English Setter Dog Breeds
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Height at the withers: Males 65 – 69 cm, Females 61 – 65 cm
Average weight: Males 25 – 36 kg, Females 20 – 23 kg
The English Setter is an elegant, glamorous dog that epitomises grace, stamina and strength. They boast a very clean profile with working setters having a slightly lighter build. They carry heads high which adds to their elegant appearance and their heads are long and lean boasting a very definite stop. They have oval shaped skulls with moderately deep, square muzzles. Their noses are either black or liver, but this depends on the colour of a dog’s coat.
English Setters have bright and very expressive, oval eyes that can be anything from hazel to a dark brown. However, the darker their eyes are the better. The only time a lighter eye is acceptable is in liver beltons. Their ears are moderately long and set low on a dog’s head and they hang neatly close to a dog’s cheeks. The tips are velvety to the touch whereas the upper part is covered in silky, fine hair.
Their mouths are strong with dogs boasting a perfect scissor bite where their upper teeth neatly overlap their lower ones. The English Setter has a long, lean and muscular neck which dogs hold slightly arched. Their shoulders are well laid back or oblique and dogs have a deep chest with lots of width in between their shoulder blades. Front legs are long, straight, well-developed and extremely muscular.
Their body is moderately long with dogs boasting quite a short, level back and well-rounded ribs. The English Setter has wide, slightly arched loins and very muscular strong back legs with well-developed second thighs. Their feet are tight and nicely padded with arched toes protected by hair that grows in-between them. Their tail is set in line with their back and is moderately long which dog’s carry curved showing off any feathering found on the underside of it. Their tails are thicker at the base but they taper towards the tip.
When it comes to their coat, the English Setter boasts a slightly wavy one that’s made up of silky, long hair. They have breeches and their front legs are well feathered all the way down to a dog’s feet. The accepted colours for Kennel Club registration are as follows:
- Black & White
- Black White & Tan
- Blue & White
- Blue Belton
- Blue Belton & Tan
- Lemon & White
- Lemon Belton
- Liver & White
- Liver Belton
- Liver White & Tan
- Orange & White
- Orange Belton
- Tricolour
Dogs should have flecked coats rather than heavy markings or patches which is more acceptable as a breed standard.
Gait/movement
When an English Setter moves, they do so gracefully with a free-moving action which gives the impression of them having a good turn of speed and stamina. They move freely from the hock with a lot of drive in their hindquarters. When seen from behind, their hips, stifles and hock joints move in line with each other and dogs always have a high head carriage.
Faults
The Kennel Club frowns on any exaggerations or departures from the breed standard and would judge the faults on how much they affect a dog’s overall health and wellbeing as well as their ability to perform.
Males should have both testicles fully descended into their scrotums and it is worth noting that a dog can be a little lighter or heavier as well as slightly taller or shorter than set out in the Kennel Club breed standard which is given as a guideline only.