An acclaimed breeder and trainer of Lagotto Romagnolo truffle dogs (lag-oh-toe roman-yolo), Jim Sanford has followed a career path that reads a bit like Forrest Gump. Before working at Blackberry Farm, Tennessee’s world-renowned luxury resort, Jim spent twenty years traveling in North America, even to Australia, training elephants. A career he embarked upon on purpose.
“In the ‘70s, I met an elephant trainer and thought, ‘Who knew that was an option?’ It spoke to me on such a fundamental level,” Jim says. Mentored by professional trainers, Jim learned to take elephant training very seriously.
“I worked for zoos and animal parks to put good training in place so the elephant becomes tractable. Then zookeepers can safely take good care of that elephant.”
His last elephant training job brought him to Knoxville. He trained a male and three females at Zoo Knoxville and helped the zoo further a breeding program. Jim sums up that career, “Turned out, it truly was one of the most gratifying occupations I ever had.”
Ready to stop traveling, Jim applied for a front desk job at Blackberry Farm in 1999, but didn’t get it.
“I had heard about Blackberry Farm, but didn’t understand what it was. I thought the interview was going terrible until on a property tour, they said they wanted to start a fly fishing program. I’d been a fly fisherman since I was 20, so that got my foot in the door. Something Blackberry Farm is very good at is finding out what you’re good at and, if they can, making that a possibility for you.”
Within a month, Jim was also asked to start a horseback riding program. “I knew that was something I’m good at and could make me feel relevant at this place. I came to realize that regardless of job description, our job wasn’t just to help guests with a horseback or fly fishing session, but to develop relationships and meet guests on a very personal level.”
In 2007, Blackberry Farm’s proprietor, the late Sam Beall, came to the barn to tell Jim they were importing a dog from Italy and asked if he could train it to find truffles.
“I assured Sam I could and then asked him, ‘Exactly what is a truffle?’”
The catalyst for Sam’s interest in harvesting truffles was an East Tennessee neighbor who was cultivating a culinary truffle from Europe and needed a truffle dog. “We actually tried to cultivate truffles on our property with minor success. Truffles grow symbiotically with the root system of a certain tree. We used European hazelnut trees that didn’t survive a blight. We replanted indigenous bur oak trees, but are several years from knowing if we’re successful.”
Jim explains training a dog to do scent work is pretty straightforward. “We trained our first Lagotto in October 2007 to help a few people in this country harvest truffles. But everything really visionary at Blackberry Farm truly was Sam’s effort, and in 2008 he asked me to go to Italy to start importing dogs for a breeding program.” Jim turned the horses over to someone else and never looked back.
The puppies became very popular with guests, once they met them. Lagotti have thick, curly hair, in hues from brown, roan, white, off-white to orange, and are hypoallergenic so they don’t shed. Medium-size dogs, adults average 35 pounds. “We have about three litters every year and sell them exclusively to Blackberry Farm guests – and have much greater demand than we have puppies. One new owner waited nine years. I currently have 16 puppies, and seven breeding adult dogs (six females and one male).”
For 16 years, Jim has hand-delivered over 300 puppies to new owners – even as far as Switzerland. “I do basic training for each new owner (sit, stay, don’t jump on people, walk nicely on a leash). When I deliver puppies, I tell them, ‘This is what you need to continue doing.’ Some people think training is done when they buy the dog. But like raising children, it’s a way of life.”
Describing their temperament, Jim says, “If you’re not prepared to have a shadow, don’t consider one of these dogs. They bond strongly, but I can’t emphasize enough how intelligent they are. If you don’t appreciate that properly, they will end up playing you like a fiddle!”
After years of going there, Jim realized, “The greatest culinary truffle on earth comes from Northern Italy. It cannot be cultivated, only grows in the wild, and people are secretive about where it’s found. In 2016, I was in the countryside talking to dog breeders and was invited to go truffle hunting.” Jim now leads the “Blackberry Abroad” experience every October, inviting 10 guests to Italy for truffle hunting and wine country visits.
“For Il Raduno (the gathering), owners are invited back to the Farm for a spring weekend with ‘dog-forward’ events. For the Puppy Pond Splash, imagine 20 dogs diving off the dock to fetch tennis balls! I do one-on-one training, the Farm’s veterinarian does a presentation, and in celebration, our chefs shave truffles on certain dishes.”
Jim says of this remarkable career detour with his beloved Lagotti, “Everything that’s happened to me the last 25 years really is a credit to Blackberry Farm because they allow things like this to take place. I feel very blessed.” Learn more at BlackberryFarm.com
I can’t emphasize enough how very intelligent they are. If you don’t appreciate that properly, they will end up playing you like a fiddle!
Something Blackberry Farm is very good at is finding out what you’re good at and, if they can, making that a possibility for you.