6h • Breed of the Week
Irish Setter
The Irish Red Setter showed up in the early 18th Century and is the result of a mix that likely consisted of: English and Gordon setters, spaniels and pointers. They were bred to be a hunting dog and would point and freeze at game using their snout and would hold position, i.e. be set at the prey. Some early forms of the breed were trained to either sit or lie down in the direction of the game.
The original Irish Setter was red and white although the mahogany (so fancy sounding) or chestnut brown are the desired coat color for the Irish Setter while the red and white counterparts are now their own distinct breed. In 1882 the Red Setter Club was formed and shortly after a breed standard was established. The red and white setters were then seen as cross breeds as the red setters gained popularity.
After WWI the red and white setters were near extinction. Thanks to a Presbyterian minister named Rev. Huston and his cousin Dr. Elliot, they found a few remaining red and white setters not to far and began breeding them. Rev. Huston was alone in his desire to reinvigorate the breed and the decades between wars did not help. It was not until the end of this life that a woman named Maureen Clarke nursed a sick red and white setter puppy back to health and bred her to one of Rev. Huston’s males.
There are working and show lines of the Irish Red Setter and an easy way to tell which one is which is with coat density. The show line has a thicker and longer coat while the working line has a thinner and shorter coat. It is thought to help with thermoregulation and collecting vegetation in the fur while out in the field.
In 1962 the Walt Disney movie called “Big Red” debuted and the breed’s popularity went from 4,000 AKC registrations to 60,000+ per year. Due to the “demand” low moral breeders jumped on the trend and in no time at all bred the “…brains and hunting instinct out of what had once been a glorious breed in the field.” The Irish Red Setter gained a new nickname “Irish airheads” during this time. Thankfully for the quality of the breed the trend died down, registrations went down to just above 3,000 pups per year and responsible and genuinely passionate advocates for the breed were the ones solely responsible for the breed once again.
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Irish Setter
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