The English Setter is a medium to long haired gun dog that has been used for hunting game birds such as grouse, pheasant, and quail. When tracking birds, they hold their head up, because bird scent is airborne. They generally do not pick up walking scent.

These Setters love to point – as can be seen in the video below. They are strong willed and mischievous – as I have seen with a relative’s dog (called Percy).

Puppies often start out mainly white, then develop the blue, tan or liver markings later. Show dogs generally are bred to have more of a coat, and are slightly more solid than working dogs. They love people and lots of attention, especially long walks or runs because they are – and need to be, energetic.

On training, Wikipedia notes English Setters “are not always easy to train, as their natural bird instinct tends to distract them in outdoor environments”

So you think English Setters are Bird Dogs! Well, not quite, as this video shows!

English Setter camouflaged as a plant.

english-setter

Puppies – pointing is just natural for them. These baby English Setters are just 11 weeks old. Notice they have very little coloring – that comes later.