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The English
setter's trademark is its long flowing coat, which helped the
early members of the breed to withstand the rigors of the British
climate. The coat is accented with fringes, also known as feathering
or furnishings, that stream from the ears, chest, belly, legs
and tail. For better or for worse the setter's coat works like
a broom in field and forest, sweeping up twigs, burrs and weeds
that do not begin to cling to pointers. Setter people have their
own sweeping to do at home, where a resolute vacuum cleaner
is essential. Yet even though the long coat is inconvenient,
it is treasured by setter lovers.
The
Sunniness Never Sets
Because
most people get their food from the supermarket today, the
original purpose for which the English setter was bred assisting
his master in the hunt is not terribly relevant to modern
life. English setters now hunt for their own or their owners'
pleasures, not out of necessity. Nonetheless, the congenial
disposition of English setters makes them treasured friends
and companions.
English
setters have a sunny, people oriented outlook. They adore
being with their families, riding in the car, reclining on
the couch sleeping in the bed and sitting on your lap, which,
because of their size they usually overflow. They love the
hearth as much as the heath. They are patient nannies for
children, and devoted, loving companions for adults. Living
with an English setter means never having to say you are lonely.
Ready,
Set, Game
The English
setter is a sporting breed that finds and indicates the location
of upland game birds - quail, pheasant and grouse. Setters
use their hypnotic power to hold a bird in place until the
hunter flushes it and shoots. Setters with advanced training
also retrieve downed birds. If bred for fieldwork, English
setters are big-running hunters whose handlers ride horses
to keep their dogs in sight. If bred for show, the English
setter usually retains his hunting instincts as a personal
gun dog, working sufficiently close so that the hunter can
follow on foot.
The
Setter's Roots
The English,
Gordon and Irish setters are all believed to have descended
from the setting spaniel, which probably originated in Spain.
Long before guns were invented, the setting spaniel was used
to help hunters trap birds. The dog would air-scent its quarry,
approach stealthily without barking, then drop to its belly
(set) when it found birds. The hunter would throw a huge net
over the area the dog had indicated, and often over the dog
itself, before making a noise to flush the birds, which would
ensnare themselves in the net, yielding an easy harvest. This
method of hunting was recorded in tapestries and manuscript
illustrations as early as the 14th century.
At first
any dog that performed the setting action was called a setter,
even if it was a greyhound or some other breed. Gradually,
because of their superior ability to find and to indicate
birds more consistently than other dogs could, setting spaniels
became hunters' favorites and, as a result, the forebears
of modern setters.
In the
early 1800s hunters began using guns instead of nets to bag
birds. The gun demanded a setter with an upright pointing
style because the crouching setter was harder to see - and
easy to shoot by mistake. Thus, the modern English setter
was developed through selective breeding during the 19th century.
British
Gentry
Much of
the credit for the cultivation of today's setter goes to the
Englishman Edward Lavarack. In 1825 Lavarack acquired two
setters, Ponto and Old Moll were Lavarack's Adam and Eve.
He bred their descendants for the next 40 years or so. Early
on he produced a dog named Dash, who figures prominently in
most Lavarack pedigrees. Lavarack claimed to breed "in and
in" - that is, to breed close relatives such as mother and
son or brother and sister - until his strain was pure and
his dogs' type was set. His name is given to what became the
English setter show dog.
Another
breeder to whom credit is due for developing the modern English
setter is the Welshman R. L. Purcell Llewellyn for whom Llewellyn
setters have been named. Llewellyn setters are not a separate
breed. The name is simply another designation for a field
English setter.
Llewellyn
was adventurous in his pursuit of the perfect field setter,
breeding Gordon and Irish setters to Lavarack's stock. Though
he never got exactly what he wanted, many others were delighted
with his dogs, and Llewellyn setters were among the top-winning
field trial dogs of his day.
Coming
to America
English
setters were introduced to America in the mid-1800s. Indeed,
the first dog listed in the American Kennel Club Stud Book,
which was published initially in 1879, was an English setter.
From the time they arrived in this country English setters
have enjoyed an enthusiastic, though small, following. Many
English setter breeders feel the breed's relative scarcity
has been a blessing because it has helped to keep English
setters smaller than the demand and, with few exceptions,
to keep English setters out of pet shops and animal shelters.
In 1995 English setters ranked 83rd in new registrations among
the 140 breeds then recognized by the American Kennel Club.
A total of 938 English setters from 201 litters, an average
of nearly five pups per litter, were registered in 1995.
Form
Follows Function
The original
function of the English setter, bird hunting, dictated his
structure. He is built for running and endurance, with a deep
chest and well-sprung ribs to give him plenty of lung room.
His long, lean neck and streamlined body help to create a
look of elegance in the setter, who is further characterized
by square, brick-on-brick shaped head with a squared muzzle.
The setter
is most agile and athletic, able to turn on a dime at a full
gallop. His strong legs and long stride allow him to devour
distance. Ask English setter owners to name the most beautiful
sight in the world, and they will say it is a setter running
free through an open field with his ears steaming, feather
flowing and pennant tail waving behind.
Maintenance
Companion
dogs must be brushed thoroughly every week to remove mats
and should be bathed about once a month. Use a natural bristle
brush on the body to remove loose hairs and to promote shine.
Use a pin brush or slicker brush in the feathers to separate
the hair and to remove tangles. Clippers are another fundamental
grooming tool if an owner plans to keep a setter's coat trimmed
for easy maintenance. Many setter owners who may not have
the time, skill or patience to groom their own dogs find it
more convenient to take them to a groomer once a month or
so.
