English Setter

The English Setter is the most distinctive of the three varieties: Irish, Gordon and English. It has a gentle nature that makes it the ideal companion for children, at the same time being an excellent gundog. As it needs lots of exercise, it is not a suitable companion for a flat dweller It also requires a fair amount of grooming.

Origin and history

It is generally agreed that the English Setter evolved from spaniels. Credit for the breed is given to Edward Laverack (1815-1877), who in his work The Setter wrote: 'this breed is but a Spaniel improved'. The Setting Spaniel, accepted by many modernauthorities as the forerunner of the English Setter, was used as far back as the sixteenth century for setting partridges and quails. Through Interbreeding, Laverack affected the s.rain so that it acquired not only the standard of excellence in the nineteenth century but that on which the present-day English Setter was built. To quote SylviaBruce Wilmore, writing in Dog News magazine: 'About the time theLaverack strain of English Setterwas at ItS zenith, Mr R.L. Purcell Llewellin purchased a number of Mr Laverack's best show dogs of the pure Dash-Moll and Dash.Hill Laverack blood. He crossed these with entirely new blood which he obtained in the north of England represented by Mr Slatter's and Sir Vincent Corbet's strain, since referred to as the Duke-Kate- Rhoebe. The Llewellin strain of English Setter became Immensely popular at the turn of the century, their reputation spreading to the United States and Canada where they dominated field trials for a quarter of a century, thus firmly establishing the line of breed in America .

English Setter Puppies

Good points

• Adaptable
• Beautiful
• Can live in house or kennel
• Reliable gundog

Take heed

• Not a loner, thrives in company of humans or of other dogs

Size

Height: dog 25'/2-27in (65-685cm); bitch 24-25in (61-63.5cm). Weight: dog 60-661b (27.2-30kg); bitch 56-621b (25A-28kg).  

Exercise

Needs at least ten minutes of exercise a day as a three-month-old pup and a hour in adulthood to keep it in top condition. Trains well to the gun.

English Setter Information

General appearance
Of medium height, clean in outline, elegant in appearance and movement.

Colour
The colour may be black and white, lemon and white, liver and white or tricolour (that is, black, white and tan); those without heavy patches of colour on the body, but flecked allover, are preferred.

Head and skull
Head should be long and reasonably lean with a well-defined stop. The colour of the nose should be black or liver, according to the colour of the coat.

Tail
The tail should be set onalmost in line with the back; medium length not curly or ropy, to be slightly curved or scimitar- shaped but with no tendency to turn upwards; the flag or feather hanging in long pendent flakes.

Feet
The feet should be very close and compact, and well protected by hair between the toes.

English Setter Feeding & Grooming

Grooming

You will need trimming scissors and a fine steel comb for frequent grooming, also a good stiff brush for the coat. Take care that the feathering on the legs does not become tangled. The silky hair under the ears should be removed and also the hair under the throat and below the ear down to the breast bone. Care must also be taken to remove hair that forms between the dog's pads. Any straggly hairs have to be plucked from the body before the dog goes into the show ring. The English Setter is always bathed before a show and the coat is combed flat when it IS dry. American competitors are trimmed more heavily than those exhibited in the United Kingdom .

Feeding

Recommended would be 20-330z (587-936g) of a branded meaty product with biscuit added, or 3-5 cupfuls of a dry food, complete diet, mixed in the proportion of 1 cup of feed to '/2 cup of hot or cold water.

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