A Nova Scotia What?

My husband and I knew we wanted a second dog. I had grown up with two dogs and loved having one large dog and one small dog. My husband, on the other hand, simply wanted his "man's dog." (He often expressed this desire with Izzy sitting in his protective embrace looking like his pampered princess.)

We just had to find the perfect addition for our family. We were primarily focused on labs. My husband wanted a lab that reminded him of a special dog from his life; I was inclined to get a golden retriever that reminded me of a special dog from my life (thinking of you, Alex :).

But we also wondered if a labradoodle or goldendoodle might be a good addition - they are not supposed to shed as much and are better for people with allergies (we don't have allergies, but our guests might).

We didn't really settle on a breed, but pursued various options. We looked at shelters, breeders, and rescue groups. We completed a dozen applications for dogs and puppies and went through various interviews. We finally qualified for a lab rescue and were going to meet with a particular young lab. We were excited.

But then the meeting was canceled and, lo and behold, that very same week, we had the opportunity to get a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever puppy. A what? A duck tolling retriever. Or, as they are loving referred to: a "toller." They are medium sized dogs - a boy will likely be in the mid 40 pound range. A girl would probably be in the 30 pound range.

My husband discovered this dog during some of his extensive research to find the perfect second dog. We even went to meet some tollers at a dog show. That being said, we are still learning about this breed. Tollers tend to be somewhat high energy, intelligent, and more reserved than labs. We have also heard something about a Toller scream...

It was a hard decision; we loved the idea of rescuing a dog. In fact, my family had rescued Alex and I really wanted to give a loving home to a dog that hadn't been shown love.

But here were these puppies and one of them could be Izzy's little brother, if only for a day (before he grew to be bigger than her). They could play and bond and we could raise him in our style from day one and never have to worry about a past traumatic experience that could cause him to act out against Izzy, like I did, perhaps unnecessarily so, with a rescue dog.

So a Toller it will be! We are so excited! We even know which puppy will be ours and have fallen in love with him - having seen tons of pictures. Hopefully, this breed, and more importantly, this puppy, this boy, will be the perfect addition to our family.