English Setter

The English Setter dog breed is thought to have originated in England during the 1300s for the purpose of bird setting and retrieving. It wasn’t until 1825 when the effort to breed a pure stock was taken seriously and consequently produced the English Setters we know and love today.

Modern English Setters function as pointers on hunts or compete in pointing field trials. These dogs come in coat colors of lemon, liver, orange, black flecks over white, or black and tan flecks over white. The puppies are almost always born with pure white coats.

English Setter Dog Breed: Temperament

This lovable breed can be very relaxed and calm indoors and is great with children and other pets; however, this breed needs plenty of exercise in the form of a good run on the leash, or in the yard.

If their exercise needs are not met, you can expect to have more than a few broken vases due to boisterous, restless behavior.

English Setter: Health

As stated above, the key to a healthy, happy, and content English Setter is a lot of daily exercise. An hour to 1 1/2 hours should suffice.

They can do fairly well living as an outside dog, but this breed does best when kept indoors with the family. To keep the coat in tip top condition it will require a thorough brushing every other day, and a professional trim every two months.

Conditions that are commonly seen in this particular breed are canine hip displasia, deafness, hypothyroidism, and elbow dysplasia. Lesser seen conditions include progressive retinal atrophy and osteochondritis dissecans.

Most healthy Setters live to see 12 years of age.