Mike Madrid

For someone who likes to harvest the treasures of our Earths bounty, Oregon and the Willamette Valley are paradise. The Oregon coast and the rivers supplies us with Dungeness Crabs, clams, and salmon while the coast range is abundant with mushrooms and truffles. The Willamette Valley is especially abundant with a delicious supply of truffles and the best way to harvest Oregon White and Black truffles is with a dog.

We added Massimo, a Lagotto Romagnolo to our family back in 2013 when he was 10 weeks old and started his truffle training immediately. Starting with a few drops of Truffle Oil on his food and within a few months progressed to truffle hunts in the back yard. However, the real turning point was the truffle dog training class offered at the 2014 Oregon Truffle Festival. Jim Sanford along with Deb and Bob Walker gave us tips that are only known by experienced truffle dog handlers and Massimo and I quickly excelled as a truffle hunting team.

Since then, Massimo and I have had the privilege in leading forays for hundreds of festival participants hunting truffles in the field. Finding wild truffles in the forest with new friends is like the “Best Day Ever”.