Susanna is a green cauliflower growing in my garden this summer.

Puppy Love

Yes I said I was getting a new puppy and no, I didn’t say I was getting a gardening puppy. I was looking for a rodent-catching pet. I know most people would consider a cat a better choice but I have a problem with cats killing birds so I wanted a dog.

“We don’t have any dogs right now.” When we went to the SPCA they were all out of dogs so they suggested a hamster. Um, No.

Outdoor cats kill songbirds. Full stop. So when I discovered I had a rodent problem I decided to get a dog, not a cat. I just didn’t get the right dog. Or did I?

Our new puppy Corle is a Lagotto, an Italian breed new to North America.

We eventually found a truffle dog…. an Italian breed that digs truffles, a kind of mushroom found underground. Truffles are a delicacy for sure. And the dogs are so cute! A truffle dog is an alternative to the truffle pig who also digs truffles but eats them before you can retrieve them (so not as helpful as a dog that has one goal: to please you.)

I took a picture of a truffle dog in Italy when I attended the slow food event and travelled to Alba by train to see these dogs in action. So I guess it was inevitable. I was suddenly in line for a dog from a local breeder.

As time passed our truffle dog arrived and she is all over us with love and affection. But this summer she started pursuing her passion: digging holes. First up, the greenhouse. Okay – she wasn’t up in the beds, just on the dirt floor. Easily forgiven.

Corle doesn’t shed but this means she is hot in the summer so she digs holes in the garden where she can hang out and cool down.

Then Corle started digging between the beds outside. Okay so far. But now that it is summer, our six month old puppy is digging deeper. She is going for gold under our zucchinis and cauliflowers. Yesterday she brought me a potato and followed me into the raspberry patch where she saw me picking the berries. She wanted to pick too!  Corle started eating the berries she is picking.

Then, when I picked a cauliflower and put it in a bowl, she ran away with the whole cauliflower head gently held in her mouth.

My potatoes, grown in root pouches, are at dog-eye level and Corle started digging them and bringing them to me.

I retrieved the green Susana cauliflower and washed it and served it for dinner that night. Apologies all around. My husband shares my love for the dog and thinks her harvesting abilities are funny. But he draws the line at potatoes. He wants them all for himself. I never used to grow potatoes because, quite simply, they are so cheap at the store. Then I interviewed a seed potato farmer and realized the crazy amount of pesticides each and every potato carries through to harvest. Now I add to the number of potatoes I grow every year: they are in the ground, in root pouches and in my homemade potato towers.

So now I share potatoes – mostly with my husband – but occasionally with my dog. Welcome to our home Corle. You will have to dig in if you want your share of the spuds around here.

Corle appeared from my shed with a pot in her mouth. “Do you need any help boss?” she seemed to be asking.

In upcoming news Corle has been booked into her first event. The Errington Mushroom Festival on October 15, 2017 is a chance for interested wild food collectors to find out what mushrooms grow in the Coombs/Errington area. This year there will be a talk about Lagottos and Corle will be there showcasing the breed. Not because she is good at truffle hunting or anything but she is a willing participant and that’s all you can expect from a puppy.

While I dug potatoes yesterday I put them in my empty root pouch. At one point I looked in the bag and many potatoes were missing but Corle had left her favourite toy there in their place.