KENAI
Irish Setter

The breeds · gun dog · pointing

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 120

Irish Setter.

Pointing (setting) bird dog: 'an active, aristocratic bird dog ... Afield, the Irish Setter is a swift-moving hunter' - finds upland birds and holds point.

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.

12.9YRMedian lifespan12.6 to 13.1, measured on real dogs.
27 / 25INHeight · show standarddogs 27, bitches 25. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
60–70LBWeight, all linesshow dogs 70 lb; field 'Medium sized, lean and well muscled'; the NRSFTC standard sets no height or weight. No published numbers.; show bitches 60 lb.
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayMore than 2 hours per day. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The lines

Within one breed the line can matter more than the breed. Where the lines differ, the page says which one a value belongs to.

field

Field-bred 'Red Setter': the National Red Setter Field Trial Club's program, begun in the early 1950s by W.E. (Ned) LeGrande, outcrossed to English Setters (Field Dog Stud Book) and bred back pure to restore the breed as 'a class Shooting Dog and Field Trial Competitor'. 'Medium sized, lean and well muscled, red or chestnut, often with traces of white on head, forechest and feet.' FDSB-registered; AKC reciprocity withdrawn in 1975 at the ISCA's request.

show

Conformation (AKC / ISCA) bred Irish Setter, the dog the AKC standard describes: 27 in and about 70 lb ideal for the dog, rich red, flowing feathered coat. The NRSFTC's standard author: 'hundreds, perhaps thousands of AKC Irish red setter champions in the USA ... have never pointed a game bird.'

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

show linedogs 27 in (26 to 28) · bitches 25 in (24 to 26)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

Low/high are the standard's one-inch tolerance, not a disqualifying range ('There is no disqualification as to size').

Weight

field line'Medium sized, lean and well muscled'; the NRSFTC standard sets no height or weight. No published numbers.

Breed clubNational Red Setter Field Trial Club

Qualitative only. The NRSFTC breed standard (2005) carries no numeric height or weight (the page was searched for inches and pounds); see open_gaps.

show linedogs 70 lb · bitches 60 lb

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

Coat

field line'Short and fine on the head, back, front of legs and tips of ears; on other parts of the body and legs of moderate length, flat, and free of curl and wave'; rich golden chestnut to dark mahogany or red, white permitted provided chestnut is the majority

Breed clubNational Red Setter Field Trial Club

The NRSFTC history: 'often with traces of white on head, forechest and feet'.

show lineShort and fine on head and forelegs, moderate length and flat elsewhere; long silky feathering on ears, back of forelegs, thighs, belly and brisket; rich red, trimmed for the ring

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

Shedding

Sheds; AKC breed page shedding level 3 of 5 ('Moderate'), RKC 'Sheds: yes'

Breed clubAKC

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Medium flat coat with long feathering: 'Short and fine on head and forelegs. On all other parts of moderate length and flat. Feathering long and silky on ears; on back of forelegs and thighs long and fine'

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1990

Derived by the coat rule (3 = medium). Field-bred dogs with the NRSFTC's shorter coat may sit nearer 4. Not a measurement.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

12.9 years (12.6 to 13.1)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

McMillan et al. 2024 method. Owner surveys: Lewis 2018 median age at death 133 months (11.1 yr, n = 98 deaths, IQR 93-155); the 2004 KC survey 12 yr (n = 451). RKC band: over 10 years. Not in Teng 2022, so life_expectancy_yr is omitted.

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; ISCA: 'a high-energy-level breed, needing an area to run'.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

'This is a high-energy-level breed, needing an area to run and play big enough for it to stretch its legs'; AKC breed page energy level 5 of 5

Breed clubIrish Setter Club of America

RKC: more than 2 hours of exercise a day.

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 3 of 5 agrees. Field-bred red setters carry a shorter, flatter coat (NRSFTC standard).

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

Pointing (setting) bird dog: 'an active, aristocratic bird dog ... Afield, the Irish Setter is a swift-moving hunter' - finds upland birds and holds point

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

The NRSFTC: dedicated to 'the improvement of the Irish Red Setter as a class Shooting Dog and Field Trial Competitor'.

Primary game

field lineUpland game birds: 'As Irish red setters were originally bred as partridge and grouse dogs their style of hunting these birds may be taken as the norm'; run today on 'the prairies of the Dakotas, the grouse woods of the north, the quail plantations of the south, and the cornfields of the Midwest' (NRSFTC interview)

Breed clubNational Red Setter Field Trial Club

The AKC (Gewirtz 2024) agrees in kind: bred 'to locate and point upland game birds'.

