Irish Setter

The Irish Setter is the glamorous redhead of the sporting world: a tall, elegant bird dog with a flowing mahogany coat and a personality that never quite grows up. It is affectionate with everyone, endlessly enthusiastic and built to run all day, which makes it a joy for active families, runners, hikers and hunters who want a dog in the middle of everything.

It is a poor match for sedentary homes, small apartments or people who expect a calm dog by age two; Irish Setters mature slowly and keep a puppyish exuberance well into middle age. Give one daily running room, training with a sense of humor and plenty of company and you get a sweet, forgiving companion that wags at strangers and bounces back from almost anything. Expect regular grooming to keep the coat free of mats and a lifespan of 12 to 15 years.

Setting dogs that crouched to mark game birds for the hunter's net were described in Britain as early as the 1500s, and by the early 1700s Irish landowners were breeding their own setter lines. These early dogs were mostly red and white. Over the 1800s breeders selected for solid red coats, which were easier to see on the moors, and the red-and-white type nearly vanished before being revived as a separate breed. A standard for the Irish Red Setter was adopted in Dublin in 1886.

Irish Setters reached the United States in the 1800s and were entered in the stud book in 1878, a recognition the AKC carried over when it formed in 1884, making the breed one of its earliest. The Irish Setter Club of America was founded in 1891. Show preference for a taller, heavier-coated dog gradually split the breed into show and field lines, and in the 1940s a group of sportsmen outcrossed to English Setters to restore working ability, creating the lighter Red Setter registered with the Field Dog Stud Book. A surge of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s has since cooled.

An Irish Setter is a tall, racy gundog with a long, lean head, a deep chest and a level topline that flows into a straight, feathered tail. Males stand 26 to 28 inches at the shoulder and weigh 65 to 75 pounds; females are 24 to 26 inches and 55 to 65 pounds. Field-bred dogs run smaller and lighter. The coat is silky and flat, short and fine on the head and front of the legs, longer on the ears, chest, belly, backs of the legs and tail, where it hangs in soft feathering. Color is a rich, glossy mahogany or chestnut red, sometimes with a little white on the chest, toes or a narrow blaze.

The Irish Red and White Setter is a separate, stockier breed with a predominantly white coat and red patches. The Gordon Setter is black and tan and heavier; the English Setter is white with speckling. A Golden Retriever has a thicker, wavier coat, a broader head and a very different outline.

Irish Setters are joyful, outgoing and demonstrably affectionate, with a rollicking energy that fills a house. Indoors a well-exercised adult lies happily at your feet and leans in for attention; an under-exercised one paces, counter-surfs and chews. They are not watchdogs. Strangers are greeted as friends, other dogs as playmates, and shyness or aggression is considered a serious fault. They bond closely with the whole family rather than one person and hate being left out.

Children are generally adored, though a bouncing 70-pound adolescent can flatten a toddler, and the breed's mouthy retrieving instinct means toys and socks will be carried around. Most Irish Setters live peacefully with cats they are raised with, but birds are another matter, and the hunting drive switches on the moment something flutters. They are sensitive dogs that take correction hard and respond best to good humor and patience.

Count on 60 to 90 minutes of vigorous exercise a day, ideally including off-leash running in a safe, fenced area, because a leashed walk barely counts for a setter. Jogging, hiking, swimming, retrieving and long games of chase with other dogs are ideal. Many thrive in field work, agility, rally, dock diving and canine freestyle, and they need the mental side as much as the physical: scent games, hunt-and-find and training keep the mind busy. Young dogs should not run hard on pavement or jump heavily until their growth plates close at around 18 months. Setters cope with cold well but overheat on humid days, so run early or late in summer and carry water.

