August, 
19 2 0 
45 
THE SETTER, AN ARISTOCRAT AMONG DOGS 
While Ilis Rightful Role Is in the Hunting Field , He Is Also Well Adapted to Serve 
as a Trusted and Loyal Member of the Household 
ROBERT S. LEMMON 
T HEY are called set¬ 
ters because they “set” 
or “point” game birds—a 
curious impulse which 
causes them to stand stock¬ 
still in a semi-cataleptic 
state when their highly de¬ 
veloped sense of smell tells 
them that they are close to 
the quarry which both 
they and their masters are 
seeking. While this ten¬ 
dency to point is present 
to some degree in nearly 
every breed of dog, it 
reaches such a state of de¬ 
velopment in the setters 
that it can almost be term¬ 
ed an instinct. In many 
individuals it occurs with¬ 
out any training, although 
a course of lessons is 
necessary to make the dogs 
entirely subservient and 
useful to their owners in 
the finding and shooting 
of game. 
Different Kinds of Setters 
There are several va¬ 
rieties of setters, just as 
there are of spaniels or 
terriers. The Irish is a 
mahogany-red dog, the 
Gordon black with tan 
points, and the English 
shows different combina¬ 
tions of tan, orange, lemon 
or black on a white 
ground. All three have 
the same general size and 
form, but the differences 
in their dispositions are 
such as to make the En¬ 
glish the most worthy of 
consideration as a dog 
fitted in every way to be¬ 
come a member of the 
household. 
It would seem inevita¬ 
ble that a dog which for 
generation after genera¬ 
tion has been bred and 
trained for so highly spe¬ 
cialized a life work as 
hunting would be lost 
when taken out of his own 
particular field of activity. 
Such is not the case with 
the setter, however, proba¬ 
bly because his long and 
close companionship with 
man has developed a pe¬ 
culiarly keen intelligence 
and sympathy with man’s 
ways. It may be too much 
to assert that a good setter 
consciously and with the 
purpose of mutual success 
co-operates with his owner 
in the pursuit of game, but 
The English 
setter is a 
handsome fel¬ 
low, a strong, 
hardy dog 
with a wealth 
of affection 
and sense 
As a puppy 
he is fascinat¬ 
ing, a gentle¬ 
manly, bright 
small fellow 
that anyone 
will love at 
first sight 
The setter’s head is proof enough of his brain power. There is a certain nobility 
about it which is lacking in some other breeds of dog. This is a splendid speci¬ 
men, white “licked” with black 
I^evick 
I have often suspected 
that such is the case. 
In the English setter, 
then, we have a dog which 
fits admirably into the 
family life of the house¬ 
hold. He is unusually 
affectionate and reliable in 
disposition, robust and 
healthy, courageous and 
yet tractable when proper¬ 
ly trained. His size makes 
him capable of adequate 
protection of hearth and 
home, and in the matter of 
beauty he is second to 
none. There is something 
innately well-bred about 
the appearance and char¬ 
acter of an English setter 
which puts him at once in 
the gentleman class; and 
it goes without saying that 
his intelligence comes as 
close to being human as 
that of any four-footed 
animal can come. 
His Adaptability 
From a somewhat ex¬ 
tended experience with 
English setters I can say 
confidently that they can 
fill the double role of 
hunting ally and family 
friend. Many a one is 
“shot over” for days or 
weeks every autumn, and 
yet is a playmate for the 
children during the rest of 
the year. In the latter 
part you need not fear his 
losing his temper under 
teasing or mauling treat¬ 
ment, for he is essentially 
good natured. 
Three points only would 
I especially urge you to 
bear in mind when decid¬ 
ing upon one of these 
dogs. First, do not get 
one at all unless you can 
give him plenty of exer¬ 
cise in the open air, for 
by birth and breeding he 
needs this. Second, get 
only a well-bred dog (ad¬ 
vice, by the way, which is 
apropos no matter what 
kind of canine you are 
seeking). Third, avoid 
the extremely high-strung, 
nervous “field trial” dogs, 
for they have been so spe¬ 
cialized in blood and 
training to find birds 
speedily in competition 
with other dogs that they 
are too much racing ma¬ 
chines to be entirely satis- 
(Continued on page 58) 
