The year was 1966 and in the summer our family was eagerly anticipating the arrival of our first Sheltie from the family of a friend who I went to school with. Since I was the "Animal Nut" of our family (owning all kinds of animals which included everything from Guinea pigs, rats and rabbits to iguana's and snakes, and even a raccoon) I was elected to obedience train Nutmeg (NUTMEG OF CINNSTAR, UD). Who would think that some 40 years latter I would still be in the "Dog Game?" I am more active now then ever.

Cinnstar is an original name/word and I plan in the very near future to apply to the AKC to register it. The name Cinnstar comes from the dam of our first Sheltie: Cinnamon (Cinn) and the last name of our first Shelties breeders: The Starrs (star).

I was very active in obedience with my Shelties in the Los Angeles basin as a teenager and in Northern California while in collage. I also trained our family's Collie, and various friends and relatives dogs ranging from a Newfoundland (the fastest working one you ever saw) to a Basset (I bet my uncle I could teach the dog obedience, and won). I showed the Shelties some in conformation, but was quickly disillusioned. Too much emphasis on coat, and head type, and little interest in temperament or working abilities. The falsification and adulteration by many people was very discouraging in the conformation ring as well.

It was in Northern California in 1977 getting a relay race (scent hurdle) team together where I saw a movie (YES an 8mm movie!) of a rare breed called the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever racing in Regina Saskatchewan Canada. I was immediately taken by the breed. I was going to some shows and obedience trials in British Columbia that summer and made a point to see the Tollers. I visited the Aitken's Coltriev Kennels and Alison Strang's Westerlea Kennels. Months later, my puppy Eric (CAN CH WESTERLEA'S CINNSTAR ERIC) was flown to me from Alison from her second litter of Shelly (CAN CH SHELBURNE OF JEFFERY COLDWELL) and a stud in Nova Scotia: Biggs (CAN CH CRUSADER OF JEFFERY COLDWELL CAN CD). This was the same litter that Alison's famous Toller Tip (CAN BIS, BISS CH WESTERLEA'S WHITE ENSIGN) came from. Sadly, Eric at just a little over two years old suddenly died of an inhaled foxtail that had set up a massive infection in his lungs. My next Toller Teal (CAN/MEX CH WESTERLEA'S CINNAMON TEAL CAN/MEX CD, GRCA WC) also from Alison Strang came soon afterward to replace Eric. Teal was my foundation bitch, and all Cinnstar Toller's can be traced back to her.

Interesting to note that these dogs, and my first two litters were whelped in Canada. The reason being is that the NSDTRC (USA) was not formed/just forming and there was not a USA studbook to register them in. The first USA born litter was the Litter Ian came from.

At that time there were literally no other Tollers in the Southern California area to compete with in conformation. While I did show some at the match's that allowed us to compete, I mainly concentrated on performance events: Obedience and Field. Unfortunately Agility was not around. You will also note that both Teal and her son Widgeon do not have NSDTRC WC's; they have GRCA (Golden Retriever Club of America) WC's. At that time, the NSDTRC did not have a working certificate program set up.

Laura is a founding member of the NSDTRC (USA). She was the West Coast Regional Representative for years and was also the President of the club for one term. Laura was on the Standard Committee at the beginning of the standard revision, and also on the one that worked with the AKC to finalize the currant AKC standard and present it to the NSDTRC membership for a vote. In the fall of 2005 a new standard committee was formed and Laura is again a member. The committe is working on claifications. Laura was also a member of the Code of Ethics Committee, something we feel very strongly about here at Cinnstar.

After over 20 years in the aviation maintenance field, and only training professionally part time for the past 4 years, Laura has quit her job and will be pursuing her dream of training retrievers professionally full time. Our Tollers are active in four venues:

1. Field: AKC Competitive Field Trials against all breeds of Retrievers, and attending picnic trials (practice trials). Previous to that we have been active in Field Trials in Canada and Picnic Trials in the USA. Hunt Tests: HRC (Hunting Retriever Club), AKC, and NSDTRC sponsored WC-WCI-WCX tests.
   
