The English Setter is one of the most popular and most loved hunting dog breeds, speed, power and high endurance make this dog a perfect pointing dog.
The name puts comes from the English verb to set which translated into Italian means to aim. No name could therefore be more suitable for this breed of dog as the English setter can be considered as one of the best point dogs around. But not only. The English Setter, in addition to being perfect for the tip, is also an excellent retriever.
The origins of the English setter are, of course, to be found in England. We have news of it starting from 1500, the year of which we have documents that attest to its use for some hunting trips. Apparently, however, the English Setter was not initially the wonderful breed we know today.
The skills that today we can attribute to the English setter, in fact, owe their birth thanks to the patience of Sir Edward Laverack who in the early 1800s managed to mitigate the negative characteristics of the English setter by crossing it with other types of setters and thus producing the race we all know today. From the second half of the 1800s the English Setter breed spread rapidly. It arrived in Italy only in the early 1900s. In fact, the first Italian setter breeding farm dates back to 1920.
The English Setter is a very fast and at the same time very powerful dog capable, therefore, of traveling and exploring a very vast territory without getting too tired. He can hunt on any type of territory and not even the heat seems to bother him much. Furthermore, its hunting skills go hand in hand with its aesthetic beauty. It shows a high fluidity in the lines and a great elegance both in the movements and in the beauty of its hair which can be black and white, brown and white or tricolor. It is also a very sweet and reliable dog capable of devoting himself totally to his master by showing him respect but always expecting a minimum of admiration for a successful action.
All these characteristics make the English setter one of the best hunting dogs of all time and one of the most loved dogs by hunters. The statistics, in fact, compiled by the National Ente della Cinofilia Italiana (Enci) show us that the English setter is the most used dog in the art of hunting in Italy. In fact, it is estimated that in 2008 alone 14.411 puppies were registered.