Macfield Kennel
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers
by Erin Friedeman
copyright 2007, not for reprinting or posting without permission
| What is a Toller? | What can a Toller do? | What's it like to live with a Toller? |
History
No one can say with certainty which breeds or mixes went into the genetic stew that eventually became the Toller. Breed historians believe that the basic stock included red decoy dogs (similar to today's Kooikerhondje) with dashes of retriever, setter, spaniel, and "farm collie" (probably similar to today's English Shepherd).
Originally the dogs were known as Little River Duck Dogs or Yarmouth Tollers. In 1945, the Canadian Kennel Club officially recognized the breed and later nine Tollers were registered with the CKC.
AKC judges use a breed standard, authored by the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club (USA), to evaluate Tollers. The breed standard is what Toller breeders consider the blueprint for our efforts to produce a dog that is recognizably a Toller. This sounds straightforward, but breed standards tend to use words like "moderate," "medium," and "in proportion," to describe aspects of the ideal dog, allowing lots of leeway for judges and breeders to envision their ideal Toller.
Further, Tollers currently enjoy (or are plagued by, depending on your point of view) wide variation in type. Some have heavy bone and thick coat, some have racy builds and little feathering. Some have short legs, others have very long bodies, and some combine both. Within the same litter, you may find one Toller who is burly and another who is wispy. Breeders like their litters to be consistent, but the grab bag of genes behind our dogs doesn't always result in a happy medium. Most people who own more than one Toller seem to fall in love with whatever style their first Toller is-- forever after for them, the ideal Toller has black pigment, or a certain earset, or a dark red coat, whether other owners, breeders, or judges agree or not.
Some Toller admirers (and even some Toller judges) are confused about the importance of white markings. Our breed standard allows any or all of the following white markings: white feet (though the white cannot extend above the dog's pastern, or "wrist"), white chest, white tail tip, white blaze. A Toller may have all or none of these markings, and our standard does not prefer a dog with "chrome" over a plain, all-red dog. Tollers are not required to have any white, though it seems to be human nature to prefer white markings (and lots of 'em) on a dog. However, when we breed Tollers, it's not easy to predict or control the white markings. "Mismarks," which are Tollers with too much white (such as a Lassie-type white ruff, white stockings, or white on its back), pop up frequently. While these dogs cannot show in the breed ring, they can be wonderful performance dogs and family pets, and may even be useful in a skilled breeder's breeding program.
A Toller's nose, eye rims, and lips are pigmented to harmonize with the color of his coat. Red-gold Tollers usually have "flesh-colored" noses, lips, and eye rims, though black is also acceptable. Dark red Tollers have brown or black coloring instead. Some people prefer flesh-nosed Tollers, others fall in love with dark-nosed.
Tollers are all-around dogs who can be family companions during the week, gun dogs during hunting season, and show dogs, obedience competitors, or agility athletes on the weekend. Most breeders and owners are very proud to have a dog that can adapt from one task to another.
Though Tollers can enjoy a wide range of activities, if you have a specialized sport in mind for your next dog, a Toller may not be for you. If you think of purebred dogs as vehicles, you might consider the Toller as sort of an all-wheel-drive station wagon-- a vehicle that can handle mud or snow, take kids to the school, haul a few treasures home from an antiques show, and, when cleaned up, won't embarrass you when you hand the keys to the valet at a swanky restaurant. However, you wouldn't take your station wagon to the drag strip, enter it in a monster truck pull, or take it on the snowmobile trails. Those are specializations that your wagon won't master.
As a prospective Toller owner, this means you need to be clear about your goals for your future dog. For instance, many Tollers enjoy dog agility and a few are truly outstanding competitors. However, as breeders we usually discourage high-level competitors from planning on a Toller as a future agility partner. Some Tollers are very biddable, athletic, nimble, and quick-- but to find such a prospect will require luck, time, and probably a few litters and washouts. The skills and abilities the sport requires at the highest levels just are not intrinsic to our breed. Simply put, the historical purpose and athletic type of a BC fits the demands of agility better than the historical purpose and athletic type of the Toller. However, this doesn't mean you can't enjoy dog agility with your Toller; lots of them can earn titles, win placements, and enjoy a more modest level of agility competition.
In the same way, most Tollers are not cut out to be field trial champions, though many can run in hunt tests successfully or provide years of good hunting companionship. A few very special Tollers may have what it takes for Qualified All-Age status, but if field trial success is your goal, your odds will be much better if you look to trial-bred Labs or Goldens. Those lines of retrievers have been selectively bred for generations for that sport, while Toller breeders have been happy to produce generalists. Honestly, the small size of the Toller (compared to other retrievers) is also a drawback in field trials. Distances are longer when your legs are five inches shorter than all the other competitors, and getting through heavy cover can be tougher for a Toller-sized dog than a lanky Lab.
What's it like to live with a Toller?
By turns, life with Tollers can be amusing, exasperating, charming, and exhausting. Lots of Toller owners will extol the virtues of life with their redheads, but there are definite downsides as well, as described in this handy pamphlet from the NSDTRC-USA. In our household, these are our top three least favorite and most favorite things about Tollers.
Our Top 3 Annoying Toller Traits
Personally, we hate noisy dogs, so we've squelched this as much as possible. Ghillie sticks to high-pitched muttering when she starts to get revved up, but can easily go over the brink to screaming if she feels the situation warrants. Dobro would whistle when excited (and got excited easily, like if we put on shoes or picked up keys), but rarely screamed. Beezie will both whistle and scream.
