Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever's First Meeting with Farm Animals Is Too Sweet
Not all dogs were bred to do farm work, but there are definitely a lot of dogs who love to have fun on the farm. Whether they're meeting animals or trying their best to keep up with real working dogs, you can trust that they're always ready to get themselves into trouble.
Recently, one mom decided it was time to take her sweet Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever to meet a couple of farm friends. River may not know much about farm animals, but she still left with a couple of friends:
River the Toller is incredible. Though you can definitely tell that she's a little nervous, she powers through!
River is just over a year old. She lives in the UK with her mom, and she gets to go for walks through lots of open fields and rainy grass, but when she's not doing that, she's busy being a dog-fluencer. Recently, her mom got to attend the Crufts Kennel Club Dog Show. River didn't get to go with her since she wasn't competing, but she's still the reason her mom was invited!
River's mom has used her platform to showcase a lot of River's training over the last year, though she's currently in her adolescent, "I'm going to do what I want" stage. As well as River has been trained (seriously, she's amazing), she has not been trained for farm work.
Can Retrievers be Farm Dogs?
If you think about it for a moment, you might say to yourself, "well, the dog could be retrieving the livestock, right?" Retrievers are animal dogs, after all, and the fact that many of them are so comfortable in water could be a great asset.
Unfortunately, retrieving and herding are entirely different things and, thus, entirely different groups of dogs. While you may be able to train a retriever to do something resembling herding, they'll never understand completely; part of herding is nipping at the animals who get out of line, which retrievers aren't really prone to do.
Additionally, herding dogs are usually on the smaller side, and they're fast: running as quickly as a real herding dog, for as many years as they often do, would wreak havoc on a retriever's joints. However, your retriever is still a great addition to a farm and can help by:
- Befriending the animals (this is especially important for social animals like cows or donkeys).
- Retrieving things for you, like tools or animals' reins.
- Acting as "foster parents" for farm animals that may have been previously orphaned.
River may not live on a farm, but I think she would totally thrive on one. I could see her befriending the whole herd!
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