# Upland dog or waterfowl?



## flyfisherguy (Apr 27, 2006)

Does anyone know alot about irish setters? I'm looking into getting one. If you can leave any info at all that would be great.


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## Jared Vergeldt (Apr 4, 2006)

well not sure i can be a total help but my family had two when i was a kid. In talking to my dad about them, he had mixed feelings. First of all, they are gorgeous dogs. Ours could really run and often ran too much/too far in the field. But all in all my dad said they were good hunters. They were a bit high strung for his taste. Also from what i know they have had the hunting instinct almost completely bred out of them. They are so pretty, they are used primarily for pets and show dogs. But, if you do your research you can find a kennel that still has hunting reds. the show reds are larger and longer hair. Field reds are usually smaller with shorter coats. You'll have to really dig into finding one that has the hunting insticts. But they are out there.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

read this
http://www.brytestar.com/redsetr.htm

the irish setters are mostly show and bench bred not hunt oriented although some are good hunters mmany aren't.

Hunting stock is now referred to as "red" setters not Irish.

If you want to hunt you will find more good prospects looking at RED setter lines.

start here

http://www.nrsftc.com/The_Irish_Setter_ ... trials.htm

Most suck as waterfowl dogs by the way. But they will excell as pheasant and grouse dogs


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## wirehairman (Oct 31, 2005)

flyfisherguy,

Is this your first pointing dog? If so, I would highly recommend against looking for an Irish Setter. There are some great Irish/Red Setters out there, but it takes a lot of research and knowledge to find them. Stack the odds in your favor and look at some of the great English Setter lines in the the Northeast, if your stuck on a silky dog.

If not, I can sure point you in the direction of a nice ugly dog. :beer:


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## flyfisherguy (Apr 27, 2006)

I'd be willing to go out of the way to get one. :wink:


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## Jared Vergeldt (Apr 4, 2006)

try ironfire setters in MN or Irish Setter Club of America.
check those out on the net...should give you an idea.
Like i mentioned before-may be the prettiest dog under the sky.


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## jlunseth (May 7, 2005)

the irish setter people would not agree that hunting stock is now referred to as "red setter."

some years ago, to restore the dog to a field animal, one group of people wanted to do so by breeding to english setters. this was allowed by the American Field registry. the dogs were registered as "red setters."

another group of people decided to try restore the dog through selective breeding to a field type under the AKC breed club umbrella.

as it turned out, they were both pretty successful. there are some very nice dogs of both types, the red setters registered as AF and the irish registered AKC. you can get good dogs of either type.

the influence of the english setter on the red setter is now so long ago that few if any vestiges of that remain. sometimes you will see a white chest blaze, but then that also occurs sometimes with the irish setters.

like all dog things, there were some politics, and people who felt strongly only one of the two was the correct way to go.

however, you can get a nice hunting dog out of either type.

here is one source: http://www.brophysirishsetters.com/


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## flyfisherguy (Apr 27, 2006)

Anyone been to a feild show?(judged on point,flush etc.)?


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## flyfisherguy (Apr 27, 2006)

Thanks for the web pages, likewise jlunseth; gotta agree with ya jared, they are the most beautiful dogs i've seen.

Anyone heard of feild shows(dogs judged on point, flush, retriving etc.)


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