Irish Setter
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The Irish Setter (Template:Langx,<ref>Ainmneacha Plandaí is Ainmhithe, accessed 14 June 2009.</ref> literally "red setter") is a setter, a breed of gundog, and family dog originating in Ireland. The term Irish Setter is commonly used to encompass the show-bred dog recognised by the American Kennel Club as well as the field-bred Red Setter recognised by the Field Dog Stud Book. The breed is known for having a friendly and gentle temperament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Description
Appearance
The coat is moderately long, silky, and of a red or chestnut colour. It requires frequent brushing to maintain its condition and keep it mat-free. The undercoat is abundant in winter weather, and the top coat is fine. Their coats should also feather in places such as the tail, ears, chest, legs, and body. Irish Setters range in height from Template:Convert, males weigh Template:Convert and females Template:Convert. The FCI Breed Standard for the Irish Setter stipulates males stand Template:Convert tall, and females be Template:Convert tall. Irish Setters are deep chested dogs with small waists. An Irish Setter's life expectancy tends to be around 11 to 12 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Temperament
The UK Standards state that the breed should be "Demonstrably affectionate".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Irish Setters are an active breed, and require long, daily walks and some off-lead running in wide, open spaces.
Irish Setters are also widely used as therapy dogs in schools and hospitals. Therapy dogs are permitted in hospitals with special permission and can visit patients on the assigned floors. In schools the dogs may be used to create a calming and relaxed environment.
History
One of the first references to the 'Setter,' or setting dog, in literature can be found in Caius's De Canibus Britannicis, which was published in 1570 (with a revised version published in 1576). Translated from the original Latin, the text reads: Template:Blockquote
It would be incorrect to assume the dog described above in any way resembles the Irish Setter (or any setter) as we know the breed today. Caius was referring to a type of setting spaniel, most likely now extinct. The description of the work undertaken by this early pillar of the breed resembles the working behaviour of modern Irish Setters. Of this early dog, Caius went on to write: "The most part of theyre skinnes are white, and if they are marcked with any spottes, they are commonly red, and somewhat great therewithall." If this is the case, it is safe to assume the solid red colouring of today's Irish Setter came about by selective breeding practices.
Further reference to setters in early literature can be found in The Country Farme by Richard Surflet and Gervase Markham, published in 1616. They wrote: "There is also another sort of land spannyels which are called Setters."<ref name="Gardner" />
It is clear that, by the early 18th Century, the type of dog known as the 'setter' had come into its own right. It is also clear the Irish had begun actively breeding their own type. For example, the de Freyne family of French Park began keeping detailed stud records in 1793. Other prominent landed Irish gentry also known to have been breeding setter lines at the same time include Lord Clancarty, Lord Dillon, and the Marquis of Waterford.
It was noted as early as 1845 that setters in Ireland were predominantly either red, or, according to Youatt,<ref name="Gardner" /> "...very red, or red and white, or lemon coloured, or white patched with deep chestnut." Clearly, the preference for a solid red-coloured dog was having an effect on the appearance of the typical Irish-bred setter.
The breed standard for the modern Irish Setter was first drawn up by the Irish Red Setter Club in Dublin and approved on 29 March 1886. It consisted of a 100-point scale, with a given number of points awarded for each of the dog's physical attributes. The points system was later dropped; however, aside from some minor changes, the standard remains largely unchanged today in most countries where the breed is formally recognised.
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Irish Setter, 1881
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Irish Setter with a duck, 1855
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Irish Setter in 1879
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Irish Setter circa 1915
Uses
The Irish Setter was bred for hunting, specifically for setting or locating and pointing upland gamebirds. They are a tireless, wide-ranging hunter, and well-suited to fields and wet or dry moorland terrain. Using their excellent sense of smell to locate the mark (or bird), the Irish Setter will then hold a pointing position, indicating the direction in which the bird lies hidden.
The Irish Setter was brought to the United States in the early 19th century.