Range

field lineMedium to big: the NRSFTC runs both a National Championship (all-age) and a National Shooting Dog Championship, and its standard writes the dog's conformation 'only with the intent that such traits shall be supportive of performance as a bird dog'

Breed clubNational Red Setter Field Trial Club

Range inferred from the stakes the field club runs (American Field shooting dog and all-age standards); no source gives a yardage. Fewer than three sources behind this value.

Field trial standard

field lineAmerican Field / AFTCA Shooting Dog and All-Age stakes (the NRSFTC championships): find and handle all game on the course, staunch and stylish on point, steady to wing and shot, back a bracemate on sight; the All-Age dog 'runs off - but not quite' and shows at distant forward points

Breed clubAmateur Field Trial Clubs of America

FDSB-registered Red Setters are not AKC-registrable (reciprocity withdrawn 1975, NRSFTC history), so their trial life is American Field, not AKC.

show lineAKC pointing-breed field trials (Irish Setters are 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; the ISCA runs a National Field Trial and a National Walking Gun Dog Championship. AKC hunting tests: Junior must point, Senior/Master steady to wing and shot, retrieve and honor

Breed clubAKC

Hunting test standards from akc_ht_rules; ISCA field events from the ISCA site.

Water work

No water test and no retrieving stake requirement for the Irish Setter in AKC pointing-breed field trials; AKC Senior and Master hunting tests require land retrieves of shot birds

Breed clubAKC

AKC rulebook plus the hunting test regulations (akc_ht_rules).

Cold water

2 of 5 · Medium feathered coat; no water work in the breed's trial life

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1990

Derived from coat plus the absence of any water requirement for the breed in AKC pointing-breed trials. Not a measurement.

How common the problems are

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

Hip dysplasia

11.7% · 13,526 OFA hip evaluations on file (all evaluations on file, read Oct 2026; the service prints no start year): 87.3% normal (10.4% excellent, 59.6% good, 17.2% fair), 11.7% dysplastic (7.7% mild, 3.6% moderate, 0.4% severe); rank 113 of the breeds listed

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Voluntary registry: Hou et al. 2013 (7,601 Irish Setter hip records 1974-2009) document that public OFA records under-report affected dogs. UK BVA/KC scheme (BHCP): 1,710 Irish Setters scored in the 15 years to end 2016, median hip score 11 (range 0-101), with a reduction in mild-to-severe grades over 1990-2016.

Elbow dysplasia

2.8% · 1,396 OFA elbow evaluations on file: 97.2% normal, 2.8% abnormal (2.7% grade 1, 0.1% grade 2, 0.0% grade 3); rank 111 of the breeds listed

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Same voluntary-registry caveat. Hou et al. 2013 counted 425 Irish Setter elbow records 1974-2009; the breed was below the 10-affected threshold for their elbow analysis.

Most common disorders

UK Kennel Club 2014 survey, 382 live Irish Setters (41.9% with at least one condition): urinary incontinence 5.8%, gastric dilatation-volvulus (bloat) 5.2%, lipoma 4.7%, skin cyst 4.5%, entropion 3.4%, epilepsy 2.4%. Deaths (n = 98, Lewis 2018): old age 16.3%, heart failure 8.2%, cancer-unspecified 6.1%, GDV 6.1%, unknown 6.1%, epilepsy 4.1%; Irish Setters had a significantly raised proportional mortality from GDV. VetCompass: Irish Setter bitches had 8.1 times the odds of urinary incontinence (O'Neill 2017) and an emergency-practice GDV prevalence of 7.1% vs 0.64% all breeds (via the BHCP)

StudiedWiles BM, 2017

Owner-survey prevalence (95% CI for incontinence 3.8-8.6). The ISCA names bloat/GDV, epilepsy, osteosarcoma, HOD, cancers, thyroid dysfunction, CLAD, PRA (rcd1 early onset, rcd4 late onset) and degenerative myelopathy. Agria Sweden (BHCP): GDV-dominated 'intestinal accident' among the top relative risks. No single VetCompass breed paper exists for the Irish Setter. The 8.09 odds ratio is the figure in the O'Neill 2017 abstract (95% CI 3.15-20.80); the KC BHCP quotes a 6.18 (2.49-15.35) odds ratio from the same paper, a different model within it. The abstract's figure is used.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 5; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 5; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 3; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 5; Adaptability Level 4.

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 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. 13 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Irish Red Setter, Red Setter (field-bred)

Every breed, read the same way.

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