Irish Setter Dog Breed Characteristics

Country of origin: Ireland.

Utilization: Gundog and family dog.

FCI Classification: Group 7 Pointing Dogs. Section 2 British and Irish Pointers and Setters. With working trial.

General Appearance Irish Setter: elegant, athletic, and good-natured.

Behavior/Temperament: cheerful, active, intelligent, faithful and affectionate.

Head: long and lean. Muzzle and skull are of equal length. Stop is well defined.

Skull: oval; occipital protuberance well pronounced. Superciliary arches are developed.

Muzzle: long, moderately deep and almost square at the end. Flews are not saggy.

Nose: big with wide nostrils. The color of nose is black, dark mahogany or dark walnut.

Jaws/Teeth: strong, straight; Jaws are nearly equal length. Scissor bite.

Eyes: middle size, not too large. Color of eyes is dark brown or dark hazel.

Ears: moderate size, are covered with soft wool, set low and well back, hanging in a neat fold close to head.

Body: harmonious and proportion.

Neck: moderately long, muscular, not too thick, slightly arched without dewlap.

Chest: deep, quite narrow in front; ribs well sprung.

Loins: muscular and slightly arched.

Tail: medium length, located low, thick at the base and tapering towards the end, covered with long wool.

Forequarters: straight and sinewy, well boned.

Shoulders: Fine at the point, deep and sloping well back.

Elbows: Free and well let down, not turned in or out.

Hindquarters: long and muscular from hip to hock; from hock to heel short and strong.

Thighs: wide and strong.

Knee-joint: well bent.

Hocks: turned neither in or out (don’t turn up out or inside).

Feet: small; Pads of paw very firm; Toes: strong, well arched and close together.

Movement: free, head is held high.

Coat is stiff and thick, without undercoat. It is short and fine on the head, front of legs and tips of ears. On other parts of body and legs of moderate length, straight without curl or wave.

The fringe on the top of ears is long and silky; on back and hind legs is long and fine; wool on the belly reaches chest and throat. Feet are feathered well between toes. Tail has moderately long fringe. All feathering is straight.

Size of Irish Setter:

• Height at withers: Males 23 to 26.5 ins (58-67 cm); Female 21.5 to 24.5 ins (55 cm-62 cm)
• Weight: Males 65 to 75 lb (29 to 34 kg); Females 55 to 65 lb (25 to 29 kg)

Life Span: 10 to 11 years

Faults: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness of the fault should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Disqualifying faults:

• Aggressive or overly shy dogs.
• Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
• N.B.: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
• Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding.

Irish Setter Colors

• Chestnut
• Mahogany
• Red

Irish Setter coat should be monochrome without black spots. White color on chest, throat, toes; small star and narrow streak on forehead are not disqualifying.