Fido is a truffle dachshund. Can’t believe it? His story is told to us by his very “truffle hunting” companion a well-known Tuscan truffle hunter, Gianfranco, a friend of Simone Calugi and Selektia Tartufi.
Fido is now 8 years old, he was born on February 8, 2013, and from the very beginning he was educated to search for truffles, showing a great predisposition to this activity. “I got him on April 11,” Gianfranco says proudly, “and right from the start I started training him to become a truffle dachshund. Already after a few weeks, on his own, he found the first wild truffles. He was really good at it! In my life I have had many truffle dogs, mestizos, lagotti that we call “curly” because of the shaggy coat, but the truffles I found with this dachshund, I never found. The truffle dachshund has a very careful and meticulous search method ‘he writes in the ground’ as they say in the jargon, he moves slowly and very calmly: you could get into a soccer conversation with a friend and later you would find him still there searching.”
The short-haired German Dachshund, although it has no tradition of truffle hunting, is one of the world’s nicest dogs: cheerful, lively and certainly very intelligent.
Despite its short legs relative to the length of its torso, the German Dachshund is not ungainly; on the contrary, it demonstrates good agility and movement skills. Over time it has adapted to apartment life and as a companion dog but has nevertheless retained an innate tendency to hunt and frolic outdoors-that’s why it can make a good truffle dachshund! He is not afraid of other dogs with whom he often and willingly “attacks”: he is a faithful companion who does not disdain the company of children but only if they are respectful and well-behaved.
Older children will remember with nostalgia the cartoon adventures of Johnny, the police dachshund, and the legendary Lino Toffolo theme song that in a still black-and-white TV sang, “Who stole the jam?”
“And then at night he comes into bed with me-laughs Gianfranco-he gets in the middle between me and my wife and wants to cuddle. A really wonderful friend!” The story of the truffle dog and the truffle hunter has always been linked by a covenant of love and friendship, and the Fido-Gianfranco couple is truly one of the most original and likeable in all of Tuscany.
