English Setter

The English setter is a beautiful medium-sized breed that belongs to the sporting group in general and guns in particular. Their history traces back to the 14th century with the spaniel as their forefathers. The setter separated from the spaniel and was established in the 19th century. Birds were their chief hunting game, and they are called setters because of the positioning of their body when they spotted their game on the ground. The hunters of old would use nets to catch their prey, switching to guns later on. You may find it difficult training English setter dogs outdoors, because birds might be too much of a distraction for them. Unless you’re in a secured outdoor area, do not let them off of their lead; they may conveniently not listen to your commands when they spot something that is more interesting and may decide to run free. Indoors they are fairly inactive, however.

The English setter has many admirable traits. They are intelligent, gentle, well-mannered, and they love people, especially children. But they can also be strong willed, so training English setter puppies must start early. Training must be firm, consistent and confident from the very beginning. You may find that a young puppy can be destructive if left alone for too long. Another puppy caution is to not exercise them over and above playing in the yard, as too much exertion as a youngster could lead to hip dysplasia later on in life. And owners must insist on training English setter puppies to do that which will be expected from them as adults. For example, if you do not want them to lie on furniture as an adult, then you should provide them with their own bed or piece of furniture on day one.

It may be their instinct to lead ahead of you while walking, because their job was to lead in front of the hunter, but you must insist that English setters heel beside you. If not, they could assume the alpha position, and behavior problems may develop. They are very athletic and therefore require lots of daily exercise. Their nature is to jump, so training English setter adults to run agility courses would be ideal, as well as being an excellent activity for the whole family. English setters have the natural ability to hunt, track, retrieve and point, but they cannot be trained to herd. Finally, you may find it a wee difficult to housebreak the English setter.