Setters?

[LM1313]

What kind of personality do setters (Irish setters, etc) have? And how much grooming do those beautiful coats require? How many setter breeds are there? I'm only familiar with Irish setters and gordon setters at the moment.

[Inverness]

Huh huh ! I shouldn't have looked at this thread...

The Setters we see the most are the Irish, the Gordon, the English and the Irish Red and White. While Setters are active hunting dogs, they are not as hyper as Pointers are. They require exercise in a fenced area since they tend to follow their nose and take off. For having trained both my GSP and my Setter at the same time, I can definitely say my Pointer is much more willing to work than my Setter - my girl is definitely a stubborn little gal ! However, she's the sweetest, gentlest creature ever. She's out of beautiful show lines, but her sire's breeder and lines are more work-oriented.

Show Setters have changed so much, it now seems there are two separate breeds of Setters - the field type and the bench. The field type Setters have much less feathering and are not difficult to maintain. Having a show type, I have learned from the breeder how to groom her and keep her in show condition year-round. Grooming takes about 3 hours and is done every month or so. Keeping the featherings free of mats do call for some regular brushing, especially after a walk in the woods.

I've personnaly never seen a dog with a sweeter temperament than my girl and I would recommend her breed and lines to anyone. There are also numerous Setters in rescue in the US - something we don't have here in Canada. Unfortunately, deaf Setters seems to be very common in rescue.

The Irish Setters have changed a lot in the last 20 years or so - they were overbred and many have become mere shadows of what a true working Irish Setter is supposed to be. The Gordons, however, have never been really popular and don't have these same problems. As for the Irish Red and White, they are relatively new here and the gene pool is rather healthy.

Here's my girl, Artizoé Voodoo Doll Ophélie:



out of AM/CAN CH. ARTIZOÉ ANGEL NELLIE



and Am Can CH Set'r Ridge's Select Gold:





Both sire and dam carry genes from Am/Can Ch. FC Set'r Ridge's Solid Gold, CDX, HDX, MH, CGC, one of the best English Setters of all times:



I absolutely recommend Setter Ridge Kennels, if you want a gorgeous dog who can also work.

Anything else you need to know ?

I think you live very close to Setter Ridge... lucky you LM1313 !

[Nausicaa]

Just wanted to say that you have a beautiful dog !
I'm really in love with how english setters look! One of my favorite breeds.

Well, to the original poster - from my experience with irish setters I knew they are really friendly with everyone (which will be a minus if you prefer a more reserved dog), need quite a lot of exercise (their owners used to take them for long walks in the country once every few days), and when they get it are really sweet and docile at home. I think all setters are very much alike in character, although of course somebody who knows the breeds more in depth will tell you some differences. As a previous poster noted Irish setters are thought to be overbred in the last few years, so be careful if you want to aquire a puppy of this breed.

Well that's just my general knowlege, I've never owned a setter, just knew a few ppl who did.

[100%doglover]

Just wanted to say that you have one beautiful girl there I really love setters, especially Gordons....

[Prin]

Great lookin' doggy.

I knew two Gordons and they were so sweet. They needed more grooming than I'm used to (I like short, easy, labby coats ), especially when they go out in the bush (burrs and sticks burrow into their feathering).

[hazelrunpack]

I agree that English Setters can be stubborn but sweet, sweet, sweet! Beautiful girl you have there! Ours are Ryman-types...more the hunting/field variety, but not quite as hyper as some of the true Llewellin, field-type setters. (Well...at least not anymore... Ours are all less than two years apart in age and when we first expanded to six, the oldest was only 4. It takes till age 2 1/2 or 3 for the couch potato to come out in a setter So it was pretty crazy for a while.)

Even the non-show varieties need a fair amount of grooming, but if you run a comb through their hair every day or two, they stay silky. It takes me maybe 30 minutes to comb out our 6 and brush their teeth every day. If they're going to be out in the woods, we trim up their feathering, which makes grooming even faster and easier. And dont' forget to trim the toe hairs!