Oooh, a Llewellin Setter!

[Fundog]

The Llewellin (English field bred) Setter is a sweet, compact little pixie of a dog. They are included in the "Sporting Class" group, also known as "Gun Dogs," or "Bird Dogs." Unlike their show bred counterpart, the Laverack English Setter, the Llewellin was bred primarily with strong hunting instincts, for locating and retrieving upland game (birds).

Now, if you think you might want one of these lovely creatures, or even accidentally end up with one, there are some things you need to understand about them. They are very sweet, sensitive dogs that respond better to gentle, positive handling. Harsh methods, aversives, even raising your voice is likely to have a disastrous effect, and you will have a very hard time accomplishing the training.

Another thing you need to understand is that, because of their breeding, Llewellins (and really all bird dogs) need a lot of opportunity to run off leash, go hiking in the hills/wilderness areas, and to generally enjoy the outdoors. These dogs, although small and compact enough (they only get to about 40 lbs.) to live in a city apartment, are not quite as happy as they are in the "country." These dogs, being bred to locate game, have their noses on the ground and sniffing the air much of the time. When on walks, they need to be given some time to do that. The Llewellin, in particular, is also included in the "pointing group" of bird dogs. This is because they go "on point" when they scent game. Their whole body freezes in position, and they don't move. They can't help themselves, this cannot be trained, it is bred into them. So if you are walking through an area with a lot of wildlife, you may have to stop every couple of minutes due to pointing.

And one more thing you need to consider is that Llewellin Setters have deliciously soft coats. They are burr-magnets, and require a lot of gentle brushing to stay mat-free, but also if you don't want to spend several hours a day picking burrs out of the coat, then you will need to be careful about where you let the dog run-- or just get a dog with a short coat that doesn't collect burrs as easily.

[mselisabs]

I saw TWO of these beauts at the dog park yesterday! I've always loved setters' constantly wagging "flag" tail - and these boys were never without a ball in their mouths! Phew!