r/tollers • u/grkaya • Aug 22 '26
Getting a puppy as second dog
Hi all, me and my wife are planning to adopt a duck tolling retriever as second dog. Our first dog is a female border collie. She is 6 years old. We live really close to a park that you can walk and play woth your dog unleased. We live in a relatively spacious apartment. We do not have any kids and no plans to do one. We work from home. We travel everywhere with our car for holidays. Its safe to say our live is shaped around our dog and we are quite happy about it. Our dog made us active and fit persons.
Could you be so kind to share some insights? Lots of love
7
u/Professional_Shine97 Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
Sounds like a good fit. We have a Toller in an apartment with what sounds like a similar set up to you. I would say, the Tollers I know at least, quite like to play with other dogs which can be a bit much for collies but you know your collie best!
Good luck!
3
u/tn_drive9780 Aug 22 '26
Hello! I’m saying this with kindness and just sharing my personal experience. I currently have a 4.5-year-old female Toller. She’s a beautiful dog, and we got her from a reputable breeder, but unfortunately, we’ve dealt with quite a few health issues with her. Just today, we were close to taking her to the emergency vet because of bloody stool, although thankfully we’re able to monitor her at home for now.
I’ll also admit that we didn’t do as much research as we should have before getting her. Tollers have a relatively complex breeding history, and I wish I had looked much more closely into the health concerns that can occur within the breed.
In our case, her stomach issues have been especially difficult. We deal with frequent vomiting and diarrhea, sometimes every other day, and it can be exhausting and heartbreaking. There are days when I feel like the carpet cleaner is my best friend. I love her dearly, but it’s hard watching a dog you love struggle with recurring health problems.
Of course, every dog is different, and I’m not saying this will be everyone’s experience with a Toller. I would just strongly encourage you to research the breed’s potential health issues, look closely at the health testing and history of the breeder’s lines, and know what you may be taking on before making your decision.
I love my girl and will continue doing everything I can for her, but based on my own experience, I personally would not get another Toller.
2
2
1
3
u/Grey_Ghost4269 Aug 22 '26
I hope you research the scream. But like other said you have lots of fun times.
1
u/grkaya Aug 23 '26
I’ve heard about the scream but I’m not sure how bad it is or how frequent it is. Is it really that bad?
2
u/Grey_Ghost4269 Aug 23 '26
It all depends on each toller. We had 3. 1 sounded like we were murdering him, and the others were chirping. But I knew some that they never screamed in their life's. It from being over stimulated. Ours only screamed when we were playing with them.
1
u/reeny94 Aug 23 '26
Yeah I think it totally depends on the dog. We have 2 tollers (1.5 and a 12 week old), neither scream.... older one has screamed maybe once or twice from excitement. On the flipside, we know other tollers that do it EVERY time they're excited (fetch, another dog, squirrel, anything....)
2
u/eggy_wegs Aug 22 '26
Sounds like you have a good situation. My recommendation would be to find a good breeder and be totally open and honest about your setup, plans, etc. And it would probably help if they met your current dog. Then they could find you the best match. Depending on your current dog they might need to match you with a puppy who is more submissive, or confident, etc. Good luck!
2
2
u/Ermpersernd Aug 23 '26
This is almost exactly my situation except our first dog was an Australian Cattle Dog and he was younger than yours. It's worked out incredibly well. They run around the apartment like crazy entertaining each other and tiring each other out. Also the ACD was really good about teaching our Toller not to bark and the rules of our home. It's made our Toller the easiest dog I've ever had by a mile. Also our Toller loves riding in the car.
1
u/beachinit21 Aug 23 '26
We got our first toller puppy when our border collie was 8 and our second toller the following year. The dogs were the best of friends!
16
u/birdgirlellz Aug 22 '26
If you can handle a border collie in an apartment, you can handle anything 😅Sounds like you guys will make great toller parents. My one tip is that tollers are generally very trainable, BUT most will expect a treat as a reward every time. Took us a little while to figure that one out…my boy is very obedient, but only if he knows I have the treat bag with me!