Dog of the Week: The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

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Sunday, September 23. 2012

Dog of the Week: The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

A superior and useful breed. Tollers prance
around in a way which seems to attract ("toll") ducks - at least the stupid ones. (As in "Ask not for whom the bell tolls,...")

Why? It's a mystery. Who can read a duck's mind? Except another duck. Why do we think we have to cover Labs with camo and make them lay still? Because we are stupider than ducks? The Tollers get all of the fun. Multi-purpose animals.

And if you shoot the duck, they are very fine retrievers.

Nice bouncy red dogs which look like mutts. Which is a compliment, on Maggie's Farm. Mutts Is Us. Love 'em. But Tollers are AKC.

Posted by Bird Dog in Hunting, Fishing, Dogs, Guns, etc., Our Essays at 12:27 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

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Handsome dog! Dancing for his supper! Like a poor WASP of good family, feeding well at coming out balls in 1950s Boston...And just think, he improves the intelligence of the prey since only the dumbest ones are lured by his antics.

#1 retriever on 2006-01-09 18:49 (Reply)

I first learned about Tollers a dozen or so years ago when I was researching dog breeds and was intrigued that they looked sort of like a slightly smaller Golden Retriever without some of the hereditary health problems to which Goldens are prone.

That was also many years before I adopted my first dog, a charming and clever golden-colored mutt who is definitely part retriever (though the jury is out on whether she is part Golden or part Labrador or both) mixed with some type or pointer or maybe Airedale or something else. Of course, now I look at the purebreds and while I think they are good-looking dogs, they've got nothing on her cute, slightly scruffy, but nonetheless distinguished sort of beauty.

#2 Kurt on 2012-09-23 15:34 (Reply)

The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club is hold its Nationals this week in Albany, OR: http://nationals.nsdtrc-usa.org/ The competitions are the best of the breed in conformation, agility and field.

Tollers retrieve everything: geese, pheasant, ducks, frisbees, sticks, and sometimes they find live frogs very interesting. This is Crash, at the 8:30 mark, getting revved up for dock diving (exceptionally barky):
http://www.barknetwork.com/videos/incredible-diving-dog-competition-jump-1

Paul Kartes professionally trains retrievers. He is a District Rep in the Toller Club. One of his students doing a double retrieve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxUK11vKpLg&list=UUzeiLtZx6ePhr4_hGuXCylg&index=28&feature=plcp

#3 Martha on 2012-09-24 09:19 (Reply)

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Sunday, September 23. 2012

Dog of the Week: The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever