Would you consider Tollers biddable? How do they differ from Border Collies?
- Thread starter cfas
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Tollers and Border Collies are very different dogs. I used to think they were similar, because people told me they were similar, but now that I know a lot of dogs of both breeds, there are barely any similarities other than that they are both medium sized, active breeds that enjoy activities.
Tollers are biddable, but not as much so as you'd typically expect from a Lab or a Golden, or a lot of herding breeds. They want to please you in that they don't want to be wrong, but they probably are not usually going to want to do stuff for you simply because you asked them to. My 6 month old is far more biddable than my eight year year old. Fen will work for praise and can be soft and wants desperately to be right, but she also wants a bigger, better reward. She wouldn't work for a prolonged period of time for me just because she wants to please me. Dance is happy when I'm happy, but she doesn't go out of her way to make me happy. She always wants to know what's in it for her and she's pretty sneaky and manipulative, and not soft at all.
Tollers are quick learners, but it is dog dependent. I'd say Dance is more intelligent than Fennec in that Dance thinks things through more and is a better problem solver. Neither Toller learns quite as quickly as my Aussie does or my Border Collie/Toller mix did, but they are still super quick to catch on to new things. I like an eager, quick learning, fun, playful dog and Tollers fit all of that.
Tollers, in my experience, are much more upbeat, comical and extroverted than your typical Border Collie. They are retrievers and they do act like retrievers. They're silly and goofy and everything to them is play. To a Border Collie, work is serious. Even a Toller's original purpose was formed around play. Tollers can be serious too, but mostly they're comedians and just want to party and have a good time.
I used to be a Toller person through and through. Thought they were the breed for me and that they'd be all I ever wanted. Then I got my Aussie and found out that I don't love Tollers as much as I used to because of their sporting dog-ness. Herder brains just mesh with me better, but that's not to say that that goes for everyone. I still love Tollers a lot, but for different reasons.
I'd say both breeds are versatile enough to succeed at multiple sports and activities, but don't expect Tollers to be the Border Collie of the retriever world as they are/were often said to be. I find people are either herding dog people or sporting dog people, and I'd recommend spending ample amount of time around both breeds or at least talking to many owners of both.
Tollers are biddable, but not as much so as you'd typically expect from a Lab or a Golden, or a lot of herding breeds. They want to please you in that they don't want to be wrong, but they probably are not usually going to want to do stuff for you simply because you asked them to. My 6 month old is far more biddable than my eight year year old. Fen will work for praise and can be soft and wants desperately to be right, but she also wants a bigger, better reward. She wouldn't work for a prolonged period of time for me just because she wants to please me. Dance is happy when I'm happy, but she doesn't go out of her way to make me happy. She always wants to know what's in it for her and she's pretty sneaky and manipulative, and not soft at all.
Tollers are quick learners, but it is dog dependent. I'd say Dance is more intelligent than Fennec in that Dance thinks things through more and is a better problem solver. Neither Toller learns quite as quickly as my Aussie does or my Border Collie/Toller mix did, but they are still super quick to catch on to new things. I like an eager, quick learning, fun, playful dog and Tollers fit all of that.
Tollers, in my experience, are much more upbeat, comical and extroverted than your typical Border Collie. They are retrievers and they do act like retrievers. They're silly and goofy and everything to them is play. To a Border Collie, work is serious. Even a Toller's original purpose was formed around play. Tollers can be serious too, but mostly they're comedians and just want to party and have a good time.
I used to be a Toller person through and through. Thought they were the breed for me and that they'd be all I ever wanted. Then I got my Aussie and found out that I don't love Tollers as much as I used to because of their sporting dog-ness. Herder brains just mesh with me better, but that's not to say that that goes for everyone. I still love Tollers a lot, but for different reasons.
I'd say both breeds are versatile enough to succeed at multiple sports and activities, but don't expect Tollers to be the Border Collie of the retriever world as they are/were often said to be. I find people are either herding dog people or sporting dog people, and I'd recommend spending ample amount of time around both breeds or at least talking to many owners of both.