But she couldn't do it without some very special help.

Ms Patterson, who lives at Trentham, is the operations director of Australia's first truffle dog breeding and training business, Aussie Truffle Dogs.

Her dogs, which have been trained to sniff out truffles, will spend the coming weeks hunting for them in and around Trentham.

Ms Patterson described Trentham as an increasingly important area for truffles in Victoria, thanks to the climate, which provides great growing conditions for prized edible fungi.

Ms Patterson said although the truffle industry was secretive by nature, it was growing in Trentham.

"I do see it as becoming a very big area in the production of truffles for the state," she said.

"You need to be able to get a ground temperature of about 30 degrees and you need six frosts for the truffles to mature.

"The truffle will spawn in late spring/early summer, and in winter the frosts help the truffles to mature."

The truffles are ripe for just 10 to 12 weeks a year, so there is just a brief window of opportunity to pick them.

And considering top grade truffles are selling this season for $3000/kg, there is much at stake.

Ms Patterson, a former breeder of rare dogs, made the move into the truffle hunting industry after deciding she wanted to do something different with the dogs.

She said the dogs deserved a lot of credit for what they did.

"It takes a lot of concentration," she said.

People who want to learn more about the truffle industry can attend a talk and working dog demonstration by Georgie Patterson and Shaye Metcalf from Aussie Truffle Dogs at 16 Falls Road, Trentham on Wednesday, July 16.

The talk is being presented by the Central Highlands Agribusiness Forum Rural Women's Network, which promotes various agribusinesses in the region.

*For information phone CHAF on 5343 2555 or 5424 8456. Fresh Truffle Tastings will also be held at Idyll Foods, 14 Market Street, Trentham on Saturday, June 26 and July 3. Bookings essential, phone 5424 1144.