Has anyone got a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever?

[JustBeingJuliet]

I'm in love! I met one of these for the first time the other day and he was just the most wonderful dog. I've always had collie types, so I'm used to high energy dogs, and I'm contemplating a second dog at some point in the future, as I'll soon be working from home so will be in a good position to take another one on.

Does anyone have one and can share what they're like to live with?

Yes me

He is the most perfect dog - he's very energetic out and about but chilled at home. He's been easy to train as he picks things up so quickly.

He's quite greedy (a breed trait) so we have to watch him like a hawk around food but as long as I get a "leave it" in quickly enough he won't touch it

He adores swimming and retrieving and is happily throwing himself in icy cold streams even now

If you haven't heard it already Google Toller scream - mine's mostly pretty quiet but there've been a couple of occasions when excitement has got the better of him - the best description I've heard is it sounds like someone's feeding the dog through a wood chipper - thankfully it's not been an everyday occurrence...

They are working dogs so they do need a job to do as well as plenty of exercise as they need to use their brains- we do fun agility and obedience with ours and he loves learning new things. I always do little bits of training with him every day

The only downside is that they're still not very common so you will have to wait to get a puppy and Tollers in rescue are rare as hen's teeth

Let me know if you've got any more questions

No but we regularly dog sit one
Hs absolutely gorgeous, can't walk him far without people stopping to say how handsome he is. He's also beautifully trained and well behaved, although I can't take credit for that. Brilliant with the children and doesn't really bother our cats.
I'm used to Golden Tetrivers and I find him a bit less chilled than those and he is very active ( mentally as much as physically) but I would recommend them. As said above though it could take you a while to find one as they are quite rare.

Oh he's just gorgeous :)

I haven't heard of the scream thing so will google that! I'm in no rush, so I can take my time finding a breeder and sit on a waiting list for a while.

Yes Hopping, I accosted this lady to ask what he was as he was just so handsome! I'd guessed at a goldie X border collie based on his looks and markings, which are two of my favourite dogs.

Are they generally ok with other dogs and also with children?

I've only ever met one, but it made me want one too :)
The one I met was excellent with other dogs, very high energy but respectful of the older dogs. She was also great with DD when she met her - did try to 'round her up' a couple of times, but that seemed pretty normal to DD

Mine gets stopped all the time - his usual expression is a happy smile so even non-doggy people end up smiling back at him

He loves children - they're bred to be playful (it's in the breed standard!) so mine especially loves boys aged between 7 and 12 (ie the running around crazily stage)

He's good with other dogs - he only really plays with his puppy friends, with dogs he doesn't know he's polite but quite aloof. He's not at all keen on small, barky dogs and will do his best to avoid them - the only times he tells another dog off is when they're trying to hump him repeatedly or if they're jumping up in his face and won't go away

He doesn't like groups being separated - if we're on a walk and people are lagging behind he'll run backwards and forwards chivvying the stragglers along and then when we're all together he can relax again!

I've met several in class. They've all been charming, clever, good natured, friendly dogs. If I wasn't so intent on a BC I'd probably have one for my next dog 🙂

Yes, great with my 11 and 7 year old.
Slightly aloof with other dogs as someone else said, seems to prefer people.
We nearly got one but as Golden Retrievers are my first love we went with that and as we can still baby sit our friends Toller when she goes away I get both!!!

Thanks for the replies :) I think I'm going to look into getting one as my next dog. I'm so cautious about what type of dog to go for as I had a disastrous experience with a JRT who eventually had to be rehomed after months of seeing behaviourists and hundreds of pounds spent, as he hated dogs, cats, cars, kids (especially my 9yo ds) and it's made me very wary of taking on another dog. However, my older girl (8yo border collie X poodle) is much happier when she's got company and I love having two, so I'm looking into it. I was contemplating a goldie or another collie or collie X but then I met the toller and fell in love!

i saw this on active threads and thought you were talking about some sort of cleaning product (some weird toilet duck association)...

as you were...