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From the Inside Flap
Polite, friendly and good-natured, elegant in his remarkably coloured flecked coat and talented in the field as a hunter’s working companion, the English Setter, also known as the ‘gentleman’s gentleman’, is an all-round breed that is truly attractive in mind and body. A gundog that was originally intended for the specific task of assisting bird hunters in locating game, the English Setter possesses an even temperament and love of people, in addition to his natural beauty, that has made him a popular choice for a family pet and a competitor in the show ring. This book provides the much-needed factual information about the English Setter and its ancestry, character and standard, as well as proper selection, feeding, training, preventative health care and showing. The new owner will welcome advice about puppy-proofing the home, preparing for the pup’s arrival and preventing puppy problems. In addition to an extremely authoritative text, this book presents over !
135 photographs in full colour, which prove to be as informative as they are attractive. Helpful hints and important information are highlighted to provide easy access to everything the reader needs to know about life with an English Setter. Whether it’s basic training problems, allergies or fleas, this book is the way to prevention, providing the reader with the necessary guidance an owner needs from puppyhood through the senior years. Recommended by top breeders and trainers, this book is the responsible first choice of every new owner of an English Setter. Topics discussed include: History of the English Setter; Characteristics of the English Setter; The English Setter Breed Standard; Your English Setter puppy; Everyday care of your English Setter; Housebreaking and training your English Setter; Health care of your English Setter; Showing your English Setter.
Excerpted from English Setter (Pet Love Dog Breed S.) by Juliette Cunliffe. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
For centuries, Setters of one kind and another have been found with sportsmen, for the Setter is one of the oldest Gundogs and has developed over hundreds of years, with history dating back to the 14th century. Originally called a Setting Spaniel, this dog was usually worked on moorland where it quartered the ground in front of the hunter, looking for birds. The person credited with having been the first to train setting dogs was Robert Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who lived in the middle of the 16th century. The old name for the Setter was 'Index' and we certainly know that from the 16th century Setters were used for partridge and quail. From that time we read of this dog being 'serviceable for fowling, making no noise either with foote or with tounge, whilse they follow the game...either going forward, drawing backe ward, inclining to the right hand, or yealding toward the left, when he hath founde the byrde, he keepeth sure and fast silence, he stayeth his!
steppes and wil proceede no further, and with a close couert watching eye, layeth his belly to the grounde and so creepeth forward like a worme.' In 1655 Gervase Markham's 'Hunger's Prevention or the Art of Fowling' provided a further source of information about what a setting dog was, describing a dog whose duties in the field seem to have altered little since then. However, then the difference between Setter and Spaniel was not at all clear, the name 'Setter' applying only to dogs broken to set game, and not referring to any structural difference in the dog's shape or build.
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