The Life of Riley or Mondo Cane Revisited

Wanda: Hey Wilfred who was that spunky Border collie sniffing around the oak trees at the back today?

Wilfred:  Cilla said he was a ‘working dog’? He had some story about sniffing out really smelly black poo for his owner.

Tammy: How much does he get paid?

Wanda: You know border collies they will do anything for a play with the ball.

Yes its true meet Riley the wonder dog. On a recent truffle hunt at Truffle farm Wongara I was introduced to the “hottest” truffle hound in South West Victoria. Riley or as he is getting to be known  ‘the accurate one’  has a flawless reputation for finding truffles in a matter of moments. He drops, places his front paw on the precise location of these underground delicacies and all he asks for in return is a throw of the ball and a fee for his agent's expenses.

In an hour he carefully scoped the whole orchard of about 200 trees that Steve and Mikki have been harvesting for about 6 weeks this year and we managed to unearth about 2 kg of vey high quality black poo.
The local harvest and quality has been excellent. 

When I first met ‘Mademoiselle’ 4 years ago [that’s another story]  I realised that this area is indeed cold enough and  planted 30  infected Holm or Holly oaks in 2008.  I asked Riley’s agent James if he could possibly arrange an appointment for Riley to come and see if perchance ours had started to produce. I know it’s a long shot but James said that Riley had found truffles under 3 year old trees in the past so a date was organised. Before Riley arrived I stashed a small truffle in a matchbox and hid it under one of the trees and in a flash Riley was flat out with paw directly over where the matchbox was buried.

Alas no more ball games for the rest of the trees.   

James is happy to arrange a visit from Riley he costs [negotiate with James] a bit more than a ball chase but the results are priceless.... you know if you have them or not in a flash. In the meantime Tammy is the only one with the enthusiasm for an apprenticeship in Riley’s trade the others say they are too busy with front of house duties.

James’ contact 0403752080 Have Nose Will Travel . Please feel free to pass it on he needs the work to keep his nose dirty

For Fresh Truffles direct Steve on 0421869856.

Drawing by Judy Watson from table 5 Sat 28th July
Dramatis Personae: Wanda LabX Warnambool RSPCA, Tammy Tenterfield TerrierX Woodend Pets Haven,Wilfred LabX Otways. Cilla [Black Feline] 3 legs. Percy St PrahranRiley Border CollieX Geelong Animal Welfare.