“What kind of spaniel are you?” The latest round of guessing what breed of dog is Maya. At the reserve I stopped at the pavilion on the lakeshore and sat watching the water and the Canada goose that was making Maya nervous. Three slightly goth-looking young people stopped, two girls and a heavy-set, longhaired boy. The girls marveled at how well behaved and sweet Maya was, saying when they found out how young she was that she was going to be a great dog. Then one, talking to Maya, wondered the above.
People are always guessing her to be a spaniel, often an English Springer spaniel, though I don’t think she’s the right color from what I’ve seen but that’s not to say I’ve seen very many. The other day a guy a couple blocks from here, who has a collie and border collie colored dog he says is some sort of shepherd, mistook Maya for a Brittany spaniel. That would be pretty close in looks. From the pictures I’ve seen on the web—having never actually seen a Brittany spaniel—they seem to have a heavier coat and more of an orange color to their patches, rather than the chestnut of the Irish setters. And, of course, Maya’s tail isn’t docked. No one ever takes her for an Irish setter and I suspect few people have ever heard of a the Irish red and white setter. People are often surprised when I tell them that’s what she is, and I often hear, “I thought Irish setters were only red.”
Most Irish setters now are all red. Apparently, it wasn’t always so.
Breeders of the Irish red and white setters say the breed dates to at least the mid-1700s and cite paintings from the period depicting red and white setters. Registering dog breeds didn’t happen until the 1860s. According to Maya’s breeder, Jean Plumber, writing in The Pointing Dog Journal, both all-red and red and white setters were shown at the Rotunda Show in Dublin, Ireland, in 1863, and after that time the reds became more fashionable, particularly in the United States. By the end of World War I, during which the breeding of sport dogs stopped became of food shortages during the war, the Irish red and white setters had declined to the point that a concerted effort had to be made to restore the breed.
The Website www.dogbreedinfo.com says the following about the Irish red and white setter:
Original Irish Setters were parti-colored, red and white. The solid red Irish Setters were rare. In about 1850 the red Irish Setter began to gain popularity. The parti-colored setter started its slow decline. The Red and White Irish Setters became nearly extinct except for the few enthusiasts who kept the breed alive. In the 1920's an attempt was made at the revival of the breed and it is from here that present owners can trace their pedigrees. In 1944 the Irish Red and White Club was formed. In 1984 the National Irish Red and White Setter Club of America, Inc. was formed. The Irish Red and White Setter was first recognized by the AKC in 2006.
Anne Bailey, from Thatcham, England, writing in The Irish Decider Magazine, which is published by and for Irish red and white setter enthusiasts, contends the red and white came before the all-red Irish setters and lays out her research on the issue. The following is from Bailey’s article:
Colonel J K Millner in his book ‘The Irish Setter – Its History and its Training’ also makes reference to ‘the splendid red and white setters …’ [and] he describes how he has tried to discover the origin of the Irish setter, he writes, ‘ I have often tried to find out which, the red and whites or the reds, were the older breed, and as far as I can find out from the oldest breeders, viz., the late John King of Ballylin, the late Edward Evans of Gortmerron and the late Mr Tom Hendrick of Kerdiffstown, the two breeds were distinct in their time, but they all agree that in their early days the reds were inclined to throw pups with white on face, chest and feet, and that some breeders were greater offenders in this way than others.’
He continues to say, ‘From the above we can deduce either that the breeds were distinct and were sometimes crossed, or that the original breed was red and white in no fixed proportion of colour … The latter deduction I am inclined to favour, especially as we know the setter evolved from the spaniel and that white predominated in the early spaniels.’
Bailey’s article can be found (at least for the time being) at:
http://www.vci.net/~redwing/mag2.htm
The Irish Red and White Setter Association also has information on the breed:
http://www.irishredwhitesetterassociation.com/history.html
as does the Irish Red and White Setter Club: http://www.irishredandwhitesetterclub.org/
The American Kennel Club also believes the Irish red and white setter came before the solid colored ones: http://www.akc.org/breeds/irish_red_white_setter/history.cfm
I also found references that say both Irish setters are descendant from France, particularly Brittany spaniels. Here’s one explanation of that: https://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/irish-red-and-white-setter-likes-ducks/
So, the girl’s question to Maya maybe wasn’t so far off.
What kind of spaniel are you?
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