The English Setter is a gun dog that is popularly known for being an elegant and excellent game bird setter. It is in the same family with the Irish Red and White Setters, Irish Setters, and Gordon Setters, which are excellent hunting breeds as well. This dog is named as setter because of its almost sitting position when it finds a game bird to be hunted.

The English Setter is distinct for having a flat, silky and lightly wavy coat that gently wraps around its body. This coat is speckled with color combinations called “belton”. These are the blue belton (white with black specks), orange belton (white with orange specks), lemon belton (white with orange flecks and nose is light), liver belton (white with liver flecks) and tricolor (blue or liver belton with tan markings on face, chest and legs).

Its fairly long pendant ears, legs and tail are heavily fringed with the velvety hair. This coat accentuates the dog’s beautiful and slim figure that adds up to it looking elegant. The not too dense and not too sparse coat of the English Setter is perfect for it to feel comfort in both hot and cold temperatures.

There are two types of the English Setter and these are the hunting or field type and the bench or show type. The hunting type has a shorter coat which requires a little grooming while the show type has longer and more flowing coat that definitely requires more grooming. This dog is an average shedder and needs to be bathed or dry shampooed when necessary.

The English Setter is a gentle and sweet-natured breed that is excellent especially around children. It loves to please its master; it is calm and friendly that people call him a “gentleman by nature”. This breed is very intelligent and can do tasks that other dogs can perform except maybe herding.

This breed ranks 37th in Stanley Cohen’s the Intelligence of Dogs meaning that this breed is above average in terms of obedience and working intellects. This dog is very active and therefore needs to be given constant activities such as hunting and playing in a wide fenced yard. Daily exercise of this dog is composed of brisk walking, jogging or running.

This dog is easily trained but it has a stubborn and mischievous side to it as well. At times like this, it is best to remember that the English Setter is extremely sensitive to criticism and negative reinforcements. It often becomes fearful in repeating a behavior in fear of angering the master and therefore, you should only encourage this dog with positive and gentle remarks.

The English Setter is said to have come from 15th century France and came only to England in the 18th century. This dog originated from the crosses of the Spanish Pointer, Water Spaniel (large) and Springer Spaniel. There are two beautiful varieties of the English Setter today namely the Llewellin and Laverack, thanks to the two different fanciers named Edward Laverack and Purcell Llewellin.