Living with Tollers
What is a Toller and what is it like to live with one?
Tollers are the smallest of all the retriever breeds, but this does not by any stretch of the imagination
mean that they are "little"dogs. The size may be attractive, but that activity level isn't for everyone.
Tollers were bred as a decoy dog, first and foremost. Hunters use them by hiding in a blind on the
shore of a body of water and "playing" the dog by throwing a stick/bumper/toy parallel to the shore.
The flashy, animated style of a retrieving Toller is very enticing to waterfowl and many will swim in for
a closer look. Once the birds are within gun range, the Toller is called to the blind and it then
assumes the role of retriever. What does this mean to the average family? Well, if it takes 400
throws of a stick to bring in a raft of ducks, a Toller will happily do this. Take away the birds, water
and blind and you still have a dog that will retrieve 400 times a day and ask for more.
To ensure "good Tollers" at Dalry a minimum of 1-2 hours is put aside for exercise and training each
day. On weekends, the aim is to "keep them up, keep them awake, keep them active", so they'll be
sleepy in the evenings and we can have some time to ourselves. The dogs play fetch, go for long
walks in the bush, are taken to the lake and each of them is active in dog sports of some kind:
agility, tracking, field, rally-o, obedience.
So, life with a Toller is busy, they're an extremely active breed. They're also very, very smart and
learn both good and bad things easily. Tollers more than many breeds require daily physical exercise
and "mental calisthenics". Training a Toller is a little more "cerebral" than with many breeds and it's
important to truly engage a Toller in the learning process. They rarely do something just because you
ask it, there really has to be "something in it for the Toller". And many will just seem to "get"
something without you having trained it! Make sure it's a good "something", not a bad one!
Tollers are the smallest of all the retriever breeds, but this does not by any stretch of the imagination
mean that they are "little"dogs. The size may be attractive, but that activity level isn't for everyone.
Tollers were bred as a decoy dog, first and foremost. Hunters use them by hiding in a blind on the
shore of a body of water and "playing" the dog by throwing a stick/bumper/toy parallel to the shore.
The flashy, animated style of a retrieving Toller is very enticing to waterfowl and many will swim in for
a closer look. Once the birds are within gun range, the Toller is called to the blind and it then
assumes the role of retriever. What does this mean to the average family? Well, if it takes 400
throws of a stick to bring in a raft of ducks, a Toller will happily do this. Take away the birds, water
and blind and you still have a dog that will retrieve 400 times a day and ask for more.
To ensure "good Tollers" at Dalry a minimum of 1-2 hours is put aside for exercise and training each
day. On weekends, the aim is to "keep them up, keep them awake, keep them active", so they'll be
sleepy in the evenings and we can have some time to ourselves. The dogs play fetch, go for long
walks in the bush, are taken to the lake and each of them is active in dog sports of some kind:
agility, tracking, field, rally-o, obedience.
So, life with a Toller is busy, they're an extremely active breed. They're also very, very smart and
learn both good and bad things easily. Tollers more than many breeds require daily physical exercise
and "mental calisthenics". Training a Toller is a little more "cerebral" than with many breeds and it's
important to truly engage a Toller in the learning process. They rarely do something just because you
ask it, there really has to be "something in it for the Toller". And many will just seem to "get"
something without you having trained it! Make sure it's a good "something", not a bad one!
I fell in love with Tollers for all these reasons:
"The Top 10 Reasons Not to Own a Toller"
"The Top 10 Reasons Not to Own a Toller"
Lots of daily physical exercise is a must!