English Setter vs English Springer Spaniel

An English Setter
Photo: Rjgunn007
An English Springer Spaniel
Photo: Kruming

Side by side

English Setter
English Springer Spaniel
Adult weight
Males 29–36 kg (65–80 lb); females 20–25 kg (45–55 lb) (breed club figure)1
Males 22–25 kg (49–55 lb); females 18–22 kg (40–49 lb) (breed club figure)2
Height
Males 65–69 cm; females 61–65 cm (breed club figure)1
Males 48.3–53.3 cm; females 45.7–50.8 cm3
Lifespan
Median 13.1 years4
Median 13.5 years4
Fully grown
12 months, both sexes5
10 months, both sexes5
Group
Pointing dogs6
Retrievers & water dogs7
Coat
Long coat6
Coat with feathering7
Shedding
Sheds through the year
Grooming
Daily brushing
Brushing a few times a week
Exercise
Plenty
Health
No sourced figure
Insulin-secreting pancreatic tumour (more likely); Elbow joint disease (more likely)8,9
Class
Field
Field

Which suits you

Size
The English Setter is a little larger on average: about 28 kg (61 lb) as an adult, against 22 kg (48 lb) for the English Springer Spaniel.
Grooming
The English Setter needs more grooming, daily brushing, where the English Springer Spaniel needs brushing a few times a week.
Temperament
They differ most on independence (English Setter: cooperative, with its own ideas; English Springer Spaniel: keen to work with you) and on intelligence (English Setter: learns readily, likes games; English Springer Spaniel: needs daily brain work).
Alike
Both are rated the same on affection: a lap or leaning dog.
Neither is the better dog in general. Which suits you depends on your home, your days and the care you can give.
Take the breed matcher

What they're like

English Setter
Pointing dogs · Large

In temperament the English Setter is gentle, affectionate and sociable, and usually friendly with strangers and other dogs.

English Springer Spaniel
Retrievers & water dogs · Medium

In temperament it is friendly, eager to please and busy, and it thrives when it has work to do.

The English Setter page →The English Springer Spaniel page →

Breed traits

Day to day
English Setter
English Springer Spaniel
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Differs
Learns readily, likes games
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs steady training
Needs steady training
With people
English Setter
English Springer Spaniel
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Bonded to its family
Independence
Differs
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Keen to work with you
Around the home
English Setter
English Springer Spaniel
Sensitivity
Differs
Needs a calm, predictable home
Average
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Differs
Likely to chase small pets
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour10. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home11,12.

Puppy growth

Reference curves · both sexes
The English Setter grows to the heavier adult, about 28 kg against the English Springer Spaniel's 22 kg.
English Setter
English Springer Spaniel
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More comparisons

Compare the English Setter with
English Cocker Spaniel vs English Springer SpanielBrittany vs English Springer SpanielBoykin Spaniel vs English Springer SpanielEnglish Setter vs Irish SetterEnglish Springer Spaniel vs Golden RetrieverEnglish Springer Spaniel vs Field SpanielAll breed comparisons →

Sources

Parts of this page were written by AI ·