Quick Links: Table of Contents
- Irish Setter Breed Overview
- History of the Irish Setter Breed. Where Irish Setters came from
- What the Irish Setter Looks Like
- How Much is the Irish Setter Puppy?
- Best Irish Setter Breeders
- Irish Setter Growth
- The Temperament of the Irish Setter
- How Long Irish Setters Live
- Irish Setter Litter Size
- How Fast Irish Setters Can Run
- Good Names for Irish Setters
- How Intelligent are Irish Setters?
- How Popular are Irish Setters with New Dog Owners?
- Health Problems in Irish Setters and How to Prevent Them
- How to Take Care of Irish Setter
- Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Irish Setters
- Other Things to Know About Irish Setters
Irish Setter Breed Overview
The Irish Setter is a large-sized dog.
The adult Irish Setter stands 2 feet, 1 inch to 2 feet, 3 inches tall at the sho.
The Irish Setter belongs to the Sporting Dogs group.
Dogs in the Sporting Dogs group, like the Irish Setter, were bred to help hunters catch and retrieve feathered game. Some sporting dog breeds such as Retrievers, which were built for swimming, were bred to hunt waterfowl in water.
Whereas sporting dog breeds like setters, spaniels, and pointing breeds were bred to hunt quail, pheasant, and other game birds nest on grasslands.
Many Sporting Group breeds have thick, water-repellent coats that protect them from harsh hunting conditions.
The fact that the Irish Setter belongs to the Sporting Dogs group is one of the reasons why Irish Setters have the personality and temperament that they have.
The temperament of the Irish Setter is generally described as:
- Affectionate
- Companionable
- Energetic
- Independent
- Lively
- Playful
History of the Irish Setter Breed. Where Irish Setters came from
The Irish Setter`s origins can be traced back to Ireland, where hunters crossed Pointers, flushing Spaniels, other Setters, and possibly Bloodhounds to create an effective gundog capable of pointing, tracking, and retrieving game birds.
The Irish Setter had shorter legs and a bicolor coat of red and white in the 1700s.
The coat became solid white or the distinctive red mahogany color that is the signature of the modern breed in the nineteenth century.
The red was so popular that the Earl of Enniskillen declared in 1812 that he would only have these in his kennels, and the color became the standard in the United States.
The Irish Setter became well-known as a game bird hunter in Ireland.
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What the Irish Setter Looks Like
The Irish Setter is a graceful and elegant dog with a body built for agility and speed.
The Irish Setter is a long and lean dog that is slightly taller than it is tall.
The long head is gracefully sculpted, with a lean muzzle, alert brown almond-shaped eyes, and extraordinarily long and soft ears that hang close to the head.
The jaws are roughly equal in length, and the teeth fit together tightly.
While the Irish Setter`s slender and elegant build lends him agility while hunting and admiration in the show ring, the breed`s distinctive red coat has become its trademark.
A solid chestnut or mahogany red coat is the standard.
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How Much is the Irish Setter Puppy?
The average price of a Irish Setter puppy is $1680. The price of a Irish Setter puppy ranges from $1200 to $2200.
A lot of factors determine the price of the Irish Setter. These factors include what health records the Irish Setter puppy has, the lineage of the Irish Setter puppy, the US state the breeder is located in, etc.
To estimate how much you can expect to pay for a puppy Irish Setter based on the many factors that determine the price of the Irish Setter puppy, check out our calculator that lets you estimate how much you should expect to pay for the Irish Setter puppy based on what you want in the puppy.
When looking to buy a puppy, look at buying a puppy only from well-established breeders that breed puppies primarily for the love of the Irish Setter breed, and secondarily for profit. Do not buy a puppy from a puppy mill. Puppy mills mass-produce puppies in bad living conditions for maximum profit.
You may also consider adopting instead of buying a puppy. Adoption costs are very low compared to the price of a puppy.
Best Irish Setter Breeders
We have researched reputable Irish Setter breeders that you can buy a puppy.
Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Irish Setter breeders in various states in the United States.
On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.
A few of these breeders are listed below.