• Daily off-leash running in a secure area, plus a walk

• Nose work and retrieving games for mental exercise

• Boredom shows as digging, chewing, barking and bolting out of doors

Irish Setters are intelligent and eager to please, but they are also easily distracted, slow to mature and famously scatterbrained in adolescence. They learn best in short, cheerful sessions with food, toys and plenty of praise; harsh handling makes them shut down or go silly. The biggest sticking point is recall, because a setter that catches a bird scent switches off its ears, so build recall with high-value rewards and a long line before trusting it, and never rely on it near roads. Jumping up and mouthing are common in young dogs and need consistent redirection. Housetraining is usually straightforward. Socialize puppies widely and expose them to crates and alone time early, since this is a people-focused breed that can develop separation anxiety. Obedience classes are worth it for the structure and the company. With patience, Irish Setters excel in field trials, hunt tests, obedience and agility.

The silky coat needs brushing two or three times a week with a pin brush and a comb, with extra attention behind the ears, under the armpits, on the chest and in the feathering, where mats and burrs collect. Daily brushing is easier during the heavier shedding of spring and fall. A bath every four to six weeks with a dog shampoo keeps the coat gleaming, and a light trim every month or two tidies the ears, feet and the hair around the neck; many owners learn to do this at home or book a groomer. Keep the ears clean and dry, checking weekly, because the long, heavy flaps trap moisture and setters are prone to ear infections. Trim nails every few weeks, brush teeth several times a week and check the feet for seeds and foxtails after walks in long grass. A wet setter is a muddy setter, so keep towels by the door.

Irish Setters usually live 12 to 15 years. The parent club's list of concerns includes hip dysplasia, autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism, two forms of progressive retinal atrophy (early-onset rcd1 and late-onset rcd4), canine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (CLAD), an immune disorder of puppies, epilepsy, hypertrophic osteodystrophy and panosteitis in growing dogs, and several cancers including osteosarcoma and lymphoma. Bloat, or gastric dilatation-volvulus, is a well-known emergency in this deep-chested breed; a restless dog that retches without bringing anything up needs a vet immediately. A gluten-sensitive enteropathy and laryngeal paralysis in older dogs are also reported.

Responsible breeders screen breeding stock with an OFA or PennHIP hip evaluation, OFA thyroid testing and DNA tests for PRA rcd1 and CLAD, with many adding rcd4 and eye exams. Ask your vet about preventive gastropexy if you are considering it and about thyroid checks as your dog ages.

Feed a complete, balanced diet for the dog's life stage, using a large-breed puppy formula so the frame grows steadily. Adults do best on two measured meals a day rather than one big one, which also lowers bloat risk. Irish Setters have fast metabolisms and many stay lean on more food than you expect, but the same dog can gain weight after neutering or when exercise drops, so judge by body condition: you should see a waist and feel ribs easily under the coat. Because of the bloat risk, avoid heavy exercise for an hour before and after meals, use a slow-feed bowl for gulpers and discourage drinking huge amounts at once. Dogs with the breed's gluten sensitivity do well on wheat-free diets chosen with a vet. Ask your vet before adding joint or skin supplements, and raise any chronic loose stools, since digestive upsets are not unusual.

An Irish Setter needs a house with a securely fenced yard or an owner who takes it running or to a dog park every day; apartments rarely work. They tolerate cold and snow cheerfully and need shade and water in heat. They are social dogs that do poorly alone for long hours and may bark, dig or chew out of loneliness, so daycare, a dog walker or a second dog helps. They are wonderful with children old enough to withstand enthusiasm, and friendly with visitors to the point of being useless as guards. Cats raised with them are usually fine; pet birds are not.

• Tell a sitter the dog is a flight risk through open doors and gates

• Recall is unreliable around birds; use a long line in open spaces

• Bring towels and a brush; the coat collects mud and burrs

• Alert sitters to the signs of bloat and your emergency vet's number

• President Nixon's Irish Setter, King Timahoe, lived in the White House from 1969 and was named for the Irish village of his ancestors.

• Walt Disney's 1962 film Big Red made the breed a household name and set off a popularity boom that peaked in the 1970s.

• Irish Setters were registered in 1878, six years before the AKC itself was founded, making them one of its oldest recognized breeds.

• The Irish bus company Bus Eireann uses a running red setter as its logo.

• Palmerston, a show dog of the 1860s, has been called the father of the modern breed, and most Irish Setters trace back to him.

• Setters get their name from the old habit of setting, or crouching, in front of birds so hunters could throw a net over the covey.