Alana McGee is the founder of The Truffle Dog Company and is a world-renowned truffle consultant and truffle dog trainer.

Learn more about Alana here: https://truffledogcompany.com In this episode, we cover:

00:02:26 - Alana McGee’s story and how she got started training truffle dogs 00:09:05 - What different truffle species do you find in North America - An Overview 00:18:14 - Alana’s favourite truffles and what different truffles smell like? 00:24:00 - Are there undiscovered areas where wild truffles might be growing? 00:28:00 - Truffle oil vs. real truffles for dog training 00:32:50 - How do you make your own truffle-scented oils? 00:37:10 - Alana shares what science and truffle research projects she’s excited about 00:41:00 - Alana talks about her dogs 00:43:10 - What are the most common things new truffle dog handlers struggle with? 00:46:50 - How to teach a dog to alert and stay at source 00:50:20 - What is the ideal truffle dog sequence to train for 00:58:00 - What do your advanced students commonly struggle with? 01:04:20 - How much do we need to worry about scent contamination when training our dogs? 01:08:50 - What is the best way to explore new truffle areas with your dog? 01:16:00 - How to use your “que” when training your dog hunt truffles 01:17:35 - Alana shares what she loves most about her work in the truffle industry 01:20:45 - Alana talks about truffle hunting in Europe 01:29:12 - Raking for truffles vs using dogs 01:40:18 - Alana’s favourite way to eat truffles

Subscribe and share if you enjoy this episode!