The Irish Red Setter

Once used as a gun dog, the Irish Red setter is now known not only for his hunting abilities but also for his great temperament and his status as a family pet. Out of the Setter group, the Irish Red Setter is known as the oldest, they were alive a long time before the Gordon and the English setters. As the name suggests, the Irish setter is from Ireland, they think that the Irish Setter was developed from setting spaniels and a Scottish setter…but of course, there is no proof of that and there never will be. This was a breed born and bred to hunt, they have excellent noses! The only problem that has cropped up during the years has been the playful fun loving nature of the animal.

The very first official breed club for the Irish Setter was formed in 1882, it was founded in Dublin; back in those days, you could still find white and sometimes even black in the coats of the show winners, something that was inherited from the Red Setter’s cousins: the Gorgon Setter and the Red and White Setter. However, this is not very likely to see in dog shows these days.

This is a breed that loves its independence, so if you ever want your dog to come back to you when it gets out, early training in obedience is a must for this breed; they are easily distracted and so enthusiastic that they just might not come back. Harsh training is not recommended with the Red Setter because of their sensitive natures…you could leave a mark on their souls that will never come out; nobody wants a dog that cowers in the corner when his owner gets too close and that is precisely what will happen if harsh training methods are used.

This is a dog that is slow to mature in a physical and a mental sense, so even if they are stubborn and hardheaded, they should not be pushed to do too much before they are ready. The Red Setter is a playful breed that is known for its happy attitude and its joy for living…this is a dog that would probably die if it did not get to play and run itself to death every day…out of all, the setter breeds the Red Setter is the one the has the most endurance.

This is a breed that loves children and human companionship; they get along excellent with other dogs. Affectionate and attention loving, the Red Setter is not the dog to have if you live in an apartment or if you are not willing to give it the necessary exercise it needs every day…like any breed of dog when it gets bored, they will become destructive if there is no other outlet for their energy.
These dogs are anything but aggressive, they love people and are terrible guard dogs and only O.K. watch dogs, with the right kind of person working with them, they can be trainable.

The Irish setter came to the United States in the early 1800’s; he won instant respect from the part of the hunters because of his great working ability in the field. Back then the Irish setter was not the red dog that we know today, the Irish setter was a dog that was both red and white, unfortunately the pure red variety was the one that was preferred in the show ring so the red and white Irish setter was slowly pushed out to near extinction. Today there are two varieties of Irish setter; there is the Irish setter (the Red One) and there is the Red and White Irish Setter which is not recognized by the AKC and then there is the Red Setter which is another story altogether. All because the people that first had this beautiful dog in their hands, did not have the responsibility necessary to keep and preserve the breed when it first came from Ireland.

Whenever looking for a pure bred puppy always look up a breeder that has a good reputation in your area, these are people that should care about their dogs and they should be able to provide health certificates and guaranties along with their puppies.