Irish Setter Forum:
Does the Irish Setter still hunt????

I read over this message board and was amazed... not a word on the Irish Setter being a bird dog. The board is full of people wanting nothing more than a pet, or a showdog. Are there not breeders around anymore that are actually trying to IMPROVE the breed? I just dont get it... a couple of hundred years goes into breeding a fine bird dog and now people want to destroy the breed making them nothing more than coach potatoes or balls of fur for the show ring. What a sad demise to a great dog.

You`re correct in recognizing that the Irish was once the bird dog of choise. The show people started breeding only for looks and almost bred the hunt out of the breed. Luckly a few men decided the field Irish needed to be saved and today there are field bred red dogs competing successfully with all breeds in field trials. These dogs are great pets as they are not high strung and want to please. We call them red setters to differentiate them from their show cousins.

Generally these dogs are smaakler, move with a much smoother gait and have a coat with less feathering than the show dogs.

If I can answer any other questions you can reach me at Birddog77@aol.com.

Joe