Tollers-n-Dobes

I wasn't really sure where to put these, since it's almost equal parts Doberman and and non-Doberman haha. But here is an assortment of pictures of everyone from recently as I feel like it's been a while since I've posted any dober pictures here. Although I think most of these are of Dance and Journey, but I tried to get everyone.

The whole crew is getting along great. Going from 3 dogs to 4 this time around was super smooth and really no difference at all. But it helps that my adult dogs are all (almost) 4-6yrs old I'm sure. And Journey, for as much of a troublemaker as she can be, is actually quite easy to live with and much like having a mini-adult around in a lot of ways. As per her usual way, Keira couldn't care less about the puppy. She's not an overly playful dog, and doesn't really care about other dogs anyway, but she likes her and Journey miraculously has gotten her to play with her on occassion haha. Ripley thinks it's great that I was nice enough to bring him home another cute, fluffy girlfriend. And Dance adores her and is enjoying having someone more her size to play with for once rather than just having Ripley to play with.

Anyway, onto the pictures! These are all from earlier this week. :-)

Ripley says that handsome Dobermans such as himself should be exempt from baths. He was very sad.



Keira agrees. And was rather annoyed that I was taking pictures and not hurrying up with the process and getting her out of that wretched wet stuff as fast as possible.





Journey was ready to fall asleep and had a hard time keeping her eyes open for pictures haha. She looks sad, but really, she's just tired. And looking at the treat in my hand.







She may slightly resemble a large rodent with that pink pigment, but I'm pretty sure she's the cutest Hamster-Dog there ever was.



















We attempted group pictures. As you can see, the Dobermans were not impressed.



Especially Keira.



These three are quite the trio. They love eachother. And don't worry, it was a light game of tug and I was watching closely. :-)













More on the way!

Tollers-n-Dobes

And I'm afraid that's the end of dober pictures, but here are some more of Dance and Journey. These are from Wednesday when we went to meet an online friend and her Pug from an all-breed dog board at a park.









And a few nice ones that our friend took, since I was too focused on watching Journey to get many nice pictures that day...











[pardon Journey's harness. It's already a tad big, but stretched as she was running and playing. I readjusted it afterward.]


And a few I took from on the way home! They were tired and my attempts at a happy duo shot of them did not go well haha. They were too exhausted for smiles.







And a couple of miss Journey from earlier today at work, too!

This is how she sleeps most of the day LOL. I provide her with a cozy bed, but she prefers laying on her back on the hard tile floor.



And sporting pigtails to get her ears to lay nicely haha. They're all over the place right now especially because she's teething. But she's pretty cute nonetheless!



That's all! I know I've posted a ton of pictures lately. But I've taken a lot since Journey came home. It's hard to resist when there's a puppy around!

Sam1491

Beautiful dogs and photos as always!

I love that first group shot in your first post, they may not be smiling away but they all look fabulous and are posed wonderfully! New sig?

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the_discowhore

Gorgeous photos! You could never share too many!

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RottenVonSpotten

I love your dogs! Lately I've recommended a couple different friends to research Tollers. What would be your pros and cons (if any )? I think Dance is adorable.

Deathmetal

*ahem*
ITS SO FLUFFY!!
Sorry, just had to let that out...
Beautiful photos and subjects

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Shenzi the GSD
R.I.P Zira, I love you always

Toby'shuman

Oh my goodness, cute puppy.

And that photo where Keira is leaning against one of your little ones. Definately one for the scrap book, possibly worthy of a calendar I would say.

Thanks for sharing.

KissNme

OMG, the pictures are wonderful. I love pictures. Especially ones that I can see. LOL. I didn't have to click on them to open them. These are great. Thank you for sharing.

flaminscotch

My goodness, I smiled and laughed at all those shots.
Really wonderful!!!!!

Mommy is very energetic, bathing 4 dogs!
I loved their sweet faces. Ears back, too cute!!!!!

Dance wearing the towel was absolutely the sweetest ever.

Certainly NOT too many pictures.

PJH

Is there such a thing too many pictures? The group shots are so stinking adorable! What a fantastic, gorgeous, adorable bunch you have! Thanks for sharing.

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Sherryh

OMG you have 4 furry kids..........you have your hands full but the good kind with lots of love and wet kisses!! pics are priceless!!

Tahrable

You dogs are very pretty! I just love Dance!

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Tollers-n-Dobes

Thanks, guys!

I guess it depends on what one is looking for in a dog as to the pros/cons. For me, there really aren't many cons haha.

