Daintree Duck Tollers was established in 2008 by Trisha Shanks in Calgary Alberta. It was on a trip to Australia in 2005 when she first began email correspondence back home to Canada which led her to adopt her first Toller, Splash. On the same trip, she also discovered the immense beauty and lushness of the Daintree Rainforest in Northern Queensland, Australia. Although she lives in Canada and not Australia, the name evokes beautiful memories and is a place Trisha intends to revisit in future.

Trisha grew up in Halifax and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At the age of 17, she met her first Duck Toller, who belonged to her boss at the Burnside Irving gas station. The dog was so handsome and smart, Trisha decided when she could get a dog of her own one day that was the kind she wanted! Some 16 years later, she did just that. Her first dog was the retired breeding bitch Splash, who came from Tollwest Kennels. Later that year, after completing a course in dog training, she wanted the opportunity to raise a puppy 'from scratch' and purchased 9 week old Topaz (Tollwest's Wild Blue Yonder) from a Tollchester/Tollwest co-breeding.  Topaz is the great-grandson of Splash who did a great job in co-raising him with Trisha.

Interested in the purebred dog world by  this time, she decided to enter him into conformation at the age of 10 months.  16 months and 5 dog shows later, thanks to the expert handling of his Breeder Lisa Porter, he finished his Canadian Championship and was able to add the Ch to the front of his name!

The birth of Daintree Kennel came when Trisha realized she was going to need an equivalent breeding female mate if she intended to use her Canadian Champion showdog stud to make puppies. Enter Curry (Broadway Tollwest Curry), who was paired with Topaz for his obligatory litter at Tollwest. They made such nice pups together that it wasn't a tough decision to buy her and enter into the world of breeding herself.

In the summer of 2010, Trisha moved the family to Nakusp BC to simplify life and become small town folk.  Living in the heart of the Kootenays at the shore of the Arrow Lakes, the dogs are very much enjoying life and being able to swim daily is quite a bonus too!

All 4 dogs live in the house as pets. For 5 years, the accompanied Trisha daily to the dog park as part of her dog walking job, and one or more always accompanied Trisha to the dog classes she taught. The whole brood is often used to assist private training clients with socialization issues.

This is a hobby kennel and by no means is this a 'money-making' enterprise or a puppy mill. You will receive lifelong support with the purchase of your puppy, and it will always be welcome back if for some reason you cannot keep your obligation.

For further information on the breed, or to receive a copy of the puppy information package and adoption/purchase application, please contact Trisha at 4dogsake@gmail.com.