There are four classes of bird dogs: pointers, flushers, retrievers and
tollers. Never heard of a toller? Well tolling dogs have been bred for hundreds
of years in Europe.
Tolling simply means attracting waterfowl to an area. In the early sixteen
hundreds men started to breed dogs to do what fox have been doing for thousands
of years.
Ducks and geese are naturally curious creatures, many times to their own
demise. The wily fox learned this about the time we figured out fire. The
fox determined if it would prance around on shore it could attract a crowd
of ducks. Soon it learned, if two foxes worked together, this attraction
could earn them an easy meal.
Their scheme would work something like this. The fox would find a long point
which had good low cover and a sloping beach. They would wait until they
found some waterfowl off of the point. At which time one fox would start
prancing up and down the shore toward the end of the point. The naturally
curious ducks would swim over to investigate. With the ducks disarmed, a
second fox would sneak up the point under cover. As the ducks got closer
to the fox on shore, he would move further away from them. Thus pulling
the ducks closer to the fox in waiting. Soon a duck meal would be had.
Man had observed this action for centuries. Finally, in the early sixteen
hundreds in Denmark and Belgium, we started to breed dogs to do just what
the fox were doing. There was no particular breeding program documented,
but it was found even today, that a lighter colored dog was more visible
and attracted more birds. The dogs of that time were used to attract waterfowl
to waiting nets. The British call their Tolling dogs "pipers"
after the ditches called "water pipes" the ducks were found in.
These dogs are around even today.
In the late eighteen hundreds a group of French Acadians in Nova Scotia
brought their dogs to the American shores. It was at this time along the
Little River, in Yarmouth County in southwestern Nova Scotia that a formal
breeding program was started.
The standard dog they were breeding resembled a large red fox with a fluffy
tail and a white front. At that time, as in some places today, the breed
was known as the Little River Duck Dog, one of the few truly Canadian breeds.
It is felt, as with most American breeds the Tollers are truly the result
of a melting pot of dogs. The original breeding was probably Liver Flatcoat
with a Lab. The resulting progeny were blended with brown cocker. From that,
no doubt some Irish Setter and Chessy were added. Finally, perhaps some
Collie was blended in to add some bushiness to the tail and create the pacing
found in the herding breeds. The true formula will never be known.
Because of the work of Col. Cyril Colwell of Halifax, in 1945, the Canadian
Kennel Club officially recognized the breed. The breed was slow in developing.
Twenty years later there was only 14 registered Tollers. In fact, they were
required to re-register the breed since the numbers were not rising. Then,
Avery Nickerson of Harbourlights Kennels in Yarmouth County, arrived on
the scene. Every breed seems to have a god-father and for the Tollers most
definitely, Avery Nickerson would be that person.
Avery was very concerned that the breed was moving toward the show ring
and few field Tollers existed. Avery started an active and aggressive breeding
program which both produced quality and a quantity of field Tollers. Though
even today the show people dominate the breed, as exemplified by a recent
field test where only two dogs passed. But, there are some quality field
Tollers to be found.
So how does tolling work? Basically in true field situations the dog is
sent out in a series of short retrieves for stones or it has even been suggested
for a frisbee, which is much easier to throw. This creates the movement
that attracts the attention to the dogs, in addition to the unusual appearance
of the dog.
Get rid of the decoys, the duck calls, the boat and the sunrise shoots.
With a Toller, you can go out midday and still get your limit. In fact,
the birds will come to you, even if you are not in a blind.
It has been found that the lighter the color of dog the greater the tollabilty
of the dog. In fact, white labs, an extremely light yellow, have been found
to be very good at tolling. Perhaps it simply appears to be an anomaly to
the waterfowl and enhances their curious nature. But the advantage that
Tollers have over Labs is that sometimes it takes a hundred retrieves to
start to bring in the ducks, something Tollers are bred for.
As a retriever, this fine little dog and should not just be relegated just
to waterfowl. In the midwest, Tollers are also at home on a pheasant field,
can handle a large pheasant just fine and are very good flushing dogs.
Tollers are soft dogs and like all retrievers do not mature until they are
two years old. They are a good dog to have around the house since they are
good with people and rarely bark, except for strangers.
As far as placement in the bird dog class, I would put them between a American
Water Spaniel and a Golden. A bit larger than a American, they are a small
dog and easy to get into a canoe like the American was designed for. Yet
they are more of a people dog and have a coat half way between a Golden
and an AWS.
The Canadian Kennel Club breed standard calls for a male dog 19-20"
at a weight of 45-51 pounds. A female should be 18-19" at a weight
of 37-43 pounds. Tollers should be medium sized, powerful, compact, balanced,
well-muscled dogs, medium to heavy boned, with a high degree of agility
alertness and determination. Basically like a small field Golden Retriever
with a bushy tail and a lot more sparkle.
The U.S. breed club was formed in 1984. There are only 500 Tollers registered
with the U.S. club and 3,000 world-wide, about 2,000 of which are in Sweden.
In addition to the clubs events, several Tollers have competed and passed
U.K.C. Retriever and NAHRA tests.
Tollers are hard dogs to find. You can expect a six month wait to get a
pup. When you do get a breeder on the phone, you will be expected to qualify
to be a future owner of a Toller. So make sure you are ready and you really
want one. Beyond that the breeder, based on the interview, will select your
pup. You can expect to pay $500 for a pup, when you locate one.
One important note: most Tollers sold in the U.S. are sold with a non-breeding
agreement, and you will need to earn the right to breed Tollers. Since the
NSDTR is not an A.K.C. breed, just as the Muensterlaenders and Boykin's,
the club decides who can breed and who will get papers. That gives the club
a lot of power. Power that is important in an emerging breed.
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