r/tollers

Hi! I’ve been looking into a few breeders like Tara Tollers, Monarda and Windtrieve. Does anybody have advise or experiences with these breeders or other ones in Canada?

Hello, I am looking for any experience that anyone has with this breeder. We are looking for a toller in the near future and we would like to find someone who breeds puppies with love. I have experience with Flat Coated retrievers, but I am not sure when it comes to Tollers. There's a really good Facebook group, but understandably they don't allow breeder recommendations.

Coedhelyg Tollers

Hi! I'm looking for some advice on whether a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever would be a suitable breed for me.

My current dog is getting older, and about a year ago we found out that he has heart disease. Unfortunately, we can't do many of the things we used to do together anymore, so I've been considering getting another dog in the future.

I'm 17 and a student. I've had dogs my entire life and have experience with training. I've also taken care of a Border Collie and participated in agility with my current dog, where we even placed second.

I live in an apartment in the city, and studying takes up a significant part of my day. However, I'm prepared to make time for a dog and I want one that I can actively train and do agility with in my free time. I'd also like to go hiking together from time to time.

My school is dog-friendly, so the dog would be able to come with me and stay with me throughout the day, from morning until evening. We would also travel quite a lot using public transportation. After school, I'd take him to the park for around an hour, then spend a few hours studying at a dog-friendly café. In the evening, we'd go for a shorter walk.

I'm aware that Tollers are very energetic and can require a lot of both physical and mental stimulation. I want to make sure I can provide a good life for the dog rather than getting one simply because I like the breed.

So, based on this lifestyle and my experience, do you think a Toller could be a good fit for me? I'd really appreciate honest opinions, especially from people who own or have experience with the breed.

I am looking for high value treat ideas to train my 7 month old outdoors. I recently had to upgrade to chicken hearts when teaching new tricks. She LOVES mackerel so I thought I’d take a piece with me on a walk to leash train her. But once she steps out of the house she turns deaf. I haven’t found any high value treats that work so far. I’ve even tried taking her favorite toy, but it doesn’t matter. Any suggestions?

Hi all! I'm planning to get a Toller puppy and want a reality check from actual owners before committing.

My routine: I live alone in an apartment (no garden), work from a dog-friendly office. My planned daily schedule for an adult dog is 4 walks a day each 20-30 minutes (with pups I know I’ll need to step out every 2 hours) plus evening training/games (recall, impulse control, maybe some scent work). During winters though due to snow and ice, we'd need to do most of the training/ games in the apartment. I’m not a runner and don't have easy access to fetch-friendly open space regularly. We can do some weekend hikes or long walks often.

I'm thinking about getting some food puzzles and games to keep him entertained.

Is this realistically enough for a Toller, or do most of your dogs need more vigorous stuff (running, fetch, swimming) on top of walks to stay content? I've read they're high-energy/high-drive, so I want to know from real experience whether frequent structured walks + training can substitute, or if I'd be setting myself up for a frustrated dog.

Would love to hear from owners with a similar routine (no yard, city living, no running), did it work out, or did you end up needing more?

Some background - I had a Labrador growing up but we had a garden for him to run and play around

Hi , somewhat against my apprehension my ex and I got a toller. Fast forward and I am a single dog owner of 1 yr. 7 month male toller living on the outskirts of a city. I try to give my toller sufficient exercise and attention but I also have social plans and sometimes it would be easier to take him with me. However, every time I try to do this it becomes this meltdown for him and therefore me. Going to the cafe he will become impatient and start pulling in every direction . A bar near a road he will start digging all the grout and then barking at other dogs and then eventually triggers (that we have been training and successfully ignoring). A new road may make him become overstimulated . Let's not even talk about taking him to a new city . He enters this zone where he is completely untrainable. He lunges towards every impulse without fully commiting to one and then lunges towards the other . You can't capture his attention and even force sitting with him and trying to just reward him for being calm doesn't work. I did socialize him as a puppy to all these things but even as a puppy he was not chill enough in these environments . I attributed it to him being a puppy but the behavior continues and in a worsened fashion. Currently my life is split between his needs and walks having to be completely separate than my own causing me to be very spread thin.

I am open to considering training but I am curious as to if there is a ceiling to his abilities because of some of the quirks of the breeds? How much of this will he age out of ? Will tollers always remain a bit sensitive and overstimulated ? I am willing to give this my all but at some point it becomes that many facets of my life I am living my life around my dog and that is not sustainable to me.

Long story short, I am looking at training a service dog to bring me medical equipment in a small pouch or a bottle of gatorade from another room during emergency hypoglycemia episodes. I want a dog that already has a strong work drive and retrieving instinct, but I don't like labs and goldens and a toller's smaller size and longer lifespan would be a fantastic bonus in a service dog.

Does anyone know of any tollers used as physical service dogs? Or if you don't, do you think they would be a good breed for this task?

As an aside, would they make a good competitive obedience prospect? How fast do they learn?

Thanks!