The fox seems to be aware of this attraction and uses it to its advantage, as ducks will sometimes come close enough to be caught, providing the fox with a good meal. The logical explanation of the attraction of duck to fox (or tolling dog) is the fact that the fox is a natural enemy of the duck…. When ducks see a fox playing on the shore of a lake or other body of water, they will approach him much like a swallow approaches a crow, or a crow approaches an owl. Whether they do this to tease or drive off, is not known, but they will sometimes approach from great distances…as long as the fox is visible. They will come with their heads erect or stretched, hissing like an old gander around the farmyard. Interest in the idea of a Tolling dog in Nova Scotia probably came from the Acadians or the Mic-Mac Indians of the area who are believed to have had a fox-like dog which they used to catch or net ducks. The idea was not new, as tolling dogs of no particular breed were used in Europe, possibly as far back as 1625, to lure waterfowl in to large nets. (The word “tolling” means “to draw or entice,” from the Middle English word, “tollen.”) The idea of using a dog to toll, decoy or attract ducks, comes from the relationship between ducks and the red fox which the Toller was bred to resemble. The most important and unique feature of the Toller is that it tolls ducks. So over to Google and from there I find the following: Of course, 99% of the YouTube vids are puppies and pets. Here’s what I found.Ĭan’t tell if this is tolling, the ducks think the dog is sexy or the ducks just expect to swim over and get fed…. But it did make me want to hit YouTube to hear the scream and see if there was any video of this duck-tolling thing. Not looking like a slam dunk for my household. To the uninitiated, this can sound like the dog is being fed into a wood chipper it’s high pitched, frantic and loud….Ģ. Smart, smart, smart – It cannot be stressed enough that this is a dog with brains to spare. Keeping all that intelligence focused and busy is a big challenge. These dogs MUST be given at least basic obedience training, and many toller owners are active in several dog activities (hunting, agility, flyball, tracking, competitive obedience) just to keep their Tollers occupied…. The scream – Many Tollers have a penetrating scream which they produce to indicate excitement and eagerness. So I hit the Lakota site, and near the top of the puppies page I see a link to “ Top 10 Reasons NOT to Get a Toller.” Huh? You can click the link to read the 10 reasons, but these two stood out for me:ħ. Tollers, as they’re called, look like small Goldens. My son wants a Golden, but it’s too big for our house, especially with a Lab incoming. And since I’ve vowed never to miss another one of what is the most Serious upland show in the world, my thoughts drifted in this direction: This all came back to me when, in my current dog-buying mood, I learned from the good folks at Pheasants Forever that Lakota Retrievers would be at Pheasant Fest again this year. Apparently movements of some kind that attract ducks to shore, so hunters of yore could bag them easier (more on that below). Who in their right mind would give anything that long a name? And WTH was duck “tolling” anyhow?Ĭome to find out he wasn’t lying, and that duck tolling is this interesting/crazy thing these dogs do. In fact, when the guy I was talking to about the dog told me, I thought he was yanking my chain. I (Jay) had never seen nor head of a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever until the 2011 Pheasant Fest last winter.
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