Gordon Setter Dog Breed

The Gordon Hunter is and always has been a gun dog and bird setter. They can be trained to be versatile hunters, however, and these days they tend to be guide dogs too. They are good with children, other dogs, and some pets. They are definitely not recommended for people seeking their first dog, and may not even be good for people who have just some experience with owning a dog.

Here are some other things,good and bad, about this breed:

When it comes to Gordon Setter dogs 101, you should know that this is a very slow-maturing breed. Trained and socialized properly as a gun dog and bird setter, however, will yield a top-notch hunting and show dog. They have been carefully managed and developed over the last four centuries. Gordon Setters are expensive dogs to adopt and maintain so as to keep them first class.

The intelligence of these dogs may not be obvious at first, and they require a great amount of training to bring their talents to be fully appreciated. Still, they are very smart dogs whose potential for winning obedience and agility competitions is high.

Gordon Setters tend to not reach full maturity until they're around 3 years old, and some may not be completely adult and ready as gun dogs until around 5 years. They are extremely playful when young, and they tend to be very vocal. If you plan on adopting one, gather as much Gordon Setter information as possible.

Running speed is not one of this breed's abilities, but as they are excellent in pointing birds, they more than make up for this disadvantage. The field Gordon Setter also has great strength and an incredible stamina in that he can remain "on point" (meaning to stand still or move only to point out birds hiding) for long periods of time.

This dog has been around for several centuries. Gordon Setter history had its start in Scotland in the early 17th century, around 1620. Originally called "black and tan setting dogs," they were later developed by the Duke of Gordon in the late 18th century. The Duke's black and tans were produced by crossing black and tan-coated Collies with setters. There were other kennels developing the breed, too, and they used bloodhounds and pointers, but the Duke called his the "Gordon Castle Setter."

The setters of the kennels at Castle Gordon were widely known for their superior setting skills and as excellent hunting dogs in general. These skills, along with their appearance, later made them highly popular at dog shows too. In 1827, the Duke died, and the kennels were thereafter seen, to great success, by his heir, the Duke of Richmond.

In the third quarter of the 19th century, the Kennel Club (KC) of England entered no fewer than 126 of these setters into its first stud book. The first black and tan setter to be listed was in June 1859, when the first KC dog show was held. Dandie was the dog's name, and he took first prize among all setters. Dandie's bloodline was established at the Castle Gordon kennels.

In 1842, the first black and tan setters were exported to America. Daniel Webster (of dictionary fame) and George Blunt purchased two dogs, Rachel and Rake. These dogs provided foundation stock in the USA. In 1891, a man named Harry Malcolm wrote the Gordon's first breed standard. By 1892, the American Kennel Club formally recognized the breed. It took three more decades before the breed's name was officially shortened to "Gordon Setter" in 1924. That same year, Malcolm established the Gordon Setter Club of America, Inc., an entity which remains today with and which boasts more than 1,000 members.

The Gordon Setter has long been a purebred dog breed that essentially has no real variants. There are certainly none of the variations that describe mixed breed dogs, as in the generational aspects labeled F1, F1b, F2, etc. The styles of this breed are basically lore from when this breed was still being developed in the 1700s or is being used in ways that should be understood as not being true varietals.

As for coats, there is just the one style that makes this otherwise unique-looking breed look a little like a large spaniel. (There remain rumors that the Gordon Setter has spaniel bloodlines that were early on established, although DNA tests these days won't be able to detect them.) This dog's coat is long and silky and looks beautiful provided the coat is maintained daily and with great care. The colors of that coat, which, like the spaniel aspect, remain debated. The Gordon's coat colors are discussed elsewhere on this page under Appearance Coloring.

As for size, there are two types, neither of which is truly a type. The American Kennel Club (AKC) and all other established kennel clubs that recognize the Gordon allow for a remarkably wide variety of sizes for this breed. (Most pure breed dogs that have formal standards published by the AKC and other such kennel clubs tend to have a very strict size standard.) On the other hand, anyone who allows for a named size variation such as "miniature Gordon Setter" is most likely not a legible kennel club or registry. There is only the Gordon Setter, and no size name such as "mini" is allowed.

Believed to be perhaps the best gun dog breed ever, the Gordon Setter temperament is nevertheless one that requires patience. These dogs will be personally loyal but maybe not always in the desired ways. It's said they would prefer to be puppies forever, and one of the better-known characteristics is that they can be constantly rambunctious in their play. As such, they respond best to very calm training sessions, for they are very emphatic dogs who pick up quickly on the moods of their masters. They have a sensitive personality despite being gun dogs, and they can be stubborn, too, as they are smart enough to understand what they are meant to do. They are extremely loving as well as demand lots of attention, and they have a wanderlust they will oblige if allowed to do so.

The Gordon Setter breed doesn't appear to have many health concerns, but there is one that affects many of these dogs later in their lives. This condition is called late-onset Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA). In the dogs that carry the condition, the rod-cone degeneration that causes this type of PRA is a different one than the typical mutation found in other dogs. It is recessive and believed to be carried by approximately half this breed's population.

Other health problems that may occur in the Gordon Setter are:

• Bloat
• Cataracts
• Allergies
• Entropion
• Ectropion
• Hip dysplasia
• Hypothyroidism

The average lifespan of the Gordon Setter is 12 to 14 years.