The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is the smallest and most agile of the six retriever breeds. He is intelligent, docile, attentive and very persistent in his work. This little retriever is from the New Scottish Peninsula Nova Scotia, Canada. Which explains the first part of the name. The toller is a cross between the formerly resident Indian dogs and dogs that were brought with them by the immigrant Scots. These were bred to Brittany Spaniels, Golden Retrievers, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Flat Coated Retrievers, Irish Setters, Cocker Spaniels, and Collie-like species.

The specialty of the toller is tolling: the hunter hides in the reeds and repeatedly throws his toller balls along the bank, arousing the curiosity of the ducks and geese. The toller retrieves the balls thrown to him without making a sound and ignores the approaching waterfowl. When these are close enough to the bank, the hunter emerges from his hiding place, the birds fly up and are killed. On command, the toller now retrieves the dead or wounded birds from the water - also without making a sound. This explains the rest of the name. Duck tolling means to attract ducks and retriever, as most probably know, means retriever. So it is a "New Scottish, duck-attracting retriever".

To shorten the long name, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is also called Toller for short.