49 Fun Facts About English Setter

Alongside the English and two Irish setters, which black-and-tan breed completes the setter group?

The Gordon Setter, a black-and-tan Scottish breed, completes the setter group alongside the English, Irish Red and Irish Red and White Setters.

The flecks of colour on an English Setter's mainly white coat are known as what?

Small flecks of colour on a white coat are called ticking; in the English Setter the ticking is spread over the whole body rather than lying in heavy patches.

What term is used for the English Setter's speckled colour varieties, such as blue or orange?

Belton is the breed's own word for its flecked colour varieties, a 19th-century coinage used in every kennel club standard for the English Setter.

A white English Setter with black flecks is called what?

A white coat flecked with black is called blue belton, the grey-blue effect coming from black hairs mixed through the white; orange and liver beltons are named for their flecks.

What distinguishes a 'lemon' from an 'orange' English Setter?

Both are white with orange flecks; only the pigment differs.

The word Laverack coined for the flecked colours is also the name of what?

Laverack took his word for the flecked colours from a village in the far north of England, using it to describe his ideal flecking of the coat.

How tall can a male English Setter stand?

A male English Setter stands up to 27 inches (69 cm) at the withers, most falling between 25 and 27 inches, with females around 24 to 25 inches.

How does an English Setter carry its head when working, and why?

A working English Setter carries its head high to catch the airborne scent of birds, quartering upwind rather than following foot scent along the ground.

The long silky coat on the ears, legs, belly and tail of an English Setter is called what?

The long silky fringes on the ears, legs, belly and tail are called feathering; the breed standard wants it straight and flat, with a slight wave allowed but no curl.

The English Setter's standard temperament is summed up in what phrase?

The English Setter's temperament is summed up as 'Gentleman by Nature': intensely friendly, good-natured and especially happy around children.

How much daily exercise is recommended for an English Setter?

Up to two hours of daily exercise is recommended for the English Setter, an active gundog that nonetheless settles into a calm couch potato indoors.

Where does the English Setter rank in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs?

The English Setter is ranked 37th in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, placing it in his 'above average working dogs' group.

English Setters can be trained for almost any task another breed can do, with the exception of what?

Herding is the one job the English Setter is held to be unsuited for; otherwise the breed can be trained for almost any task, responding best to gentle positive reinforcement.

A 2024 UK study found what life expectancy for the English Setter?

A 2024 Italian study, by contrast, gave just 10 years, the same as the overall Italian figure.

What percentage of 701 English Setters tested by LSU in 2010 had congenital deafness?

A 2010 Louisiana State University study found congenital deafness in 12.4 per cent of the 701 English Setters it tested, using the BAER hearing test to identify affected dogs.

How did the term 'setter' arise?

The name comes from the dog freezing in a crouch, or 'set', when it found game; on command the setter then moved in to flush the birds.

Roughly how much does a male English Setter weigh?

A male English Setter weighs about 65 to 80 pounds (29 to 36 kg), with females lighter at around 45 to 55 pounds.

Which game birds is the English Setter classically used to hunt?

The English Setter is classically used on quail, pheasant and grouse, finding the birds by air scent and holding them until the hunter arrives.

What do trainers call a setter puppy that shows excitement and interest in birds?

Trainers call a puppy that shows excitement and interest in birds 'birdy'; most setters are born with the natural hunting instinct the term describes.

Writing in 1876, Arnold Burges called the pure-blooded English Setter the best animal for what?

In The American Kennel and Sporting Field (1876), Arnold Burges called the pure-blooded English Setter the best animal for American upland shooting.

The English Setter is believed to derive from the Spanish Pointer, the large Water Spaniel and which breed?

The English Setter is thought to descend from crosses of the Spanish Pointer, the large Water Spaniel and the Springer Spaniel, a mix that produced a dog able to find and hold game birds.

Which Latin work by John Caius, translated into English in 1576, described the setting dog?

John Caius's De Canibus Britannicis (1570), translated by Abraham Fleming as Of Englishe Dogges in 1576, described the setting dog among the hunting breeds of Tudor England.

What Latin name did Caius give the setting dog in 1576?

Caius called the setting dog Index, Latin for one that points out, because it betrayed 'the place of the byrdes last abode' to the hunter.

Which Englishman, born in 1800, developed the strain that gave the modern English Setter its appearance?

Edward Laverack (1800-1877) spent half a century fixing the strain that gave the modern English Setter its look, inbreeding from a single founding pair.

Which pair of dogs, bought from a Carlisle clergyman around 1826, founded Laverack's line?

Laverack's line was founded on Ponto and Old Moll, bought from the Reverend A. Harrison of Carlisle in the mid-1820s; Laverack inbred from the pair for decades.

Llewellin outcrossed Laverack's dogs with which bloodlines?