Karin Cushaway
Puppy Price: $1200.00
Magnolia Acres
Puppy Price: $1500
Clifton Bauman
Puppy Price: $2000.00
Rey Mora
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
River Brittanys
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Irish Setter Growth
New Irish Setter owners need to know about the growth of their Irish Setters. This will help them plan their living spaces accordingly.
Also, knowing the typical growth pattern of the Irish Setter will help new owners catch the abnormal growth of their Irish Setter early.
See our calculator for predicting how big your Irish Setter puppy will get. You will also learn about the typical weight of the Irish Setter at different ages and how to catch abnormal growth in your Irish Setter
The Temperament of the Irish Setter
The temperament of the Irish Setter based can be summarized as in the table below.
The table shows the scores of the Irish Setter for 13 important dog behavioral factors.
We obtained these scores by analyzing raw data from the C-BARQ dog personality survey tool. The higher the score of a dog for a factor, the worse the temperament of the dog regarding that factor.
The C-BARQ tool was developed by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, and it is a scientific tool that is used worldwide for reliably measuring the temperament of dog breeds.
See our complete analysis of the temperament of the Irish Setter here.
| Factor | Score |
|---|---|
| Prey Drive | 64.1 percent |
| Energy Level | 56.6 percent |
| Attachment Attention Seeking | 53.0 percent |
| Owner Directed Aggression | 4.6 percent |
| Excitability | 39.1 percent |
| Dog Rivalry | 34.4 percent |
| Stubbornness | 30.5 percent |
| Stranger Directed Aggression | 28.0 percent |
| Touch Sensitivity | 23.8 percent |
| Dog Directed Aggression | 20.7 percent |
| Separation Related Behavior | 20.7 percent |
| Dog Directed Fear | 16.4 percent |
| Stranger Directed Fear | 11.7 percent |
| Nonsocial Fear | 1.1 percent |
How Long Irish Setters Live
The lifespan of the Irish Setter is typically from 11 to 15 years.
Moreover, a few years back, veterinarian researchers performed a scientific study to determine the lifespan of the Irish Setter. In this study, the scientists collected data on how long 451 pet Irish Setters lived.
From the study, it was found that Irish Setters have an average lifespan of 12 years. Furthermore, the study found that it is not uncommon for Irish Setters to live as long as 17.0 years.
Note that you need to put in some effort if you want your Irish Setter to live long.
Irish Setters live long if they eat well, drink well, exercise well, and visit the veterinarian regularly.
There are also dog supplements that you can give your Irish Setter to improve your Irish Setter`s quality of their life.
Click here to learn more about how to make your Irish Setter live long.
Irish Setter Litter Size
Researchers from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science did a study where they counted the numbers of puppies in 145 different Irish Setter birth litters.
From this study, the researchers found that the average number of puppies that Irish Setters can have is 7 puppies. Also, the Irish Setter can have as few as 1 puppies per litter and as many as 13 puppies per litter.
The number of puppies that the Irish Setter will have depends on factors such as the age of the Irish Setter, the method of pregnancy, etc.
Click here to see our calculator for predicting how many puppies your Irish Setter will have and how the litter size of the Irish Setter compares to the litter size of other dog breeds.
How Fast Irish Setters Can Run
How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.
Based on our analysis of the speeds of 64 different Irish Setters, the average speed of the Irish Setter is 23.1 mph (37.3 kmph).
The fastest speed on AKC record that the Irish Setter ran in a race is 27.26 mph (43.9 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Irish Setter is 12.05 mph (19.4 kmph).
Click here to see how the speed of the Irish Setter compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.
Good Names for Irish Setters
Here are some really good names that are typical for the Irish Setter ranked by popularity:
- Triton
- Rory
- Alvie
- Oliver
- Sir
- Triton
- Conan
- Kahlua
- Cullen
- Jim
How Intelligent are Irish Setters?
| Irish Setter | |
|---|---|
| Intelligence Rank | 35 out of 130 dog breeds |
| Trainability | Tend To Learn New Commands After 15 To 25 Repetitions |
According to Prof. Stanley Coren, a Canadian psychology professor/dog trainer, the total intelligence that a dog demonstrates is the addition of three types of intelligence. These intelligence types are:
- Instinctive Intelligence: This is the natural intelligence that comes from instinct. For example, dog breeds that have been historically bred to be guard dogs will have a high `guarding` intelligence compared to dogs that were not bred for guarding.
