KENAI
Irish Red and White Setter

The breeds · gun dog · pointing

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 330

Irish Red and White Setter.

Setting bird dog: 'The Irish Red & White Setter is bred primarily for the field. The standard as set out hereunder must be interpreted chiefly from this point of view and all Judges at Bench Shows must be encouraged to judge the exhibits chiefly from the working standpoint.' FCI Group 7 Section 2, British and Irish Pointers and Setters, with working trial.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

25 / 23INHeightdogs 25.25, bitches 23.25. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
35–60LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 51 lb (42 to 60); breed bitches 42.5 lb (35 to 50).
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayMore than 2 hours per day. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 25.3 in (24.5 to 26) · bitches 23.3 in (22.5 to 24)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2019

Midpoint. FCI: bitches 22.5-24 in (57-61 cm).

Weight

dogs 51 lb (42 to 60) · bitches 42.5 lb (35 to 50)

Breed clubAKC

Same caveat; midpoint.

Coat

Short, flat, curl-free body coat (a slight wave permissible) with long silky straight feathering on the backs of the legs, outer ear flap, flank, chest, throat and tail, 'not overly profuse'; trimmed only lightly, never clipped. White base with solid red patches ('clear islands of red'); flecking allowed on face, feet and legs, roaning objectionable

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2019

AKC breed page coat type 'Silky, Double', length 'Medium'.

Shedding

Sheds; AKC breed page shedding level 2 of 5, RKC 'Sheds: yes'

Breed clubAKC

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Short flat body coat with feathering: 'Long silky fine hair called Feathering is present on the back of the fore and hind legs and on the outer ear flap ... All feathering is straight, flat and not overly profuse ... On the head, front of legs and other parts of the body the hair is short, flat and free from curl'

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2019

Derived by the coat rule (3 = medium). The feathering is lighter than the Irish Setter's ('not overly profuse'). Not a measurement.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC exercise band. AKC breed page energy level 5 of 5; the standard: 'athletic rather than racy'.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

AKC breed page energy level 5 of 5: 'rollicking', 'fun-loving, friendly, and high-spirited ... a bit shorter and stockier than their cousin the Irish Setter'; the standard: 'kindly, friendly attitude, behind which is discernible determination, courage and high spirit'

Breed clubAKC

RKC: more than 2 hours of exercise a day; the IRWS Club of GB's breed introduction: 'High energy breed that needs daily exercise'.

Grooming load

3 of 5 · More than once a week (RKC grooming band); coat length medium

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

AKC breed page grooming frequency 2 of 5. The standard: trimming 'kept to a minimum, maintaining a neat natural appearance and not to be shaved with clippers'.

Grooming

More than once a week

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Setting bird dog: 'The Irish Red & White Setter is bred primarily for the field. The standard as set out hereunder must be interpreted chiefly from this point of view and all Judges at Bench Shows must be encouraged to judge the exhibits chiefly from the working standpoint.' FCI Group 7 Section 2, British and Irish Pointers and Setters, with working trial

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2019

The RKC: 'The Red and White Setter was the original Irish Setter', used by falconers and net hunters to indicate game by going into a 'set', and 'the preferred Setter because its colours made it easier to spot when working at a distance'. Also a NAVHDA recognized breed (IR).

Primary game

Upland game birds: 'Traditionally used by guns to find, point and flush game, often spending long days out on the moors'

Breed clubIrish Red and White Setter Club of GB

The AKC breed page calls it 'an athletic medium-sized bird dog bred primarily for hunting'. No source names a single species; the moorland reference is the club's.

Range

Medium to big: a moorland setter whose colour was prized because it 'made it easier to spot when working at a distance' (RKC); run in AKC pointing-breed stakes at gun-dog and all-age range; no source gives a yardage

EditorialThe Royal Kennel Club

Inferred from the RKC history line and the breed's eligibility for every AKC pointing-breed stake; no source states close, medium or big in words. Fewer than three sources behind this value.

Field trial standard

AKC pointing-breed field trials (an eligible breed): Gun Dog stakes ask a finished dog that hunts at gun-dog range, points staunchly, is steady to wing and shot and honors; All-Age stakes ask a wider-ranging, independent dog. AKC pointing-breed hunting tests: Junior must point, Senior and Master steady to wing and shot, retrieve and honor. The IRWSAA's stated objects include field trials and hunt tests under AKC rules; the IRWS Club of GB runs field and puppy training days

Breed clubAKC

Field trial performance standards from akc_ft_rules; hunting test standards from akc_ht_rules; club events from irwsaa_home and irws_gb_working.

Water work

No water test and no retrieving-stake requirement for the breed in AKC pointing-breed field trials; AKC Senior and Master hunting tests require land retrieves of shot birds. As a NAVHDA-listed breed it may be run in NAVHDA tests, which include duck work

Breed clubAKC

AKC field trial rulebook plus the hunting test regulations; NAVHDA listing from navhda_breeds.

Cold water

2 of 5 · Feathered setter coat; no water requirement in the breed's AKC trial life

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2019

Derived from coat plus the absence of a water test for setters in AKC pointing-breed events. NAVHDA does list the breed and would test it on ducks. Not a measurement.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

4.2% · 625 OFA hip evaluations on file (all evaluations on file, read Oct 2026; the service prints no start year): 95.5% normal (36.8% excellent, 55.0% good, 3.7% fair), 4.2% dysplastic (2.1% mild, 1.9% moderate, 0.2% severe); rank 191 of the breeds listed

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Voluntary registry skewed toward breeding stock. UK: the IRWS Club of GB urges BVA/KC hip scoring of breeding dogs and puts the breed average hip score at 10 (best 0, worst 106).

Elbow dysplasia

0.7% · 277 OFA elbow evaluations on file: 99.3% normal, 0.7% abnormal (0.4% grade 1, 0.4% grade 2, 0.0% grade 3); rank 153 of the breeds listed

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Same voluntary-registry caveat; elbows are not on the breed's CHIC list, so the evaluated dogs are a self-selected minority.

Most common disorders

The breed's recorded hereditary conditions are controlled rather than common: canine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (CLAD), for which the Kennel Club has registered only litters proven clear since June 17, 2008; posterior polar cataract (PPC), identified in 1995 and since 'relegated to a condition of minor importance' with no evidence it causes blindness or pain (affected-to-affected matings still avoided); hip dysplasia, breed average BVA score 10; and the breed-specific von Willebrand's mutation, selected against so successfully that the Kennel Club has withdrawn the test and is 'confident that this condition is not a concern in the breed at this time'. The IRWSAA is running a cancer survey; no results are published

Breed clubIrish Red and White Setter Club of GB

No prevalence survey exists: the breed is not in the Wiles 2017 prevalence file, has no VetCompass paper, and Lewis 2018 counted 10 deaths without a breed row. The IRWS Club of GB keeps a confidential database of every UK-registered dog since 1980 and reports 'no reported cases for many years' of the monitored conditions. Fewer than three sources behind this value as a whole.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 5; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 5; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 5; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 2; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 5.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the Irish Red and White Setter yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 10 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Irish Red & White Setter, Red and White Setter, IRWS

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your irish red and white setter, on the record.

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