About Duck Tollers
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers are beautiful, smart, city-sized dogs. Commonly known among fanciers as "Tollers", they are still a fairly rare breed so this may be the first time you've heard of them. They are retrievers and require hours of exercise every week (at least an hour a day is a reasonable goal.) This is a breed who will go running with you, be excellent with your respectful older kids, play fetch for hours, and after all of that, want to live in the house and be a part of your family sleeping at the foot of your bed. As a breeder, that's what I expect for my puppies too.
Tollers come in varying shades of red and orange only. They normally have white feet, chest and either some white on the face a perhaps a tail tip.
It is considered highly desirable for the dog to have a white tail tip, though fully within the breed standard not to have it. Splash and Denim have the tail tip, but Topaz and Steeler don't.
“The hunting world knows Canada to be the haunt of big game and seemingly unlimited waterfowl. Canada has also given bird dog enthusiast a most versatile hunting companion, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, or Toller, a true Canadian breed. The Toller is a medium-sized, powerful, compact, balanced, well muscled dog, with a high degree of agility, alertness and determination. The ideal height for males is 48-51 cm (19 to 20 inches) and 20-23 kg (45 to 51 pounds), with the females being slightly smaller and weighing 17-20 kg (37-43 lb). Smallest of all the retrievers, Tollers are agile and eager hunting companions and also make great pets for active families. They are highly intelligent, usually easy to train, have great endurance and are strong and able swimmers Above all they have highly charged, often insatiable retrieving instincts. They are very clean dogs and do not have a strong odour.”
Some links to help you get acquainted with the breed:
Toller.ca - the official website for the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club of Canada. Information on the breed, standard, history, health, etc.
Westminster Kennel Club- Their page on Duck Tollers
NSDTR Club of the USA- great breed information, same dog, just south of the border
AKC- The American Kennel Club's page about Tollers
Top Ten Reasons Not to Get a Toller- a tongue-in-cheek warning for those considering the breed.