Tollerpups

Have you heard about the Toller Scream? Toller
pups will make lots of noise at night, until they get
over missing their littermates and get used to their
crates. This noise will subside once in a while, just
until you almost fall asleep again. Get used to being
sleep-deprived!

Toller pups have to tinkle (urinate) about every ten minutes (or so it
seems)! Invest in lots of paper towels. They will poop in the house
about the time you sit down to eat, or right before you were going to
let them out. If you are lucky, no one steps in it before it gets
noticed!

Toller pups like to dig. If given
enough time, they will fit into the
hole! If prevented from digging,
they will find something to chew
on. Trees and bushes can be
pruned. Sticks will soon be a pile
of splinters. Hopefully none will
be swallowed or it will result in a
vet bill. Easier to let them dig!

Tollers have a keen nose and even if you think they won't reach, they
can master the art of counter-surfing. One success at finding food
within reach will result in a daily habit of checking to see if perhaps you
have left food within reach again. They do not feel guilty about this-it is
a sport! And a rewarding one at that. Another habit is checking the
garbage for edibles. And any food within reach is fair game, of course,
even if it means taking candy from a baby!

Tollers love water! They always shake as
soon as they get close to you. Your shoes
will never be dry if you take your Toller to a
lake. They also like to rub dry on your
clothes! This is all preferable to their other
lakeside habit of rolling in dead fish!

While the puppy descriptions are to
be taken with a sense of humor,
adding a puppy to the family is a
very serious decision.

Do NOT get a puppy if:

1. You are busy running the kids to
practice and events and
appointments, or have many social
engagements, or are seldom home
for whatever reason.

2. You do not have a sense of
humor!

3. You have a very set expectation
about what a puppy should act like,
or what he should be like when
grown.

4. You are intolerant of messes or
destruction to a certain degree.

5. Anyone in the family does not
want a puppy/dog.

6. You are not able to be the
leader and teach the puppy to
follow the rules of the household.

7. You value orderliness in your
household and having muddy paws
or shedding hair or teeth marks will
bother you a great deal.

8. You are not willing to work
through the problems, and spend
time training and just loving your
dog.

9. Your pup is not going to live in
your house. Tollers are a very
intelligent, sensitive breed and
would not do well outside all by
themselves.

10. You think Tollers are small
Golden Retrievers! They are much
more active than what most people
think a Golden is, and also are not
as gullible or willing to please you.
They are more a "what's in it for
me" kind of dog.