{"id":661,"date":"2017-02-07T18:40:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T18:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/redshadowkennels.com\/?page_id=661"},"modified":"2026-05-22T02:04:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T02:04:46","slug":"breed-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.redshadowkennels.com\/index.php\/breed-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Breed<\/strong><\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>The Breed: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever<\/li>\n<li>A member of the &#8220;Sporting Group&#8221; of Dogs &amp; the Smallest Recognized Retriever Breed<\/li>\n<li>Weight:\n<ul>\n<li>Females &#8211; 30 to 40lbs<\/li>\n<li>Males &#8211; 35 to 45lbs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Markings: Red &amp; White\n<ul>\n<li>Red Coat: Can vary from a Light Orange to a dark Irish Setter Red<\/li>\n<li>White Markings: Required in some amount on each foot &amp; on the chest. White on the face (not past the forehead) &amp; white on the Tail tip is accepted but not required in the breed standard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>The Breeds Origin<\/h4>\n<p>Most purebred dogs have hundreds to thousands of years behind them, but the Toller is actually one of the younger breeds to exist. The origin of the breed is said to have started around the mid 1800&#8217;s in the town of Little River, Nova Scotia, Canada. During that time the breed was first know as the &#8220;Little River Duck Dog&#8221; &amp; was said to have originated using a mix of other retrievers, spaniels, setters &amp; farm collie&#8217;s to create the standard we know today.<\/p>\n<p>The breed&#8217;s history was very stagnant in its first 100 years, remaining in small breeding groups around Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers Scotia. In fact, it was not until 1945 that the &#8220;Little River Duck Dog&#8221; became recognized by the Canadian Kennel Club as a Purebred. The timeline for this was due to the small population and how long it took for the Standard of the breed to be met, kept consistent &amp; the Pedigree record books to be acknowledged. The Canadian Kennel Club was the first Purebred Registry to adapt the breed, given its Canadian origin &amp; it was at this time, the decision was made to rename the breed the &#8220;Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>It was not till 1959 that the American Kennel Club (AKC) also accepting the breed through the CKC Record Books. This lead to the final Registries around the world finally accepting the breed into their purebred records.<\/p>\n<p>Although the breed now had upwards of 175 years behind it, the breed itself spent much of its existence in a very small gene pool location, not picking up the popularity it has until the early 2000s. This, combined with 2 major events in their history that almost lead to the breeds extinction, if the reason we still have such a small gene pool for the breed. It is a combination of the breeds protection, the foundational breeders\/ their lines &amp; how their history has impacted the genetics of the breed.<\/p>\n<h4>What is Tolling?<\/h4>\n<p>The word &#8220;Tolling&#8221; is from the Middle English &#8220;Tollen&#8221;, Old English &#8220;Tyllan&#8221;,<br \/>\nor in short &#8220;To Lour&#8221; means <em>to entice or pull.<\/em><br \/>\nTolling is a technique used to entice game such as ducks and geese to approach within firing range by arousing their curiosity. It\u2019s a trick used by the fox and when hunters saw how well the on-shore antics worked, they developed a dog to do the same thing.<br \/>\nHunters in Nova Scotia were using dogs to toll ducks as early as the 1600&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<h4>Toller Temperament<\/h4>\n<p>Tollers are the highest energy retriever breed, but they are wonderfully social, intelligent &amp; howHighly intelligent and easy to train, the Toller has already made a name for itself in Obedience, Hunt, Agility, Scent Detection,Therapy and as Rescue Dogs.<br \/>\nTheir above average intelligence also means that they can be prone to very creative mischief if not exercised regularly.<\/p>\n<h4>The Toller Scream<\/h4>\n<p>Tollers are average in their willingness to bark and may howl out of loneliness \u00a0when their owners leave. When encountering something of great excitement, they will emit\u00a0a &#8220;Toller Scream&#8221;. This scream is a very loud, frantic noise that\u00a0has been described as the sound of a dog being fed through a woodchipper. While\u00a0there are exceptions, most Tollers will only scream when they are behind a window and see something that they desperately want to chase. The most likely culprits to generate a scream are squirrels or birds.<\/p>\n<h4>Activity Level<\/h4>\n<p>A dog of great endurance, the Toller is also a strong swimmer and a natural retriever, both on land and water. The breed likes to work and needs\u00a0 regular\u00a0physical and mental\u00a0exercise.<\/p>\n<h4>Height\/Weight<\/h4>\n<p>A medium-sized sporting dog, male Tollers measure 19-20 in (48-51 cm) at the shoulder and weigh from 45-51 lb (20.5-23 kg). Females average 1 in (.5 cm) less and weigh 37-43 lb (17-19.5 kg).<br \/>\nHow do these measures translate to your home? Well, conveniently, a Toller&#8217;s tail is not tall enough to\u00a0not knock a glass off an average coffee table.<\/p>\n<h4>Coat<\/h4>\n<p>The Toller wears a medium-length, water-repellent double coat with a softer, dense undercoat. The undercoat sheds seasonally.<br \/>\nThis breed requires brushing and the occasional grooming of ears and feet.<br \/>\nDo they shed? Yes. Intact girls shed seasonally, but also based on their heat cycle. Intact males and Spayed\/Neutered dogs shed seasonally.<br \/>\nThe coat of a spayed\/neutered dog is thicker and longer than that of an intact dog!<\/p>\n<h4>Colour<\/h4>\n<p>Tollers may be various shades of red with white markings on the chest and feet. White markings may also extend up\u00a0the nose and\u00a0on the tip of\u00a0tail.<\/p>\n<h4>Breed History<\/h4>\n<p>The Toller\u00a0survived two devastating outbreaks of canine distemper virus in 1908 and 1912, which resulted in a small population of dogs.<br \/>\nWhile\u00a0Toller was first accepted\u00a0as a purebred by\u00a0the Canadian Kennel Club in 1945, there were no Tollers were registered\u00a0until\u00a01959.<br \/>\nIn the next 5 years, only 9 Tollers in total were approved for registration with the CKC.<br \/>\nAll of today&#8217;s registered Tollers can trace their pedigree back to these 9 dogs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Breed The Breed: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever A member of the &#8220;Sporting Group&#8221; of Dogs &amp; the Smallest Recognized Retriever Breed Weight: Females &#8211; 30 to 40lbs Males &#8211; 35 to 45lbs Markings: Red &amp; White Red Coat: Can vary from a Light Orange to a dark Irish Setter Red White Markings: Required &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.redshadowkennels.com\/index.php\/breed-history\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1913,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever - Red Shadow Kennels<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redshadowkennels.com\/index.php\/breed-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever - Red Shadow Kennels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Breed The Breed: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever A member of the &#8220;Sporting Group&#8221; 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