But I think the biggest thing for prospective owners to be aware of is that Tollers need a lot of socializing and exposure, as puppies and throughout their lives. While they should not be shy, many are, and many seem to have a tendency to become that way without enough socializing. So you want to avoid that if you can. Dance is a 'bark first, greet later' dog, despite going anywhere and everywhere with me since I got her. I don't think she was exposed to much before I got her at 13 weeks old, plus her dam was kind of quirky as I found out when I dog-sat her, so between those two things Dance just wasn't set up for success IMO from an early age. She was super shy as a puppy with new people, wouldn't boldly check new things out and showed a lot of insecurity and reservation. Now as an adult, she's come a long way, but it's taken a lot of time and effort to get her there. And while she likes people, she needs time to get to know them, otherwise she still acts kind of skittish and barks at them, which is unfortunate. So yes, socialize, socialize, socialize! And make everything as positive and fun as possible!

The other con is that they're kind of reactionary. Dance does not think before she alerts to something. Unlike the Dobermans who will ponder whether something needs barking at, Dance just hears something and has to bark about it. This can be annoying for a lot of people. She's not a barky dog, but the things she does bark at don't need to be barked at. And Tollers don't have nice voices. They're very sharp and shrill.

And something a lot of people don't realize is how headstrong and willful the breed can be. They're definitely not push button retrievers. Dance questions things every day. For example: sometimes if I tell her to go to bed, or go lay down, she just stares at me and wags her tail, or goes somewhere else entirely (generally to check for crumbs in the kitchen). She knows what I want, but it doesn't benefit her, so why do it? She can be very stubborn that way and doesn't just do things simply because she was told to. She has a manipulative, 'what's in it for me?' streak for sure. She's far more headstrong than any of the Dobermans I've owned.

She's quick to learn and lots of fun to train as she is very eager and enthusiastic and likes to be busy and do things. But she's not the definition of people pleasing. She doesn't go out of her way not to make me happy, but she doesn't really go out of her way to make me happy either haha. Praise and pets will do in some circumstances, but food and play get a much happier response out of her (but when I say play, that can also mean rough housing with me - I don't have to have a toy).

So, don't get a Toller if one is expecting a happy go lucky dog that will go to the ends of the earth to please you and do what they're told all the time. They're a busy, manipulative little dog and have been known to use those traits for bad things, and that, I think, is one of the top reasons Tollers get returned to their breeder/rehomed. People expect them to be easier than they are.

With that said, I love them and will always have a Toller in my life. None of them will be nearly as special and perfect as Dance is (even with her people shyness), but Tollers themselves are just so full of joy and a zest for life that makes every day just a little brighter. They live to have fun, to play, to make you laugh, etc. They're very enthusiastic, eager, adore their people, and just genuinely happy dogs to be around. They're very intelligent and quick to learn new things, so excellent for people wanting a dog to teach fun tricks to or train in different sports. And I also find them to have very good off switches and make good family companions (provided that you take care of their activity needs - they are an active, energetic breed). Dance never pesters me for attention or exercise or anything. She's happy to do whatever I'm doing, be it throwing a ball, going for a walk, or sitting on the couch or at the computer. I think they're a wonderful size, too. Not too big, and not too small and easy to take anywhere without people reacting poorly like they often do to large dogs (regardless of breed).

Some Tollers will be much more laid back than others, some more suited to being active pets than sport/working dogs, some that are very friendly with new people, some that are more reserved (not shy - just aloof and indifferent to new people) as the standard calls for, and some that are more quirky and require a more experienced owner.

That said, Toller breeders and the Toller community are filled with some awesome people who genuinely love their breed and are excellent at screening homes and matching the right dog to the right people. There are a few I wouldn't recommend, but all in all, the Toller community and it's breeders are wonderful.


Anyway, sorry that's so long! I can talk about Tollers all day like most of you can talk about Dobermans haha. But that's my short version of pros and cons. If you (or anyone else) ever have any other questions I'm always more than happy to answer. :-)


Thank you! I think it kind of looks like she's shoving Dance out of the way haha.

Thank you!

Bathing them all isn't so bad. The Dobermans are quick and easy, and even the hairy dogs are - it's the blow drying that takes a while with Dance and Journey. Normally I do split up the bathing into a couple of days, though. Mostly to save my back from all the bending.

Thank you!

I wouldn't know what to do with myself with less I don't think! I've had four dogs most of my life and find it pretty easy as long as they're spaced out in age properly. I wouldn't have any more at once, but four is a good number for us. :-)

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the_discowhore

Thanks for posting the toller info - they're a breed that has always interested me a bit, but there are only 2 (just pets) in my country so first hand information about the breed can be hard to come by!

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Tollers-n-Dobes

No problem! Also, I always forget you live in NZ for some reason. I was about to say that there are quite a few Tollers in Australia, but then I remembered that that's not where you live. Oops!

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the_discowhore

Yup the two here are from Australia! Aussie has a lot more dog breeds than us (their biggest city, Sydney, has more people than our whole country!)

They are pretty popular obedience and agility dogs in Aussie from what I've seen, I would love someone here to buy one for sports so I could see them working!

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