About us
Having a dog had always been our dream. Our expectations for our first dog were clear: a good swimmer and retriever, agile, muscular, eager for work, and not too big too, since it would have to live in an apartment building.
It took us months to find the right breed. After extensive research and talking to many Toller owners, we decided that the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever was the best choice. That’s why we got Weezy (Shaggy Toller’s Wild Scirocco) in 2011, followed by Spock (Next Generation Peak Performance Dancing with Fire) in 2014, and MJ (Redrivals Burning Spitfire) in 2022.
The dogs became very important members of our family and changed our lives completely. Since 2011, we have gained new experiences, met many interesting people, and made friendships that are very valuable to us. We’ve also become members of the Polish Kennel Club (FCI), as well as the Swedish and Czech Toller Clubs.
From the very beginning, we have been trying to learn and understand everything we can about Tollers and the specific characteristics of this breed. Since 2014, we have been participating in the biggest Toller event in Europe – TOLLARSPECIALEN, organized by the Swedish Toller Club. During our trips to Sweden, we entered obedience and dummy competitions, achieving very good results. Since our first visit to Scandinavia, tolling hunting tests became the centre of our interest.
Our first dog sport was OBEDIENCE. Both Weezy and Spock have completed competing in FCI obedience class 2, with Weezy becoming the Polish Obedience Vice-Champion of Retrievers 2018 and the first Toller in Poland to be promoted to FCI obedience class 3. As members of the Na Fali Obedience Team (Poland), we train with Joanna Hewelt and Magdalena Stodułko, who constantly inspire us to go beyond our limits. To improve our trainings and deepen our knowledge, we participate in obedience camps and seminars with, among others, Christa Enqvist (FI), Riitta Kivimäki (FI), Anna Scelsa (IT), Anna Herzog (UK), and Monica Wickstrøm (NO).
As the work that Tollers were bred for is our passion, we spend a lot of time and energy on DUMMY TRAINING. All our dogs have passed official hunting tests for retrievers and went hunting for the first time in 2018. Working and training with our redheads helps us to understand the essence of this breed and the qualities that Tollers should have. Our motto and mission are the words of well-known Mrs. Alison Strang: „Never please lose sight of what this breed was bred to do”.
For many years, we have been involved in dog sports and promoting work with Tollers. We have taken part in all Polish National Toller Meetings and co-organized three out of four. During these events, all participants had the opportunity to learn about obedience, agility, and frisbee, and try which dog sport would suit them best.
In 2017, we organized a dummy seminar with Susanne Reinke and Maike Böhm from Germany. The aim of this event was to promote dummy work among Toller owners and introduce them to training methods perfectly suited to the mentality and working style of our redheads (read more about the seminar by clicking: here).
In March 2018, we invited Sverker Haraldsson from Sweden for the very first TOLLING seminar in Poland. This gave us the opportunity to train not only retriever work, but most of all the one thing that makes our breed so exceptional – tolling work (you can read more about the tolling seminar by clicking: here). We continued with tolling trainings in 2019 when Mr. Sverker agreed to visit us for the second time.
In 2022, after long COVID-19 break, we organized another dummy & tolling workshop – this time with Jelle Huysmans from Belgium.
Since 2020, we have been members of the Polish Hunting Association. This allows us to work even on our dogs’ working abilities and go duck, goose and pheasant hunting together.
We kindly invite you to read more about our beloved dogs and their achievements. Please feel free to contact us – we are always eager to share our passion and learn more about the breed.
Małgorzata Prażanowska & Krzysztof Prażanowski
SONS OF A GUN (FCI)
Poznań, POLAND
Photos: Marcin Rutkowski Photography & Daria Terokhina
OUR DOGS
Redrivals Burning Spitfire
Redrivals BURNING SPITFIRE (MJ) is our third Toller, carefully chosen for sports and hunting. We had been looking for a dog with great working potential, and this is exactly what we found in Norwegian Redrivals (FCI) kennel.
Next Generation Peak Performance Dancing with Fire
Spock is our second Toller, born in the Dancing with Fire (FCI) kennel in Poland.
Spock’s parents are both Canadian dogs: Kalmegess’ CANADIAN RANGER (Ranger) and Stonaway SKY TRINITY (Trin). Spock inherited the best qualities from his mother. He has a lot of will to please and loves to work with his handler, which we take full advantage of in obedience and dummy/hunting training.
Shaggy Toller's Wild Scirocco
Weezy, officially: Shaggy Toller’s Wild Scirocco, was our first, long-awaited Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. He was born on May 6, 2011 in Denmark and came to Poland the same year. It all began thanks to Weezy – our love for the breed, our obedience & dummy training, our passion for hunting, and SONS OF A GUN adventure.