Colwell also made many 8mm movies featuring his dogs, particularly Rusty, who not only hunted with Ruth but sired some of the first CKC registered NSDTRs. In 1936, Babe Ruth repeatedly visited their native Yarmouth County to go duck hunting, and it is believed his positive encounters with Tollers spread the word of the breed to the United States. Cyril Colwell, in his famous white cashmere suit and Stetson, walking a trio of Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers - whose red coat contrasted with this outfit surely would have been a sight to see! Since spotting his first “Little River Duck Dog” in 1923, Colwell devoted much of his life to the propagation of the breed, its documentation, and its ultimate recognition by the Canadian Kennel Club. But it was in Nova Scotia, settled by the French in 1604 and wrested away by the English a hundred years later, that the Toller was perfected.Ĭol. The notion of a “decoy dog” was not born in North America Europeans since early Renaissance times had used dogs to lure waterfowl into nets. “It’s really more a balance than a bite.” “A good Toller’s mouth is so soft that sometimes the duck just falls out at your feet,” says Waterstaat. The dog also marks the game, swims to the spot, and retrieves the prize in his buttery mouth. We couldn’t believe it!” The only other extant breed in the world that specializes in this foxy technique is the Dutch gundog known as the Kooikerhondje, aka Dutch Decoy Spaniel.īut tolling is only half the job. “The first time we tried tolling with our own dogs, I was just sitting on the shore, tossing a tennis ball, and a duck flew in and sat down right in front of us. “You can do this with ducks flying overhead,” says Waterstaat, who is co-owner, with husband John Hamilton, of Sylvan’s Rusty Jones, an important foundation stud and a renowned gundog. When they stop, you start again.” When the quarry is in close enough the hunter stands, takes aim, and, to put it delicately, the duck’s goose is cooked. As long as the ducks are swimming forward, you don’t toss for the dog. When the ducks stop, you send the dog out again. “As the ducks begin moving toward you, you call the dog back. They are curious about this animated red dog appearing and disappearing into your hiding place. You repeat this game of fetch until the ducks come closer. You toss your ball, com cob, bumper, whatever your dog likes to retrieve, in such a way that the ducks can see the dog working along the shore. The ducks are swimming out on the lake, out of gun range. Waterstaat describes how the Toller “entices” or “lures” ducks to their doom: “The hunter is hiding behind a tree or in a blind. It is safe to assume that Donne was not thinking of waterfowl when he wrote his famous lines on mortality, but for Tollers the poet’s words nonetheless ring true: The tolling of this wily retriever has been the death knell for many a duck. She explains that the word toll is from the Middle English tollen, meaning to “entice” or “lure.” From it we get the word used to describe a summoning bell, as in “Ask not for whom the bell tolls. Marlie Waterstaat, a librarian by profession, is the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club (USA) historian. We all know what a retriever is, but what’s this tolling business? And yet, less than 30 years before being recognized, the Toller faced extinction. In all, Nova Scotia’s greatest gift to America since smoked salmon. Finally, he’s the peerless gundog of the North Atlantic - quick, rugged, relentlessly eager- for generations prized as the perfect hunting buddy. But he’s also the acutely intelligent obedience dog and the nimble red tornado of the agility course and the loyal family pet, whose warm, soulful gaze would melt even the wariest mailman. The smallest of the retrievers, he’s an eye-catching redhead-a jaunty little Jimmy Cagney with a spring in his step. (It became the breed with the longest name in the AKC Stud Book.)įirst, there’s the Toller as a show dog. They sure packed a lot of dog into one sentence. In January 2003, the AKC Special Registration Services department circulated a terse memo: “The Board of Directors of the American Kennel Club, at its January 2003 meeting, approved the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever as eligible to compete in the Sporting Group at all events held on or after July 1, 2003.”
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