A setters
toenails should be clipped about once a week, and his teeth
should be brushed weekly to remove tartar. As with any drop-eared
dog, the setter's closed ear canal can harbor dirt, wax and
bacteria. Owners should look inside their setter's ears each
week (or whenever a dog is scratching at its ears). Most of
the time, everything will be fine. Occasionally, a dark, waxy
buildup or a foul odor can be detected. That is the signal
to get out the ear cleaner and cotton balls. Pour a few drops
of ear cleaner into the ear canal, fold the outside flap of
the ear over the ear opening and massage gently at the base
of the ear next to the skull. Then wipe out the debris with
a cotton ball.
Show dogs
need daily brushing and weekly baths, and most breeders recommend
a fatty acid coat supplement to give the coat a gloss. Instead
of clipping the body, owners groom their show dog's back coats
by hand, using stripping knives and pumice stones. This sort
of grooming is an art that must be learned from an expert.
Keeping
Fit
English
setters must have regular, vigorous exercise for health and
happiness. Their owners should enjoy taking frequent long
walks with them. A fence yard, preferably a large, fenced
yard, is a must.
Aptitudes
and Attitudes
English
setters can be trained to do most anything other breeds do
except herding. (A setter would instinctively chase rather
than surround a flock.) They can master obedience exercises,
but training an English setter is more work than is training
some other breeds. Their temperament is "soft," that is, they
are very sensitive to criticism. If you tell your setter you
are unhappy with him, he will be so devastated that he will
not want to repeat the behavior that disappointed you.
Here's
the Deal
An English
setter has a mild expression and dark round eyes that could
melt the heart of Saddam Hussein. This breed's loving disposition
and agreeable nature are the stuff of which family ties are
made. In exchange for one or two square meals a day, frequent
romps and a chance to be with you, an English setter offers
loyalty and unconditional love. You can suffer a demotion
at the office, strike out with the bases loaded, gain 150
pounds stick your foot deep in your mouth or turn completely
gray and wrinkled, and your English setter will love you just
the same. That is a pretty good deal.
Inherited
Defects
The main
inherited genetic problems in English setters are hip dysplasia,
elbow dysplasia and deafness.
Canine
hip dysplasia: The hip joint is a ball and socket arrangement
in which the ball (the head of the femur bone) fits into the
socket (acetabulum). Ideally, the fit is tight, like putting
a tennis ball into a cup. Hip Dysplasia occurs when the cup-tight
fit does not exist, either because of a small femoral head
or a shallow socket. Dogs afflicted with hip dysplasia can
become increasingly lame until there is no choice but to euthanize
them. Selective breeding has reduced the incidence of hip
dysplasia in English setters from about 30 to 20 percent.
Like all genetic diseases, hip dysplasia is not well understood.
We do know, however, that the expression of the trait in dogs
with a genetic predisposition toward it can be inhibited by
nutrition, weight control and exercise. Persons interested
in buying an English setter should consider only those puppies
whose parents' hips have been certified free of dysplasia
as indicated by readings of hip x-rays by the Orthopedic Foundation
of America (OFA). The OFA grades hip x-rays, which must be
taken after a dog is at least two years old, as excellent,
good, fair, borderline or dysplastic.
Elbow
dysplasia: This disease is also caused by a less-than-ideal
fit between bone and joint, this time between the foreleg
and the upper arm. Lameness and pain characterize elbow dysplasia,
and affected dogs will be lame in one or both of their front
legs. Elbow dysplasia is often manifest sooner than is hip
dysplasia. English setter breeders have become aware of this
disease as a problem in the breed only recently, so very little
is known about the incidence or inheritance factors. Nutrition
and exercise play a role in its manifestation. Presence of
the disease can be confirmed by x-rays interpreted by the
OFA.
Deafness:
Congenital deafness seems to be linked to the gene that produces
the white color in both English setters and Dalmatians. About
10 percent of English setters are affected with bilateral
or unilateral deafness. Dogs that are deaf in both ears (bilateral)
are easy to diagnose and to remove from a breeding program.
Those that are deaf in only one ear (unilateral) hear well
enough to seem odd and eccentric, but their owners may not
know that their dogs' strange behavior is caused by deafness.
These dogs can hear sounds but seem to have trouble locating
their sources. Noises can easily startle or frighten them,
and this can cause them to be unreliable pets. Deafness can
be diagnosed by the Brainstem Auditory Emission Response (BAER)
test, available at veterinary schools and at large clinics,
in which electrodes are placed on the dog's head to record
the brain's response to a clocking sound in the ear. Puppies
can be tested as soon as they are old enough to go to the
vet's office. If a pup is found to have normal hearing after
being BAER tested, that pup will not develop deafness unless
he suffers an ear injury or an illness that affects hearing.
Again, people interested in English setters can maximize their
chances of getting a normal-hearing dog by choosing a puppy
whose parents can hear in both ears.
Where
to Find One
If you
would like more information about English setters, or if you
want the names of breeders near you, contact the English Setter
Association of America, Secretary Dawn Ronyak, 114 S. Burlington,
Oval Dr., Chardon, OH 44024; (216) 285-4581.
Vital
Statistics
The English
is the smallest of the three setters. Females stand, on average,
23 to 25 inches at the withers (shoulders). Males stand 24
to 26 inches. Females weigh between 45 and 55 pounds; males,
between 60 and 75.
To
the Rescue
Like nearly
all national breed organizations, the English Setter Association
of America has a committee whose responsibility is rescuing
English setters that end up in shelters, that lose their owners
by accident or through some disaster such as Hurricane Andrew,
that need to be wrested from irresponsible owners or that
are in some other type of distress. The national rescue chairperson
is Kathy Cunningham, 35 Boords Lane, Milford CT 06460; (203)
876-9885.
Jill
Warren is a writer and editor based in Santa Fe, NM. She
breeds, trains and shows English setters in conformation,
obedience and hunting.
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