Setter owners, some advice

[tyler94]

Hey everyone. Im looking to get my first bird dog, and I’ve pretty much settled on an English Setter. From my research, they seem to be a good blend of hunting ability and having an off switch in the house. I have little kids at home, so the dog being well mannered around kids is very important for me.



I live in CA and 90 percent of the time I hunt chukar and quail. Right now I’m trying to navigate the process of selecting a breeder, and a lot of them seem to breed for grouse and woodcock in the Midwest, which is something I may not ever do. Does anyone have any experience hunting “western” birds with dogs from these breeders? Or can anyone provide any insight or experience on selecting between a Ryman type, Llewellin, or field bred setters? I appreciate all the advice

 

[Wallace]

I have a Llewellin that's nearly 4 now, I had one before him as well (got him from a friend as a 2 year old, unfortunately hit by a vehicle shortly after in an abnormal accident, I bought my current one within a few months of that happening).

My current Llewellin is a male, he's a hybrid when it comes to staying inside and outside in a kennel. When I let him outside or out of the kennel, he's automatically hunting with high drive. If he's inside, he's usually sitting there begging for food or sleeping. Both of the Llewellins I have had were great inside, best 'off switches' in a hunting dog that I've had.

I hunted him for pheasant, quail, sharptail, and ruffed grouse his first 2 years between the southeast and out west. I didn't get to hunt him last year (Hurricane Helene and a moose hunt screwed up my September/October bird hunting, November/December/January is for ducks). This year he'll go after ruffed grouse in Maine and quail in the southeast. He does great hunting, he'd do better if I was a better dog trainer and put him in front of more birds.

If something happened to him, I'd have another Llewellin within 6 months. Not a necessity hunting, but IMO they are the best looking dog around. I cannot take that dog in public without someone complimenting how good he looks.