In 1874, the American Field put together the Field Dog Stud Book and registry of dogs in the United States was born. This Field Dog Stud Book is the oldest pure-bred registry in the United States. At that time, dogs could be registered even when bred from sires and dams of different breeds. At about this time, the Llewellin Setter was bred using blood lines from the Lavarack breeding of English Setter and, among other breeds, bloodlines from native Irish Setters. Around the same time, the red Irish Setter became a favourite in the dog show ring.
Not all Irish Setters of the late 19th century were red, the American Kennel Club registered Irish Setters in myriad colours. Frank Forester, a 19th-century sports writer, described the Irish Setter as follows: "The points of the Irish Setter are more bony, angular, and wiry frame, a longer head, a less silky and straighter coat that those of the English. His colour ought to be a deep orange-red and white, a common mark is a stripe of white between the eyes and a white ring around the neck, white stockings, and a white tage to the tail."
The Setter that was completely red, however, was preferred in the show ring and that is the direction that the breed took. Between 1874 and 1948, the breed produced 760 conformation show champions, but only five field champions.
In the 1940s, Field and Stream magazine put into writing what was already a well-known fact. The Irish Setter was disappearing from the field and an outcross would be necessary to resurrect the breed as a working dog. Sports Afield chimed in with a similar call for an outcross. Ned LaGrande of Pennsylvania spent a small fortune purchasing examples of the last of the working Irish Setters in America and importing dogs from overseas. With the blessing of the Field Dog Stud Book, he began an outcross to red and white field champion English Setters. The National Red Setter Field Trial Club was created to test the dogs and to encourage breeding toward a dog that would successfully compete with the white setters. Thus the modern Red Setter was born and the controversy begun.
Prior to 1975, a relationship existed between the American Kennel Club and the Field Dog Stud Book in which registration with one body qualified a dog for registration with the other. In 1975 the Irish Setter Club of America petitioned the American Kennel Club to deny reciprocal registration, and the request was granted. It is claimed, by critics of the move, that the pressure was placed on the American Kennel Club by bench show enthusiasts who were unappreciative of the outcrossing efforts of the National Red Setter Field Trial Club, as well as some field trialers from the American Kennel Club after a series of losses to Field Dog Stud book red setters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Working Irish Setter kennels today field champion dogs that claim lines from both the Field Dog Stud Book and the American Kennel Club.
- Irish Setter
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The Irish Setter was bred for hunting.
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Irish Setter
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An Irish Setter after swimming
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Irish Setter running in the fields
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Working Red Setter
The modern Red Setter is smaller than its bench-bred cousin. While show dogs often reach 70 lb (32 kg), the Working Red Setter is generally around Template:Convert. The coat is less silky and the feathering is generally shorter. The colour is lighter, with the working dog found in russet and fawn colours. The Red Setter often has patches of white on its face and chest as the Irish Setter of old did. There have been efforts to rekindle the field abilities of the true type Irish by a handful of dedicated breeders in California and elsewhere with some success.
Health
A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 12.9 years for the breed compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Gluten intolerance in Irish Setters is a naturally occurring genetic disorder that is the result of a single autosomal recessive locus.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> At around 6 months of age, Irish Setters with this condition will develop an increased immune cell presence and a decrease in absorption within the small intestine when fed a gluten containing diet. These effects lead to further damage of the small intestine as well as malnutrition and diarrhea. Irish Setters that are fed a gluten free diet have been shown to be exempt from any effects associated with gluten intolerance.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The breed is predisposed to atopic dermatitis.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Notable setters
- King Timahoe (1968–1979), pet of Richard Nixon, a 56th birthday gift from his White House staff in January 1969<ref>"A Decade Later, Watergate's Veterans Are Winners, Losers—and Everything in Between" People, Vol. 17, No. 23 (14 June 1982).</ref><ref>"Nixon Celebrates Birthday With Surprise Staff Party" The Spartanburg Herald, 10 January 1974</ref>
- Plunkett, the only Irish setter depicted in George Earl's mythical painting A Field Trial in the Eighties<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Milford, owned by Emperor Alexander II of Russia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
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- Fergus, Charles. Gun Dog Breeds, A Guide to Spaniels, Retrievers, and Pointing Dogs, The Lyons Press, 2002. Template:ISBN
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Further reading
External links
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