I know nowadays that we mostly use dogs for finding them (I only know that because of Adam Ragusea). I was wondering why we didn’t start by using dogs, if pigs have more chance of eating the truffles and dogs are easier to maintain and train why we didn’t started out by already using them to locate the truffles?
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You can definitely train pigs to not eat the truffles. Pigs are very smart, definitely as smart as dogs, if not smarter.
Also pigs are easier to maintain.
Because pigs have a natural affinity for rooting in the earth for food. On top of that, female pigs are attracted to the truffles ‘musk-like’ substance, also synthesised in the sexual organs of the male pig. [As part of the mating ritual, the female is insatiably drawn to this scent.](https://trufflegrowing.com/truffle-pigs-and-dogs/)
So it was easy to use female pigs since they didn’t have to be trained to look for and find truffles, they’re naturally attracted to them.
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