Red and White Irish Setter
Description:
An attractive hunting dog, the red and white Irish setter is a very powerful and athletic dog, without being heavy or too thin. The head of this dog should look rounded, without any occipital protuberance like the red Irish setter, and should have a noticeable stop. The muzzle should look clean cut. The eyes are round and have a hazelnut or dark brown color to them; the ears should be inserted at the level of the eyes and be close to the head of the dog. The neck is moderately long, should not be too thick and should not have any dewlap. The shoulders should be well inclined back; the elbows free; long chest; the front legs should be muscular, well angled and the hocks should be low. The tail should have a moderate length, wider at the base and narrower at the end. The coat should be long and silky with fringes of hair behind the front and hind legs. Its coat might also be slightly wavy. The color of this dog's coat should be: the background coat should be white and be marked mark in a uniform way. Both colors should be as live and bright as possible. The ideal height of a male is around sixty-four to sixty eight centimeters and the female around fifty-nine to sixty three centimeters.
Ideal owner:
This dog is sweet and has a nice character; this breed shares all of the virtues of its cousin brother, the Irish setter. It loves pleasing its owner, and needs to be trained and taught. This dog can pick up on bad habits especially one that is not used to living in an apartment for example. The owner of this dog will need to be firm and affectionate; this will make your dog absolutely adore you. Although its hunting instinct is not as strong as it used to be, it is still a very competent hunter and it loves being in a family environment.
Growth:
The size of the liter varies, as does the weight of the puppies that can be anywhere from 225 to 570 grams at birth. Puppies are usually born white with red spots, which can vary in intensity and become darker with age. A female might have red and white liter of Irish setter since both breeds descend from the same lineage. Generally this breed matures slowly, both physically and psychically; sexual maturity might also take some time in the case of a female. Puppies tend to eat really well, actually too much on some occasions and the owner will need to keep an eye on this factor. Like with other breeds that are slow to mature the red and white Irish setter needs to have a prescribed diet and have a regular amount of exercise until it is an adult.
General health:
Genetically the red and white Irish setter descends from the Irish setter, but actually there are certain morphologic differences in both. This is why the red and white Irish setters suffer from different health problems then the Irish setter. First of all, Irish setters that mature slowly can suffer of bone and articulation problems. Breeders must be aware of this problem and get the necessary medical certificates to ensure the dogs health. Hip dysphasia has also been seen in this breed. An adequate prescribed diet will be of a great help since a lot of the bone problems this breed can have are related to its eating habits. The future owner will also need to ask about ocular problems, especially about cataracts and will need to be very careful with chemical mixes. The life span of this dog is around twelve years.
