We got our baby girl Scout today! Would love to get any advice as she’s our first setter :)

Some days the schedules are crazy. The other day, no one was home from maybe 1:30 pm until I got home after 8pm. So I let her out, fed her (she gets 1/2 a can with some dry food) , gave her a treat and let her out again in our fenced back yard. I went back inside for a call and then went out to find her ZOOMING around the yard. She does this, but usually I don’t let her right after she has eaten. I called and she came trotting inside and instantly starting whining and sort of writhing - couldn’t get still or comfortable. I was starting to panic looking her over best I could. She finally hopped on the couch and started settling down with me stroking her face. Could her stomach have started twisting and then gone back into position? I never found a cause for her severe discomfort.

Our 18 month old IS was spayed and gastropexy (stomach attached to prevent twisting if bloat) surgery yesterday. We will be picking her up this morning. She will be on meds for a few days, but any advice on how to keep a very active Irish Setter (she is #1 active IS on Fi dog collar) calm for several weeks?

As a side note, we were originally scheduled for surgery in December, but moved sooner (on vet advice) after she had bloat a couple of weeks ago. She got bloat just from drinking water and some exercise (and not a crazy amount after, but a lot just before). She did not have the classic symptoms and had not eaten since the evening before, but I could tell something was wrong--and she was communicating to me something was wrong--so I took her to be checked just to be safe. She was bloated, but we were lucky it had not twisted requiring immediate surgery.

I do not know about this group, but most people (even dog people) I encounter are not well aware of bloat and how deadly it can be. We are very cautious with mandatory 1.25 hour post-meal rest and otherwise focused. I may be a bit too focused at times, but that mindset also made me read her messages and unusual behavior to get her checked. If was never twisted and life threatening, but who knows how it would have played out if I did nothing and let her exercise vs. the rest the vet made us follow for the next couple of days (with some calming meds).

Anyway, thanks for any advice on how to stay calm.

He’s crazy about people food so its weird seeing him do that. It wasn’t even hot either 😂

This is Josie, almost 2 years old. She is sweet as can be, follows me from room to room, loves to snuggle and hug. She is the most enthusiastic of the group of 5 IS in my house, always full of joy!

But (and you knew this was coming) she is an escape artist! We have about 8 acres of fenced in woods attached to the house. And a dog door. Theoretically the dogs can come and go all day and they have lots of fun chasing squirrels, deer, birds, you name it. But Josie has a strong prey drive and has learned to dig at the base of the wire fence and wiggle her way out, and then she urges her sister Judy to join her. They run and run. Usually they come back when called (if they are tired enough) and they mostly stay on our property (we have 22 acres in total, steep woods).

Generally then Josie has to wear her harness when outside (makes it harder to shimmy under the fence) and we check on her very frequently if she is out. Unless I'm walking with her then she stays in the house. We have been putting large rocks and logs around the perimeter of the fence so her escapes are pretty infrequent now.

This fawn was sleeping just outside the fence, probably 6 feet away. That's what started it all. It was gone before the first jailbreak and the doe learned to park her fawn in a different place.

I am new the owning this breed. Any tips or tricks would be great. She is about ten weeks and scared of everything. This is the first day. So to be expected, any tips or tricks would be appreciated. She is unlike any other breed. I've had

Very cautious, very fearful somewhat and her recall sucks. But from what i've read, that is something I have to work on. I know I have to take training from a different angle. As far as positive reinforcement and not getting upset with her.

Hello all, after an interminable wait we are selecting and collecting Irish Red and White Setter pup next week. We will hopefully have a choice between male and female, both selected by the brilliant and very knowledgeable breeder to be most suitable as a family pet, rather than the gun dogs the others will become.
We’d love a bitch because they’re slightly smaller and might (🤨) be less boisterous, but just not sure about the extra hassle of the bi-annual heat. The breeder doesn’t recommend getting Setters spayed. I’ve read it affects their coat for one thing. Anyone any insight into bitches pre and post spay? And how about behavioural differences between male and female? All insights gratefully received!
We are so excited and have researched as much as possible but just this one final decision to make now. Thanks in advance.

Bunker and Camper.

So I had a bad day at work and it was like he knew

My beautiful setter Lillian will be two years old this month and I can’t believe we made it through the puppy stage. We read online that the breed can be slow to mature and wow that’s true. She was a beast as a puppy. Non stop biting and energy. Now this girl wants to relax and hang out with the cats all day. She’s really just 75lbs of love. This is my first Irish setter and I absolutely adore them now.

If your puppy is driving you crazy have hope because it won’t last forever!!

Hi. Meet our 2 month old Irish Setter Murphy. He is extremely energetic more than my collie was at his age. Any tips or things I should be aware of going forward?

I have a 7 month old male IS who is starting to roam off (terrible recall, tends to totally ignore you even with favourite treats etc) the trainer recommended leaving him as long as possible before neutering. The vet said from 6 months onwards.. any ideas?

For context, I am an experienced dog owner. I have owned a high energy Irish male before that we didn't work but took him everywhere with us. He was amazing but it was A LOT of work.

My cousin kept him for a month didn't want to give him back when my second son was born because I was staying in the hospital and my son was in the NICU. They ended up falling in love and working him and he did amazing and is so happy. We absolutely miss him even though we get to see him a ton but now that we have been dogless for over 3 years, we definitely miss having one around. I have been doing endless research on what kind of dog we should get. We LOVED having an Irish but now that I have two kids, I'm not too sure I could handle the puppy stage again.

I loved his adaptability when it came to traveling, he was amazing with children, he was a generally healthy dog which was very nice (granted, he was only 5 when he went to live with my cousin). He was super sweet, and his recall and training was very easy.

We have been looking into English setters due to their rumored lower energy levels. We would specifically be looking for a female Bench (show) line. I have a friend that is about to breed her female for the first time and has let me know I can have first pick of females. She's an experienced breeder, she works all of her setters and her cav's so I trust she will help pick a good one from the group.

Has anyone owned both an Irish and English? How comparable was the energy levels? Is it even a noticeable difference or are they still about the same?

We are looking for an amazing family dog. A dog I can leave at home and both travel with. I work from home, but I also am a full time stay at home mom to our youngest. Is this a dog that would be too much to handle working with at home? We would be doing daily exercise and walks and running but if we got stuck at sports or a school event and skipped the running that day, would that be an end all for the English? I know my Irish had to be ran multiple times a day for the first 3 years or he would be destructive.

Thank you all for your advice!!!! (: pic for setter tax

He's a good pointer, but he's turning out to be a solid retriever as well! It's truly such a joy to watch instincts at work.

My little 14 week old IRWS is sprouting like a weed! Extremely excited for his first BPUP in October and to start him on pigeons in the fall :)