English Setter

The English Setter gets their name from the way they sit (or set) when they find game. They would sit by the game until their master was able to net the bird. They are also good pointers and hunters, which is believed to be due to their mixed breeding back in the 1600s. This was presumably done because of the use of guns for hunting, so the dog could point rather than sit by the game. According to the American Kennel Club, this attractive canine is a mix of Springer Spaniels, Large Water Spaniels, and Spanish Pointers, in combination with the Setter background. The name of the flecks in the fur (belton) come from the town where the man (Edward Laverack) who started this breed hunted. The flecks in the white fur can be blue and tan, blue, lemon orange and liver colored. Edward Laverack began the breed in 1825 and it is this bloodline that all English Setters are based on. Another man who influenced the development of this dog was Purcell Llewellin, who was a breeder who got his dogs from Mr. Laverack. Mr. Llewellin crossed his dogs with other English Setters that were known for their field capabilities and these dogs were then imported to the United States. It is Mr. Laverack’s English Setters that are the foundation for the show dogs, and Mr. Llewellin’s dogs that are known for their field capabilities. They are now classed as a sporting dog with the American Kennel Club and a gun dog with the United Kennel Club. They have been a registered breed with the AKC since 1884.