This article was first published in the Irish Independent Newspaper on February 12, 1963.
by Owen Roe Farnham
A recent article in the Irish Independent lamented the virtual disappearance of the redoubtable Irish Red Setter at field-trials and, perhaps, on the shooting field too. As one who has bred and worked Irish Setters for the past 30 years I do not think the story is quite so grim.
In the first place his absence from the field trials does not argue his demise or his unpopularity among dedicated shooting men. Far from it. There are hundreds of Irish Setters in use all over Ireland and in many foreign countries as well.
I grant that the field dog has been allowed to deteriorate both as regards conformation to type and development of his natural instincts, with the result that he is generally more sinned against than sinning
This is due to many factors and not just to the one the author, Mr. Sweeny, suggests, namely, his inability to "stay put" on sets. The latter all stems from a lack of understanding of the nature of the breed and consequent wrong methods of training and handling.
Brilliant Performer
There are very few shooting men today who know how to train an Irish Setter, and still fewer who can be bothered with the task. But once properly trained, there is no more brilliant performer or rewarding dog in the field. Too many shooters expect him to act like a Pointer or the hybrid English Setter. This is not his nature. I am referring only to working setters, those bred and trained for the job.
The Irish Setter will do what his natural instincts prompt him to do, and will not readily prostitute his talents to conform to the arbitrary rules under which modern field trials are run. These favour the Pointer and hybrid English setters.
The Irish Setter’s ability to range wide and fast, to find and set game is equal to the best of them, but he will only do this in his own way. In the first place, he sets (crouches) game, he does not point ( although he can pick up the trick). After he sets, his instinct is not to "stay put" to await his pottering master, but to crawl along on his belly til he considers he is within "pinning down" distance of his quarry.
Difficult Task
Admittedly this is a trait that makes his task difficult on running pheasants, but if it is sought to eliminate it in the initial stages of his training, the dog will be frustrated and spoiled. It will only provoke him to run in when you are not on his tail.
The restraining must be done much later, preferably after birds have been shot over him. He cannot be readily trained on dry runs. This is the fault of most Irish trainers of Setters, including the late Mr. Phelan, whom I knew too well. He would train them as Pointers on his pet snipe down the field at the back of his house, as we all remember.
He never had the patience to await the psychological moment to check a setter, and, as I said this moment of truth seldom comes til after a number of birds have been shot over him and he garners the reason for checking. Incidentally, it is my experience that an Irish Setter does not reach his peak til the end of his second season.
Individual Dog
Field trial rules are necessarily arbitrary and artificial and allow little scope to an "individual" dog like the Irish Setter who has a technique of his own. The Field Trial winner is not always the best shooting man’s dog, neither is he always the best dog to breed from to get good workers. If breeders were less ignorant and more selective, and field trial enthusiasts less vociferous, we would have better gundogs all round, especially Irish Setters.
The recent comments of English judges reported in "The Field" are pertinent and I quote: "you can’t win trials unless you breed 100% for trials". "A small dog has more chance of winning than a large one, because he seems to move faster..." And again:
"That dog will never win a field trial. He is too intelligent. The dog is spoilt by too much shooting: he learns to "skirt" that is he uses his nose and his wits to save his legs and his wind for the long day" he thinks he is before him.
Great Handicap
And so the greater experience and individual technique of the dog is often his greatest handicap in the field trial and the very brevity of the trial itself often denies the good dog the chance of beating the field. Trials have their limitations and no judge on such slender acquaintance of a dog’s abilities is justified in proclaiming anything more than that a particular dog is better acquainted with the man made rules than another.
But if the experienced dog could only speak, he would surely enlighten him some more on the behaviour of a particular bird and the technique required to pin him down. Still, trials have their uses and the ideal would be to confine them to particular breeds. The Irish Setter will be seen to best advantage in the company of his setter peers. These confined trials are few and far between.
The virtual disappearance of the Irish setter in English trials and on English and Scottish moors is due to another factor. Practically all shooting in England is done on driven birds which only requires Springers and Labradors for the pick up. Hence the preponderance of trials in the retriever classes. Pointers and English Setters are as rare as the Irishman there.
Show Specimen
Another thing which mitigates against the working Irish Setter is the emergence of the show specimen. Being one of the most beautiful dogs in the world, he is a natural for the show ring. Too bad that it is not easy to have it both ways, but much more could be done to evolve the dual purpose setter.
I hold no brief for the hordes of "pig faced" Irish Setters which infest the Irish shooting field. They are not true to type, although they may be good enough to work. There are some show specimens which are also sound workers in the field, and these should be bred from, rather than the pig-faced type, which are a disgrace to the breed. These latter mostly come from the amateur breeder who cares little about conformation or looks. "Lurchers" I call them, are mostly bred by the farmer-poacher, pedigree-faker individual who has not the interests of the breed at heart.
I think the show enthusiasts too, especially in England, have learned their lesson. Due to inbreeding and line-breeding carried to extremes, they bred the natural instincts out of the dog, fixed recessive and hereditary taints like night blindness, dysplasia and general nervousness. All these factors account for the evil days on which the Irish Setter has fallen.
Not Too Late
But it is not too late to restore the breed to its former glory and enhance our export possibilities, because there is a demand for the good-looking Irishman abroad. At the moment it seems that better Irish Setters are bred in America, South Africa and other countries than in Ireland. The future of the Irish Setter would seem to rest with the Irish Setter Club rather than with the show people or the haphazard breeder. They could demand that the Kennel Club only register disease-free, true-to-typeSetters and refuse to countenance the just ‘will hunt" certificate doled out to show champions.
The Kennel Club’s field trial classes could be better supported by the Irish Setter Club and Field Trial Association. With careful selection on the part of all breeders we could ensure the elimination of the pig-faced type, the tainted show specimen, the just "will hunt" class. Judges too should stop judging the wrong end of the lead.
In this way the future of the magnificent Irish Setter would be secured. The old-type working Irish Setter was a big upstanding dog with a fine action and a graceful gait; never easy to train or control, but once he got the hang of it, a prince among gundogs. He was, and is still, a picture to behold majestically bracing the the high heather on a mountainside after grouse or belting up a bogful of snipe while his Pointer companion stops to think and make up his mind. Long may he reign!