Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Greyghost · Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

I met a few of these dogs for the first time at a show today. I don't think I remember anybody posting about one on here. Or don't they qualify for some reason.

Lovely guys they were too:

http://www.toller-club.co.uk/

josie

I think they're retrievers, Les, not HPRs, so they compete against other retrievers in gundog work.

windem bang

I'd always thought they were retrievers and decoy dogs.

Bill T.

Greyghost

Yes they are retrievers. Silly me I didn't think the dogs had to be all three, HPR to be on here I thought one out of three was ok. Embarassed

Teee hee.

Lovely doggies though... Very Happy

guy

invite them on - I am very sure they have stuff we could learn from. They are something to do with duck decoying - the germans have a test where the dog has to stalk the duck from the water rather than the land - must be some overlap there if no where else.

Mike

Isn't the tolling part of their name something to do with them spinning around to entice ducks in?

Greyghost

Apparently Mike, I was told by the breeder yesterday, that they are bred to look like a fox because some ducks have an affinity with foxes and the ducks are drawn to them. Then the guns shatter the illusion Laughing

Greyghost

windem bang

I don't call someone with only good for others in mind a busy body. Smile

Bill T.

Greyghost

windem bang

The Nova Scotian Duck Tolling Retriever (God, what a mouthful!) is, I think, used for the "tolling" part of its' duties to entice ducks into a funnel system of nets positioned up a water inlet. I have never seen this but from what I've read the dog runs along the bank from blind screen to blind screen, sometimes hidden to the ducks and sometimes not.
Ducks and geese belong to the same very curious family. They like to know what a possible predator is doing so they follow it in to the funnel and are trapped. At one time these birds were killed for the market, in this country right up to the present day, the dog is traditionally known as "Piper" and nowadays I think the birds are captured for ringing.

Twenty years ago I was using a variation of this to draw in geese for shooting. I used Vicky my Brittany as the Piper and would leave her in the dark out on a big stretch of moorland that geese habitually crossed when they came off the loch in the early morning. I would sit in my hide and wait for them. Ther was little chance they would fly over me and even less chance they would be low enough to shoot. That's where Vicky came into it.

When I saw a suitable skein of geese in the distance, I'd try to judge exactly the right moment to recall her from her position 100 yards or more out on the moor. She was taught to come to the hide and come under the bottom of it , then lie hidden and still. If I'd judged it right the geese would be curious enough to fly in my direction and would often drop in height for a better look. THey were in the air had had no reason to fear dropping low over a non flying predator. The rest was up to me, I got one chance only at this.

The idea for this wasn't mine, I read about north American Indians doing something similar using, I think,a dog, throwing sticks or a form of bolas. I tried it and it worked but the timing had to be good and the dog well trained.

Vicky was one hell of a wee dog and would happily tackle a lightly pricked greylag goose way out on the moor and retrieve it no me. She was full of ability and courage- the only thing I ever saw her even slightly wary of was me in a very bad mood Exclamation

Bill T.

Munsti-Sue

Im sure there was a duck decoy demo at Slimbridge last Feb/March time. Am a member on one of the toller forums and remember the one lady writing that she used her dog/s to educate kids on decoy work at the centre. The dogs also did a decoy demo in which several mallard were caught.
Would be nice to see them do what they were bred to do.

Always enjoy watching the Toller Gundog display team at the gamefairs. Have also met several dogs at various events - fab dogs that seem quite versatile.