Shedding
Also keep in mind that with a typical Toller, you will need a good comb, Pam cooking spray, and a supply of "dog towels" to keep your dog's coat and your floor free from the burrs, brambles, swamp slime, and plain old mud that your dog will do his best to bring in from his outings. Even though the outer coat on most Tollers is resistant to clinging burrs, often the paler feathering on legs, chest, breeches, and tail is perfect for pesky tagalongs.
Thievery
To prevent thieving (and subsequent vomiting or veterinary visits), we have foot-pedal trash cans in all our bathrooms. We keep the kitchen trash under the sink and the dog food bins in a closed closet. Nonetheless, a few times a year the Tollers will discover a purse, backpack, or jacket pocket carelessly left within reach, unzip it, and rummage for chewing gum, breath mints, leftover dog treats, or just interesting handkerchiefs. This is a potentially fatal habit, so be aware! Tollers are clever, persistent, and not above using their powers for evil instead of good.
Our Top 3 Lovable Toller Traits
Trainability
Most Tollers come with two very strong drives: food and chasing/retrieving. At some times, using food to motivate your Toller is most convenient, at other times, you'll want to tap into the chase drive-- but it's so handy having both of these drives to work with.
In other breeds we've trained, the dogs tend to be driven by either food or play, but not both; we had to teach the dog to enjoy a food reward when a retrieve wasn't feasible, or to play tug instead of mooching for food. Not so with a Toller!
Sense of Humor
Our Dobro's favorite joke was to come up behind someone wearing shorts and sneeze on the back of her legs. When his victim would turn around saying "Eww!" he'd wag his tail, grin, and stamp his feet until he was rewarded with a scratch on his rump. How can you help but laugh?
(C) 2005-2007
Macfield Kennel
A Toller is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, a gundog which originated in Canada and is the smallest of the six retriever breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club. Tollers were bred by the farmholders of Nova Scotia's Yarmouth region to be hunting and general utility dogs. Tollers would retrieve waterfowl, monitor the farm's visitors, and some suggest they may even have herded livestock. However, the Toller's specialty was luring (or "tolling") waterfowl within the hunter's gun range. With red-and-white coloring that mimicked a fox, and characteristic bounding and pouncing, a Toller would repeatedly retrieve a ball or stick thrown by the hidden hunter. This playfulness attracted passing waterfowl, which would be bemused into drawing closer. Once the targets were within range, the hunter would take aim, and the Toller would be rewarded with his persistent retrieving with yet more fetching-- this time, ducks or geese.
Of the six retriever breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club, the Toller is the smallest. (The other retrievers are the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, the Curly-Coated Retriever, the Golden Retriever, the Flat-Coated Retriever, and the Labrador Retriever.) Toller males measure 18-21" at the shoulder and females measure 17-20". The ideal height for males is 19" and for females is 18". There is no ideal weight or weight range; some tall or heavy-boned males may approach 60 lbs, some short or delicate females might weigh less than 30 lbs. Generally, fit females weigh 30-40 lbs and fit males 40-50.
Noise
Our chief complaint against Tollers is their high-decibel output. Most are not nuisance barkers, but one of the charming breed traits is a propensity to whistle when excited, yowl when really excited, and out-and-out shriek when really really excited. The excitement threshold varies by dog, but the classic method to elicit a shriek (it's called a "Toller scream") is to make one Toller watch while another gets to retrieve a bumper or ball. Toller fans think this trait endearing. You may not agree, so be sure to hear these sounds before you set your heart on a Toller. As you might guess, the Toller scream is not appreciated by neighbors or hunt test judges, which can present a training challenge. Some dogs are quiet, going screamless for months or even years at a time; others can't get through the week (or day!) without a few ear-splitting yelps or screams.
Tollers shed. If you're a compulsive vacuumer, a Toller will give you reason to be diligent. They don't shed more than other double-coated, moderately feathered breeds, but they do shed in a light drizzle year-round, punctuated by a downpour of fur about twice a year. One advantage to Toller fur is that it's soft and long enough to cling to upholstery or carpet, rather than getting into the weave of the fabric nearly irretrievably, as short, bristly hairs can. (Think Vizsla or Labrador.)
All Tollers seem to have larcenous hearts. They will steal from the table, trash can, backpack, countertop, and sometimes even out of refrigerators. Their definition of food may not agree with most humans', and includes items like used Kleenex, dirty underwear, cat feces, and the jeans pocket you used to hold dog treats a week ago at obedience class.
Size
Tollers are a very convenient size-- small enough to be nimble, big enough to feel like a "real dog." You can share the couch with a couple at once, especially the inevitable one who thinks she's a lapdog. They won't bowl over most small children because Tollers just aren't big enough, and their tails are at the wrong height for clearing most coffee tables. Many Tollers will fit comfortably in 300-size VariKennels, and you can have several Tollers in the kitchen with you without feeling overwhelmed. In an emergency at the dog park, you can pick up your Toller without requiring a week of Advil afterwards for your back-- but most importantly, they also fit very nicely in a hunting blind or boat.
Tollers are eager learners. They respond best to the "fun and games" style of teaching, and not very well to the rote drills that some other breeds don't mind. If you can make learning fun for them, they will happily learn all sorts of tricks and lessons, though they will always want to know, "What's in it for me?" Clicker training is lots of fun with Tollers-- they love to figure out how to make you fork over the rewards.
Tollers were bred to be animated "living decoys" for waterfowl. When you breed a dog to act nutty enough to catch a goose's attention, you end up with a dog who is a little bit nutty all the time. Tollers are typically bounding, capering dogs, often pouncing when they retrieve. They seem to have a sense of humor about life and enjoy making jokes, often at your expense. They will play tricks on you if they can, and take advantage of you for the thrill of it.