Page 19 - ShowSight Presents - The English Setter

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!nn Yuhasz is a second generation breeder-judge of English Setters. Her mother, Nancy Frey raised the breed in the 50’s and 60’s and was a judge of sporting and herding dogs. Ann has been raising ES since the early 60’s although has finally given up and left her breeding program in the hands of her daughter Rebecca Smith. Ann also raised Flat-Coated Retrievers and was in involved in English Cocker Spaniels. She is approved to judge the Sporting Group, half of the Herding Group, a few select terriers and Poodles. She has judged worldwide, many National Specialties and most major shows in the county including twice at the prestigious Westminster KC. She feels that dogs have been a thrilling ride and the most wonderful of sports! Ann and her husband now split their time between Chagrin Falls, OH and Key Largo, Florida with one, very spoiled Norfolk Terrier.
Thank you to the editors of ShowSight Magazine for highlighting the English Setter, a breed close and dear to my heart! I have been asked to comment from a judges’ perspective on ES. I found as I was assembling the following that I was more or less quoting the standard. My daughter, who now handles all the breeding, exhibiting and choosing of bitches and sires, asked why I was repeating the standard. Well, to answer her question, I believe that as a judge, one is required to judge to the standard. Yes, there is interpretation that varies from judge to judge but it is the standard that we must adhere to. So please keep this in mind.
To evaluate the English Setter, one must first understand the similarities and differences in the four setters. These differences arise from the purpose of each breed and why they were developed as individual breeds. All setters were bred as upland gun dogs (birds that
are either pointed or flushed on land) versus ducks or water birds. All setters originally were accompanied by the hunter on foot so worked the bird field fairly close and within shot range. Originally the dogs would find the birds and “set” or crouch and the hunters threw nets over the quarry and the dogs- thus the term “setters”. This concept is really important as you can imagine these dogs need to get down between their shoulder blades. The breed differences come mainly from country of origin and the terrain they hunted over as well as the breeds and breeders who develop each. The Irish and the Red and White, (think Ireland) come from rolling ground, the Gordon (think Scotland) from rugged craggy ground, and the English (think England) over moderate terrain. All these dogs well represent their owners and breeders as well, the Irish and Red and White with a rollicking personality, the Gordon with a more dour outlook and the English
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with a serious, dignified way. So if you start by thinking setter in general then you can begin to understand each breed. For the purpose of this article we will concentrate on the English.
We know that there were Irish- English crosses in the mid 1800’s. By the late 1800’s there were two distinct strains of English setters, the Lavarack and the Llewellyn, both named after the gentlemen who developed them, the first as the bench type or show dog, the second as the field type. Today- the modern Lavarack English is further away from that original dog than perhaps in the early 1900’s as we see a more stylish, trimmed animal that to the eye stands out in the ring. We will concentrate on this modern dog but do remember they both can hunt and they originally came from the same genetic stock.
The ES is a well-balanced, moderate, elegant gun dog but with no part to show exaggeration. There should be no part out of balance- no necks like Giraffes or
262 • SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2014
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