- Adaptive Intelligence (learning and problem-solving ability): This indicates what a dog can learn to do for himself or herself. Adaptive intelligence is specific to each dog, and not breed specific. You can improve your dog`s adaptive intelligence by investing time to train your dog.
- Working/Obedience Intelligence: This type of intelligence is breed-specific. Certain dog breeds tend to have higher working/obedience intelligence than some other breeds. This intelligence is the closest to what we might call school-learning ability and it is based upon what the dog can learn to do when instructed by humans. This type of intelligence can be measured for each dog breed and compared to that of other dog breeds.
Professor Stanley Coren measured and ranked the working intelligence of about 130 different dog breeds.
Prof. Coren found that the Irish Setter has an obedience intelligence rank of 35 out of 130 dog breeds. Thus, Prof. Coren put Irish Setters in the `Above Average Working Dogs` category.
This means that Irish Setters tend to learn new commands after 15 to 25 repetitions.
However, we should mention that a dog should not be judged based on its intelligence alone. There are other important factors you need to consider when deciding on which dog breed to get. These other factors include sociability, adorability, and compatibility of the dog breed with your lifestyle.
See the intelligence ranking of some other dog breeds below:
| Breed | Intelligence Rank |
|---|---|
| Border Collie | 1 |
| Standard Poodle | 2 |
| Golden Retriever | 4 |
| Australian Cattle Dog | 10 |
| Collie | 16 |
| Cocker Spaniel | 20 |
| Cardigan Welsh Corgi | 26 |
| Airedale Terrier | 29 |
| Welsh Springer Spaniel | 31 |
| Manchester Terrier | 32 |
| Affenpinscher | 37 |
| Curly-Coated Retriever | 41 |
| Kuvasz | 42 |
| Finnish Spitz | 43 |
| Scottish Deerhound | 47 |
| Skye Terrier | 55 |
| Bull Terrier | 66 |
| Shih Tzu | 70 |
| Basset Hound | 71 |
| Chow Chow | 76 |
How Popular are Irish Setters with New Dog Owners?
Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.
The graph below shows the popularity trend of the Irish Setter.
The popularity of the Irish Setter averaged over the years is Number 74 out of about 200 dog breeds.
Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.
Health Problems in Irish Setters and How to Prevent Them
Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.
The Irish Setter is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.
From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.
Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.
If you want a Irish Setter puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Irish Setter breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.
The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen Irish Setters for:
You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Irish Setters here.
How to Take Care of Irish Setter
To take good care of your Irish Setter, you need to make sure that you groom your Irish Setter regularly.
Secondly, you need to find a veterinarian in your area that will routinely check the health status of your Irish Setter regularly, and give you appropriate recommendations on your Irish Setter`s preventative care.
Thirdly, you need to commit some time to exercise your Irish Setter daily. Regular exercise helps improve the health and quality of life of your Irish Setter.
Also, you need to feed your Irish Setter high-quality dog food, and the food should be of the right amount to prevent your Irish Setter from getting overweight or underweight.
See our recommendations on what to feed the Irish Setter and how much food to feed the Irish Setter at different life stages.
Finally, you need to make sure that your Irish Setter has access to clean water all the time. See our recommendations on how much water your Irish Setter needs to drink at different ages.
Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Irish Setters
If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the Irish Setter.
We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Irish Setter:
- Curly-Coated Retriever (82 percent match with Irish Setter). Learn more about the Curly-Coated Retriever here.
- English Setter (83 percent match with Irish Setter). Learn more about the English Setter here.
- English Springer Spaniel (80 percent match with Irish Setter). Learn more about the English Springer Spaniel here.
Other Things to Know About Irish Setters
Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Irish Setter that you need to know about the Irish Setter breed: