By Jennie Blevins
I
n a lush forest south of Eugene, Oregon, a fiveyear-old Chihuahua mix named Gustave hunts for buried treasure. Dressed in a little orange jacket, he trots along the forest floor, until he comes to a spot rife with intoxicating smells. Here he starts digging into the earth, and in less than a minute produces one of the most
50 | coastalcaninemag.com | Spring 2021
expensive and sought-after delicacies in the world: a forest truffle, black, white, or brown depending upon the season. Marcy Tippmann, Gustave’s mom, has been bringing her beloved dog into the woods to hunt for truffles for several years. Although common throughout the Pacific Northwest, truffles grow underground making them difficult to locate. They are generally found one inch to six inches deep and are a form of mushroom that develops in a symbiotic association with the roots of trees. Truffles are said to be the “fruit” of these fungi. Tippmann adopted Gustave from a rescue site in Washington when he was just nine months old. That
