“…the Toller can do much more than retrieve waterfowl and hunt to the gun in the uplands. The breed excels in obedience trials, agility, therapy work, and on and on. Tollers enjoy learning, enjoy pleasing their owners, so will happily pick up whatever their owners care to teach them. They are wonderful family pets because of their small size, their happy outlook on life, and their desire to fit into the family.”
— James B. Spencer, Retrieve columnist, Gun Dog magazine
Our approach
We operate a small but focused breeding program, with an emphasis on health, temperament and versatility. We strive to retain the working characteristics and natural retrieving instincts of the Toller. Our dogs are very busy, especially when young, and may be too much for many people, particularly those looking for a quiet, compliant, low energy dog.
Unfortunately in many other gundogs, we are seeing a distinct split between the working or “field” bred dogs and the show dogs of the same breed. Show dogs often have lower levels of drive and more extreme physical traits, which can hinder their ability to perform the work for which they were bred.
As early as 1986, Avery Nickerson, founder of the legendary Harbourlights Kennel in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia expressed concern over the potential of a show/field split in the Toller. The following excerpt from Eastern Woods & Waters magazine, explains that at the time, Avery was raising Tollers exclusively for hunting. That, he feels, is the purpose of the dog.
“I have no objection to people buying the dogs for showing and hunting,” he says. “But I will not sell dogs with breeding rights to people breeding solely for show purposes.” He harbors a serious concern that breeding merely for physical appearance could erase forever the true and unique genetic characteristics of the Toller. He breeds for intelligence, agility and speed, an amber and white coat, and a friendly and gentle temperament.”
Fortunately, some 35 years later, many Tollers remain extremely versatile and are proof that a dog can excel in both the breed ring and various sporting venues.
While we don’t expect all of our puppies to be show, hunting or sporting dogs, we will only sell to active homes where they have the opportunity to live a rich and full life. Our Tollers have energy to burn and need lots of physical and mental stimulation to keep them out of trouble. We reguarly hike and swim with our dogs, as well as train in a variety of sports which keeps their minds and bodies busy (and our house in one piece!)
Our Tollers demonstrating the work for which they were bred. Natural retrieving instincts can be apparent in puppies as early as six weeks old.
Avery Nickerson and his Harbourlights Tollers.
We credit much of our Tollers good health to a fresh food diet, and we advocate for this way of feeding. The physiology of the dog is designed for a non-processed diet. This includes their dental structure, the length of their digestive tract and and the PH levels and gut flora of the canine stomach, which are all specifically designed to digest a high meat diet in it’s natural form.
We feed our dogs a varied diet based on the BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) model consisting of fresh foods, including animal protein obtained from meat, bones and offal, and plant matter such as fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts.
We also advocate for delayed spay/neuter and limited vaccine protocols through the use of antibody titre testing.
Further information on the above will be provided to puppy buyers, and we are happy to share additional resources and answer any questions you may have.