From the archives

Thank you to Emma Simon of Lidlriva Tollers (Australia) and Terry McNamee of Rosewood Tollers (Canada) for sharing many of these wonderful articles.

Click the images and links below to read in full.

• American Duck, Goose, and Brant Shooting by William Bruette, originally published in 1929.

• Canadian Dogs, April 1943

• Canadian Dogs, October 1943

• Time (USA), December 1951

• The Winnipeg Free Press (Canada), May 1953

• Field and Stream, September 1966

• Sports Afield (USA), February 1972

• Dog World (USA), 1973

• Bluenose (Canada), Fall 1976

• DOGS magazine, July 1977

• Dog World of Australia & NZ, 1978 Annual

• Unknown publication, 1979

• Canadian Dog Fancier, November 1980

• Canadian Dog Fancier, 1980

• The Hamilton Spectator (Canada), October 1981

• Ontario Out Of Doors, June 1983

• Dogs in Canada, November 1983

• Gun Dog (USA), January-February 1984, Vol. 3, No. 3

• Dog World (USA), August 1985

• Field and Stream 90th anniversary issue, 1985. Originally published in 1918.

• Gun Dog (USA), Nov-Dec 1986

• Outdoors Canada, May 1986

• Wildfowl, Dec-Jan 1986-87

• Dogs in Canada 1988 Annual

• Kennel Gazette (UK), September 1989

• Dog World (USA), April 1992

• Shooting News (UK), August 1993

• The Sporting Dog (UK), December 1993

• Shooting Times & Country (UK), August 1994

• The NSW Canine Journal, October 1994

• The Countryman's Weekly (UK), March 1995

• The Sporting Dog (Canada), Oct-Nov 1995

• Gundogs (UK), Issue 3, May 1996

• Unknown publication (UK), May 1996

• Dog Fancy (USA), January 1997

• Dogs in Canada, July 1999

• Top Dog Journal (Australia), March 1999, Vol. 7, No. 11

• The Queensland Dog World, July 2000

• Dog Fancy (USA), January 2002

• The Queensland Dog World, May 2005

• Dogs Monthly (UK), June 2005, Vol. 23 No. 06

• The NSW Canine Journal, June 2006

• AKC Gazette, January 2011

• Dogs NSW, March 2012

• The First Tollers of Oz by Denise Jacoby, 2015

• Dogs Queensland, Dog World, Issue 10, October 2015

• Australian Dogs and Pets, Issue 7, 2017

• Gun Dog (USA), June-July 2017

• Once upon a time.... Memories, and the birth of a National Club by Sue Van Sloun (date unknown)

Henry Albert Patterson (HAP) Smith was a skilled marksman, fisherman, birder, dog breeder, author and early promoter of the tolling dog in Nova Scotia. This article was written for Rod and Gun in Canada in 1914 and contains one of the earliest published descriptions of the tolling dog in terms of its behaviour and appearance. Thanks to the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club of Canada for sharing this piece from the archives.

Right: "Hap" Smith, staunch breeder and promoter of the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever between 1885 and 1920. Hap contributed to many outdoor magazines, writing in 1915, "If you are a dog man, the first time you see a tolling dog your attention will at once be arrested." Image courtesy of the American Kennel Club Library & Archives.