   
2. AKC Conformation Shows starting in July '03. Previously we were active at the AKC FSS level, NSDTRC events and in Canada and Mexico.
   
   
3. AKC Obedience: While Laura does not train competitively for Obedience anymore, she still titles our dogs and client's. And she still manages to place and even win High In Trial awards!
   
   
4. Agility: We are started in Agility with well known Toller and Border Collie enthusiast Terry Simons, and received our first title on Flash.
   
   
5. While living in South Carolina we had a few hair sheep around the place and have done some herding with our Tollers.
   

One of the best ways to see how Cinnstar has influenced the Toller breed is to go to the Cinnstar Family Tree Picture album. With our personal dogs you will find pictures, biographies, with many antidotal stories about Tollers and Cinnstar. You will also find all the different awards our Tollers have garnered. Important progeny is listed that is owned by other fanciers, linking Cinnstar to other lines.

We recently have traveled past the USA/Canada borders and traded puppies in Denmark and we have bred a litter from Surfer out of a dog whelped in Norway and living in Belgium. I feel the influence of these Tollers will greatly contribute to my own line, and the Toller as a breed.

As one of the senior breeders/fanciers I feel that I have responsibility to help other Toller breeders and owners. Not just our personal puppy people. We encourage all Tollers and their owners to participate in various events, and invite all Toller owners to come down and train with us. Many times at conformation shows I have helped other exhibitors (even my competition) by trimming and grooming their Tollers for the show ring. I am happy to teach anyone to present a Toller in a neat, but natural way.

I have not only trained my own retrievers in the field, but many Tollers and other breeds of retrievers owned by clients. Since I train for field trials which require the highest levels of training, I have trained with many of the best field trial trainers around the USA and Canada, learning different training techniques, particularly from the "old dog men", people that developed training methods before the e-collar became so prevalent. This gives me a unique view on training methods. You will find articles on this website to read and download. We specialize in field training the minority breeds of retrievers, training conformation bred retrievers for the field, and field trial/hunt test retriever rehab. We take on (and succeed) both the simple force fetch dogs, to retrievers with deep-seated complex problems. I am not afraid to take on problem retrievers; in fact I enjoy the challenge. While I do show clients Tollers in the show ring, I confine it to specialties and supported events. We do not show any other breed of retriever in the conformation ring.

I am not one to say, "Toller's Can't". This has been one of the breeds biggest plagues. And it is our own Toller people that are saying it. At first it used to be "Tollers can't/shouldn't win a (Canadian) BIS". Finally this goal was reached. Now while it is not common to win a BIS, it, and group placings come more easily to the breed. It is now acceptable. It used to be "Tollers can't get high scores in obedience" But slowly Tollers have selectively done well in obedience. But in the field this fear of competition still exists. It exists to some extent in agility I am told, and in obedience but not to the same extent it exists in the field. People get intimidated or scared of failing, of looking bad, so they never venture further then a WC or maybe a JH. NO, not every Toller is capable of the higher levels of hunting retriever tests or field trials; very few black Labs even make the grade. But for the few Tollers that have the talent, and whose owners have the time, dedication, and funding, it can be achieved. We should encourage excellence in every venue, not put people down who strive to achieve it. In this area we are our own worst enemy.

Another important topic is ethics. We feel it is extremely important to conduct yourself not just as an ethical breeder, but also as a person in our daily lives. While you will find some of our thoughts on ethics scattered throughout this website, We have written an article directly on that matter. Laura is also a member of the NSDTRC Code of Ethics Committee

Maybe because my husband Don became the NSDTRC National Rescue Coordinator made us a bit closer to what can happen to a Toller if the home is not carefully chosen, or the family is not aware of the temperament and needs of the breed. I would like to end with this thought: While the Toller is a great dog for us; they are not the dog for everyone. Thus each Toller we place, we try our best to match the pup (or grown Toller) with the prospective family, and make potential Toller owners aware of the temperament and needs of the breed. Lastly, we try to be vigilant to not to allow our wonderful breed to fall into the hands of puppy mill or unethical breeders.