Among many indigenous people in North America, particularly on the Northwest Coast, a “talking stick” was passed around in a group and empowered the person holding it to speak what was on their heart and mind without interruption. It was a simple but effective device that helped settle disputes and hash out disagreements.
A “tolling stick” in the mouth of a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever didn’t magically bestow speech upon the dog, but it did effectively communicate to water fowl: Come hither! In fact, the word, “toll” is an old Middle English term for “entice” that has been in use since the 13th century (an illustration of the word’s use: When church bells “toll,” their peal draws villagers to the town square).
To a Toller, catching a “tolling stick” is a game of fetch. To the dog’s hunting owner, it’s a way to lure ducks within shooting range and render them victims of their own curiosity. In essence, the Toller, smallest of the retrievers, was decoy with a pulse. It not only attracted the bird, but as a retriever, fetched it. Now, if someone could teach the dog to cook….
The author, Desmond Morris, writes in his book, “Dogs,” of an old myth surrounding the breed, and that is that its ancestry includes the fox. This is a genetic fallacy, but it was likely borne out of the Toller’s mimicry of the way in which wild foxes hunted for their next meal by luring it to shore. This behavior was observed by early Acadians, peaceful people who settled in what is now Eastern Canada’s Maritime provinces, and parts of Quebec.
The actual “recipe” for the Toller is more likely to be spaniel, setter and retriever-type dogs, farm Collies, and possibly the St. John’s Water Dog and the Dutch Kooikerhondje, the latter also developed to decoy waterfowl into nets or within shooting range.
The breed was originally called the “Little River Duck Dog” before being officially recognized in 1945 by the Canadian Kennel Club as a purebred dog.
Read more about this breed below (and if you liked this information, buy us a cup of coffee!)
Image: “Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever on a Forest Path” by © Madrabothair | Dreamstime Stock Photo