Llewellin outcrossed Laverack's setters with the Duke, Rhoebe and Kate bloodlines, producing the field-trial strain that carried his name.

What was Llewellin's personal strain called, inherited by William Humphrey in 1925?

Llewellin's own strain was known as Dashing Bondhu, after its foundation field champion of that name; William Humphrey inherited the dogs on Llewellin's death in 1925.

Who imported the first Laverack-line English Setter to America, in 1874?

C. H. Raymond of Morris Plains, New Jersey, brought the first Laverack-strain English Setter to America in 1874, four years before the breed entered the first AKC stud book.

The celebrated working setter Count Noble is commemorated at which institution?

Count Noble, the celebrated field-trial setter of the 1880s, was preserved by a taxidermist after his death and is displayed at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

Which Missouri town has a bronze statue of Jim the Wonder Dog, the Llewellin Setter with 'occult power'?

Marshall, Missouri, where Jim lived with owner Sam VanArsdale, has a memorial garden with a bronze statue of the dog that was said to understand commands in any language.

How many years in a row was Jim the Wonder Dog said to have picked the Kentucky Derby winner?

Jim was said to have picked the Kentucky Derby winner seven years running, his choices sealed in envelopes; a joint session of the Missouri Legislature once gathered to test him.

How do field-type English Setters typically differ from show-type dogs?

Field-type English Setters are smaller, with less feathering and more distinctive spotting: a lighter coat sheds burs more easily and bold spots make the dog easier to see.

How does the FCI classify the English Setter within Group 7?

The FCI places the English Setter in Group 7 (Pointing Dogs), Section 2, British and Irish Pointers and Setters; the UK Kennel Club puts it among the gundogs.

What is the highest UK title available to a setter?

Dual Champion, the highest UK title for a setter, is awarded only to a dog that is both a show Champion and a Field Trial Champion, a combination very few English Setters have achieved.

Which English Setter was the first gun dog to hold both show and field trial champion titles?

Bred by Laverack and sired by Dash 2nd, she was passed via Sam Lang to Llewellin, who ran her in field trials.

The English Setter won Best in Show at Crufts in 1964, 1977 and which other year?

Sh Ch Starlite Express at Valsett took Best in Show at Crufts in 1988, the breed's third win after 1964 and 1977.

What was remarkable about the English Setter that won Best in Show at Westminster in 1938?

As of 2013 he remained the only setter ever to win Westminster's top prize.

What was the name of the English Setter that holds American Kennel Club registration number one?

Adonis, an English Setter born in 1875 and owned by George E. Delano of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was entered as number one in the first AKC stud book.

How many sporting breeds were accepted as the AKC's first pure-bred registrations in 1878?

Nine sporting breeds, including the English Setter, made up the AKC's first pure-bred registrations in 1878, among them the Pointer, Irish Setter and Cocker Spaniel.

UK English Setter puppy registrations peaked at how many in 1974?

UK Kennel Club registrations of English Setter puppies peaked at 1,344 in 1974, at the height of the breed's post-war popularity in Britain.

Which country registered more than 14,000 English Setters in 2011?

Italy registered more than 14,000 English Setters in 2011, a reflection of the breed's popularity as a working gundog there, though that was down from 20,999 in 2002.

In the AKC's 2011 'year of the setters', where did the English Setter rank, up from 101st?

In 2011, which the AKC dubbed 'the year of the setters', the English Setter climbed from 101st to 87th in its registration rankings.

How does the standard say an English Setter's ears should be positioned?

The standard wants the ears set low, in line with the eyes, hanging close to the cheek in an elegant fold and covered with silky hair.

The English Setter's tail should be long enough to reach where?

The tail should be just long enough to reach the hock, carried as a smooth continuation of the topline and tapering to a fine point.

When netting replaced hawking, how did the hunter use the setter?

Guns became common in the mid-1600s, and setters then also had to be steady to shot.

Hunters may work how many setters together to triangulate a hidden bird's position?

Two or three setters may be worked together, each pointing from a different angle so the hunter can triangulate a bird hidden in tall grass or low shrubs.

A blue or liver belton English Setter with tan markings on face, chest and legs is called what?

Tan points on the muzzle, chest and legs of a blue or liver belton make a tricolour; the flecks should be spread all over the body rather than in large patches.

In 2012, why did the Kennel Club list the English Setter among its Vulnerable Native Breeds?

Registrations edged back up to 314 that year, moving the breed to the 'At Watch' list, but a fall to 289 in 2015 returned it to the vulnerable list for 2016.

What share of 747 English Setters examined for an OFA listing (1974-2012) had autoimmune thyroiditis?

Autoimmune thyroiditis was found in 26.2 per cent of the 747 English Setters in the OFA's 1974-2012 listing, among the highest rates of any breed.