English Setter

Gentle and usually friendly with all; slow to mature.
An English Setter
Photo: Rjgunn007
Adult male
29–36 kg
65–80 lb
Adult female
20–25 kg
45–55 lb
Lifespan
13.1 yrs
Class · Field
also Family, Companion

What it's like

In temperament the English Setter is gentle, affectionate and sociable, and usually friendly with strangers and other dogs. It keeps a strong instinct for finding birds and plenty of stamina, and is often slow to mature. The Kennel Club has at times listed it as a vulnerable native breed.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Needs a calm, predictable home
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Likely to chase small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
Is an English Setter right for you?
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Living with one

It has a long coat. It sheds through the year rather than in big seasonal moults. Plan on daily brushing. It needs plenty of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

An English Setter is a large dog, about the weight of a grown Golden Retriever. Males end up clearly heavier than females. It is one of the lightest large breeds.

The breed is elegant and athletic, with a long, lean head, dark eyes and a flat, silky coat. Feathering runs along the ears, chest, legs and belly, and along the tail, which is carried level and known as the flag. The coat is flecked with colour, a pattern called belton, a name Laverack is said to have taken from a village in Northumberland. It comes in blue, orange, lemon and liver, or as a tricolour.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male English Setter puppy is already as heavy as a grown Border Collie. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old. Most males grow into the size large-breed puppy foods are made for.
Fully grown
12 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight8
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
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0102030402m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
6.2–7.6 kg 13.7–16.8 lb
4.9–6.0 kg 10.8–13.2 lb
3 months
9.3–11.5 kg 20.5–25.4 lb
7.0–8.5 kg 15.4–18.7 lb
4 months
13.8–17.0 kg 30.4–37.5 lb
9.9–12.1 kg 21.8–26.7 lb
5 months
17.7–21.7 kg 39.0–47.8 lb
12.6–15.3 kg 27.8–33.7 lb
6 months
21.1–26.0 kg 46.5–57.3 lb
14.7–18.0 kg 32.4–39.7 lb
7 months
23.8–29.3 kg 52.5–64.6 lb
16.3–19.9 kg 35.9–43.9 lb
8 months
25.8–31.7 kg 56.9–69.9 lb
17.4–21.3 kg 38.4–47.0 lb
9 months
27.1–33.4 kg 59.7–73.6 lb
18.3–22.3 kg 40.3–49.2 lb
10 months
27.9–34.4 kg 61.5–75.8 lb
18.8–23.0 kg 41.4–50.7 lb
11 months
28.4–35.0 kg 62.6–77.2 lb
19.2–23.5 kg 42.3–51.8 lb
12 months
28.7–35.4 kg 63.3–78.0 lb
19.5–23.8 kg 43.0–52.5 lb
15 months
29.2–35.9 kg 64.4–79.1 lb
20.1–24.6 kg 44.3–54.2 lb

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical English Setter lived to about 13 years, longer than the typical large breed.

Where it comes from

Two 19th-century breeders made the modern English Setter: Edward Laverack, who from 1825 bred selectively from a pair of blue belton setters, and Richard Purcell Llewellin, who crossed Laverack's dogs with Gordon, red-and-white and the now-extinct Llanidloes setters. Behind both stood an older estate gundog, bred to sit, or set, when it found birds10,11.

The English Setter's later history is one of divergence. Laverack's line became the basis of the show type, while Llewellin's dogs excelled at field trials, and his name passed to a lighter, faster working strain, especially in the United States. Show setters today are heavier-boned and fuller-coated, while working setters are leaner and quicker. Early setters crouched on finding game so that a net could be drawn over the birds. Once shooting replaced netting, they held a point for the gun instead.

Breed standard

The English Setter is judged against standard no. 2, in group 7, Pointing Dogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured English Setter figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a large breed is most likely at the later end.

Compare with related

English Springer Spaniel
Retrievers & water dogs · Medium
Irish Setter
Pointing dogs · Large
Gordon Setter
Pointing dogs · Large
Pointer
Pointing dogs · Large
Or compare the English Setter with any breed you choose
Track your own English Setter
Log a minute a day and watch them sit on these curves. Free.

Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·