The Toller is a hunting dog and, like other hunting dog breeds, it can be entered and tested in hunting trials. Tollers are found in most countries in Europe, and six European countries currently have official Tolling tests, while Tollers in other countries may start in other forms of hunting tests. How are the tolling tests organized in the different countries with official tests, and what are the similarities and differences?
When the first Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers were imported to Europe in the mid 80´s and became popular in European countries, there were already retriever clubs and hunting tests for retrievers in these countries – and in most countries the tollers and their breed clubs were included into the retriever organizations. In the different European countries there are differences between different retriever tests, and differences between hunting traditions and current legislation. Some of these differences eventually came to apply to the tolling tests as well.
A basic idea is that a hunting dog breed should be evaluated on a hunting test, which is similar to the hunting for which the breed is intended and bred. No one would think of testing dachshounds in a spaniel test or labradors in a test for boar dogs.
Unfortunately, many people still do not understand that our Tollers come from a completely different hunt and hunting tradition than the English retriever breeds. A labrador or golden or flat works only after the shot, often on larger hunts with many dogs, and where pheasants, partridges, hares or rabbits are felled. The toller on a tolling hunt works alone, both before and after the shot (and if the tolling doesn’t work, there is no shots fired), and the hunting of ducks and geese takes place near water and on water.
Since 2007 there are official tolling hunting tests in Sweden. With a tolling test, designed after the traditional tolling hunt and the toller´s characteristics, the hunting development in the breed has been very strong, and the quality of the tollers has rapidly improved. In recent years more than 400 tollers has started every year on tolling tests in Sweden. More and more people practice hunting, more and more people hunt or take their dogs hunting, and more and more hunters choose Tollers.
The Swedish tolling tests are now judged almost entirely by their own judges – and there are now six active judges.
Hunting test rules and championship rules are set by the Swedish Kennel Club (SKK) and are set and locked for five years at a time. The first revision in 2012 was a major step – when the Elite Class and the tolling championship (with a practical tolling test) was introduced. The first tolling hunt champion was registered in 2013. In the last two revisions, 2017 and 2022, small adjustments were made, and the Swedish tolling tests have thus been largely the same since 2012.
More information about the Swedish tolling tests and tolling in Sweden can be found here.
Just as Denmark was the very first country with tollers in Europe, the Danes was also the first to get rules for official tolling tests. The tests became official in 2006, and was first arranged in 2007, and during the first years they were much more varied than in Sweden. There was from the beginning a Winner class/Elite class and a tolling championat, the dogs started in pairs or more in the higher classes (and could work simultaneously in the search and sometimes also behind the tolling net), there could be all kinds of game, and at some tests even some other retrievers started (without success).
Today the Danish tests have become more and more similar to the other countries´ tests, and there are little differences between Denmark and Sweden. One difference is that before the first start in the beginner´s class, the dogs need to pass a qualification test (tollerbrugsprøve) and to move up to the Open class, the dog needs two first prizes in the Beginner´s class. There is also no practical test to achieve the championat.
Denmark now has its first own tolling judge, trained by SSRK, and there are more in the pipeline.
Denmark has official tolling tests both with game (tollerjagtprøve) and with dummies (tollerworkingtest). Merits from tests with cold game entitle to start in a higher class with dummies, but not vice versa.
More information about the Danish tolling tests and tolling in Denmark can be found here.
In Sweden we have seen many talented German Tollers at our Tollar specials and tests over the years, and it is not surprising that in 2016 Germany became the third country with official tolling tests. The tests are organized within the DRC, the German Retriever Club. The tolling tests assess the same characteristics as our tolling tests, but a clear difference is that, as in other hunting tests in Germany, a three-judge system is used.
The dogs are judged at the tolling tests by their own tolling judges.
At the start there were only tolling tests in Bronze level, which corresponds to Beginner´s class. From 2019, the Silver level was introduced, while the highest level has not yet been finalized and established.
A challenge for the development of tolling tests in Germany is the general regulations that require a hunter´s license to start dogs in higher classes at hunting tests.
More information about the German tolling tests and tolling in Germany can be found here.
Tolling tests became an official test form in Norway in 2018, and the regulations were almost a copy of the Swedish rules. The tollers are part of the Norwegian Retriever Club, which is organized with local branches and breed councils. The differences that existed between the Norwegian retriever tests and the Swedish ones, also applies to the tolling tests – a representative from the Norwegian Kennel Club must be present at a hunting test with foreign judges, a dog must pass a qualification test before the first start in the Beginner´s Class (BK), and in Beginner´s class only dummies were used.
NRK decided in 2022 to introduce dummies in all classes, even though the breed council for Tollers wanted to keep the cold game in the higher classes.
The Norwegian tests can only be judged by tolling judges, so for the first few years Swedish and Danish judges judged in Norway. Unfortunately, the travel restrictions introduced during the Covid pandemic in 2019-21 meant that for a period of time it was not possible to carry out tolling tests in Norway.
Norway has now got two tolling judges, trained by SSRK.
More information about the Norwegian tolling tests and tolling in Norway can be found here.
In 2020, tolling tests became an official test form in two more countries – Belgium and the Netherlands. Kennel clubs and retriever clubs in these countries work closely together, and in the case of tolling, it is enthusiasts and friends of the dog in Belgium, who for more than 10 years organized unofficial tests and finally made it all the way.
Tolling tests in these two countries have rules based on the Swedish rules, but there are two major differences.
There are five classes – junior, beginner, novice (equivalent to open), open and veteran (the later two equivalent to elite).
In addition, due to legislation, tolling tests, like other hunting tests in these countries, can only be conducted with cold game during the hunting season. The rest of the year, tolling tests are organized with dummies.
Another challenge for those who work with Tollers in Belgium and the Netherlands is that it is often difficult to find places for both training and hunting tests, and that there are many others who want to use these places.
More information about the tolling tests and tolling in Belgium and the Netherlands can be found here.
So there are differences between the official tolling tests in the six countries, but the same qualities are evaluated and the same form of hunting is the basis for each test. Tolling tests in each country needs to take into account how other hunting tests are arranged, the organization within the country´s kennel club, and the laws that regulate hunting and hunting tests.
Efforts are being made for official tolling tests in several European countries, such as the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
It is rarely a straight and simple path, not least when self-appointed experts and various committees “knows” everything about tolling and tollers, without ever having set foot on a test or hunted with a toller.
For our breed, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, and the development of it as a hunting dog and as a working dog, our own hunting tests, based on the unique hunting form from which the breed originates, are a prerequisite. The European population of Tollers is closely intertwined, and the cooperation between the different countries´ Tollers clubs and breeders is crucial for the breed. And the fact that tolling tests in the different countries are open to Tollers from other countries is something we should be proud of and protect.