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Your Pet, Our Passion.

English Setter

The English Setter is a large yet elegant breed, symmetrical and substantial in build. Epitomising grace, strength and stamina, their coats are long, flat, silky and well feathered.

Lifespan
10 – 12 years
Weight
27 – 36kg
Height
61 – 69cm
Colours
The rather old term ‘belton’ is used to describe their flecked colour patterning, which can be lemon, orange, liver or blue (black), or tricolour (a mix of blue belton and liver, or tan belton and tan) over a white background
Size
Large
UK Kennel Club Groups
Gundog
The need-to-know
  • Dog suitable for owners with some experience
  • Extra training required
  • Generally healthy breed
  • Enjoys vigorous walks
  • Enjoys more than two hours of walking a day
  • Large dog
  • Some drool
  • Requires grooming every other day
  • Quiet dog
  • Barks and alerts to visitors/anything unusual
  • Generally friendly with other dogs
  • Gets along with other pets with training
  • May need additional supervision to live with children
  • Needs a large garden
  • Can live in semi-rural areas
  • Can be left occasionally with training
Generally healthy breed

As with many breeds, the English Setter can suffer from:
- Hip dysplasia
- Elbow dysplasia 
- Deafness may occur as an inherited disorder and can be tested for from a young age.
- Atopy where the skin reacts to allergens in the environment and becomes sore and itchy.
- Ectropion which is a painful conditions where the eyelids turn outwards.
- Hypothyroidism¹ where the thyroid gland is underactive and does not product enough thyroid hormone. This can result in low energy levels, weight gain and skin problems.
 
Priority Kennel Club health schemes and testing: 
- Hip dysplasia screening scheme

¹ D. C. Ferguson, 'Testing for hypothyroidism in dogs', 2007, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice

Personality

The English Setter is a friendly, amiable natured dog that bonds well with family, though is likely to be a little more reserved with strangers. Less enthusiastic or exuberant than some of the Setter family, they are easy going with other dogs and household pets.  

They are slow to mature and care should be taken to socialise and habituate sensitively, and never overwhelm them or take their tolerant nature for granted.

Did You Know?

  • Even amongst litters of show bred puppies, their freezing crouching behaviour can be seen almost as soon as puppies can walk!
  • ‘Belton’ is a very old term for the flecked colour pattern the English Setters coat displays. It’s also seen on Welsh Cobs and Clydesdale horses. 
  • President Franklin D. Roosevelt owned around seven dogs while he was in the White House, one was an English Setter called Winks. 
  • The English Setter was once used as a status symbol and it was illegal for commoners to own one in the early 17th century, the nobles believed this was the best way to prevent the breed from becoming weak stock. 
  • English Setter’s are quite an old breed and can be traced back at least 400 years.