Dog Breed Guide

English Setter

Profile

Size

Large

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Origin

19th century (ancestors from around the 14th century)

Bred for

Bird hunting

Height

male 65 - 68cm (26 - 27in), female 61 - 65cm (24 - 26in)

Weight

male 29 - 36kg (64 - 79lb), female 20 - 32kg (44 - 71lb)

Life span

10 - 12 years

Its beautiful coat is white with small flecks of color scattered finely all over. This distinctive pattern is called "belton," and depending on the color of the flecks there are orange belton, blue belton (black), lemon belton, liver belton and tricolor. Long, silky feathering grows on the ears, chest, legs and tail.

Calm, kind and very friendly, the English Setter is patient with its family, especially children, and is known as "the gentleman of the dog world." At the same time, as a hunting dog it is full of energy and needs a great deal of exercise.

It needs plenty of time to run every day. The long feathering tangles easily, so frequent brushing is essential. Some white dogs are born deaf or hard of hearing.

Good to know

"Setter" means a dog that "sets." When it finds game birds, it crouches low and freezes on the spot to show the hunter where they are. Before guns came into wide use, hunters caught the birds by throwing a net over the place where the dog was crouching, so the dog had to lie low to avoid being caught in the net. Some setters still point their game in the old low crouch.

The foundations of the modern English Setter were laid by two 19th-century British fanciers. Edward Laverack's dogs became the line of beautiful show dogs, while Richard Purcell Llewellin's dogs became a line of fast, skilled field dogs.

The name of the belton pattern comes from a village in northern England where Laverack often hunted. The very first dog registered by the American Kennel Club was also an English Setter.