffle trees 12 years ago but had to wait seven before they started producing.

She said the high price of the culinary delicacy — which retails at about $2.50 per gram — is due to the time it takes to grow and retrieve.

“It takes the right soil conditions, the right number of frost days, the right number of hot days, the right amount of water and lime in the soil. It can be really quite complicated,” Ms Blackwell said.

Aussie Truffle Dogs supplies truffle to a number of local businesses including Le Parisien and Terindah Estate, where head chef Ivan Roianov is known to make truffle ice cream.