How They Look

The English Setter is a large breed with a silky coat that’s generally long with feathering at the ears and tail and also on their underside. The base hair coat color is usually white with secondary colors including orange belton (speckling), blue (black) belton, liver belton and yellow belton. Tri-color belton are also found as blue belton dogs with tan markings on muzzle, eyes and legs. Tails are left at the full length and are very distinctive when hunting. Field bred lines generally vary quite a bit in appearance from show bred lines so are usually pretty easily differentiated.

How They Grow 

Being a large breed they are usually fairly fast growing. As adults, their height ranges from 23 to 27 inches from the ground to the highest point of the shoulders and weight usually ranges between 45 and 75 pounds. Field lines show a definite tendency toward running lean so plenty of calories are generally required to maintain body condition.

How They Hunt

The English Setter is known for speed and athleticism and generally hunt quickly and efficiently. The breed was developed specifically for hunting upland birds and they’re considered a great combination of agility and stamina. English Setters typically have excellent noses and plenty of energy with the drive to cover a lot of ground.

How They Behave

English Setters are well known as a breed that produces lions in the field but lambs in the home. As a rule, they do very well in a home environment. They’re gentle and affectionate and usually easy to train with positive reinforcement. If you give them a fair amount of outdoor activity they’re generally pretty mellow and relaxed when indoors.

What to Feed

English Setters are another breed that’s well known to struggle to maintain weight rather than become overweight. We generally recommend starting on the Power 30K formula and possibly switching to the Ultra 32K formula if your dog really struggles to maintain weight during heavy training, hunting or competition.