large breed
Irish Setter
Tall, mahogany-red and the most exuberant dog in the sporting group - bred to range wide and fast across open Irish country and still built for exactly that. Irish Setters are affectionate to a fault, wonderful with children and sociable with everything that moves. The two things to plan for are the exercise, which is closer to two hours than one, and an adolescence that can run for three years.
Pup Height
25-27 in
Pup Weight
60-70 lb
Males 27 in and about 70 lb, females 25 in and about 60 lb - the tallest and raciest of the setters. Mahogany or rich chestnut red only, with long silky feathering on the ears, chest, legs and tail. Field-bred lines run smaller, lighter-coated and higher-drive than show lines, and the difference is substantial enough to matter when choosing a puppy. Source: AKC breed standard.
Pup Lifespan
12-15 years
Your pup, at a glance
What’s Life With This Pup Really Like?
Very high. They are demonstrative to the point of comedy, lean on people, and consider themselves lap-sized at seventy pounds.
Excellent. Affectionate, gentle and playful, with the caveat that a bouncy adolescent Setter knocks small children flat without noticing.
Very good. Sociable with dogs and generally fine with cats, with a prey drive aimed at birds rather than the household.
Moderate. They announce arrivals cheerfully and are not persistently noisy dogs.
Very high. Two hours with real running daily, and it barely tapers until late in life.
Moderate. The silky feathering sheds steadily and shows on furniture.
The maximum on this site alongside the Flatcoat. They play with total abandon and keep it up for years.
Low.
Moderate. Bright and genuinely willing, and distractible enough that training takes longer than with most gundogs.
Very low. They greet everyone as a friend and have no guarding instinct whatsoever.
High. Brushing several times a week plus a trim every couple of months and weekly ear care.
Low to moderate. They suit active households with ground and adapt badly to apartments and to anyone expecting a calm dog before three.
Lifestyle fit
Could This Be Your Best Breed?
An Irish Setter suits a house with a securely fenced yard, a family that is outdoors anyway, and a sense of humor about a dog who stays daft for years. Budget $1,700 to $2,900 a year, brush the feathering two or three times a week, and expect twelve to fifteen years. A settled adult inside the first two years is the one thing an Irish Setter cannot give you, and an apartment or a quiet household is not where those years go well.
Living Space
A house with a securely fenced yard and ground to run. Irish Setters are ranging bird dogs with enormous stamina, and an apartment with two short walks makes them destructive rather than calm.
Pup Experience
Good for an active first-time owner with a sense of humor. Irish Setters are affectionate and sociable and they are also famously scatty and slow to mature - people who want a serious dog at eighteen months choose badly here.
Daily Pup Time
Ninety minutes to two hours daily with real running and scent work. Grooming is a thorough brush two or three times a week plus a trim every couple of months.
Allergies & Coat
The Irish Setter scores 6/10 for shedding and 3/10 for drooling. No dog is truly hypoallergenic. The allergens come from dander and saliva, and a dog that sheds this much will leave plenty of hair behind - especially on your furniture, floors, and clothes.
Quirks & challenges
The Not-So-Easy Stuff
Very Long Adolescence
Silly and scatty until around three, in a seventy-pound frame that grew up long before.
Serious Exercise Needs
Two hours with running and scent work. This is the main reason the breed ends up in rescue.
They Range
Bred to hunt well ahead of the gun. Secure fencing and a long line in open country.
Easily Distracted
Training sticks slowly because their attention goes elsewhere, not because they cannot learn.
The Feathering Mats
Long silky furnishings that tangle fast. Brushing several times a week, not weekly.
No Guarding Instinct
They greet everyone as a friend. Get one for company, never for security.
The good, the bad & the hairy
Health, Care & Costs
Understanding the health risks and ongoing costs of a Irish Setter helps you plan for a happy, healthy life together.
12-15 years
$70-$110
per groom (bath, feathering trim, ears, feet, nails), every 8-10 weeks ($400-$750/year)
$1,700-$2,900/year
all-in (food, routine vet, grooming, insurance, incidentals)
Health Risks
Conditions this breed is prone to.
An inherited immune disorder specific to the Irish setters, in which white blood cells cannot reach infection sites and affected puppies die young of overwhelming infection. It is DNA testable and testing both parents removes the risk entirely - ask for the certificates.
The retina degenerates gradually until the dog is blind, usually starting with night vision. There is no treatment and there is a DNA test for the form found in this breed, so tested parents remove the risk.
The stomach fills with gas and twists, cutting off its own circulation, and it kills within hours without emergency surgery. The deep chest puts them at genuine risk - split meals, keep hard exercise well clear of them, and discuss a preventive gastropexy.
The hip joint develops loosely so the ball wears in the socket instead of gliding, leading to arthritis and sometimes surgery. Present at moderate rates and screened by scoring both parents.
The thyroid under-produces, causing weight gain, lethargy and coat and skin problems. Common in the breed, diagnosed by blood test, and controlled with an inexpensive daily tablet.
Seizures with no other underlying cause, usually first appearing between one and five years old. Controlled with daily medication rather than cured, and the drugs and monitoring are a lifelong cost.
Insurance & Health Coverage
Bloat is the emergency to plan for rather than insure against alone - several thousand dollars, fatal within hours, and worth a gastropexy conversation given the deep chest.
Insure young for the usual reason: hip notes and thyroid or seizure diagnoses all become permanent exclusions once they are on a record, and epilepsy in particular is managed for life rather than cured, so check how a policy handles ongoing conditions across renewal years.
If you intend to work them, check whether the wording excludes injuries sustained while hunting; several policies do.
CLAD and progressive retinal atrophy are congenital and uncovered by any policy, and both are DNA testable in the parents. On those two the breeder's paperwork is the protection.
Get a Pet Insurance Quote
Care needs
The Daily Routine
Grooming
A flat, fine, silky coat with long feathering on the ears, chest, belly, legs and tail that needs a thorough brush two or three times a week - mats form fastest behind the ears, under the elbows and in the trousers. A trim every couple of months keeps the feet and furnishings tidy. Ears want checking and drying weekly, and after any outing in cover pick grass seeds out of the feathering and between the toes.
Exercise
Ninety minutes to two hours daily with genuine running. Field work, hiking, running and scent games all suit them, and a fenced space to open up in matters more than distance on a leash.
Food & Weight
Two measured meals with hard exercise kept clear of them given the bloat risk. They are lean and racy by build and the feathering hides condition, so go by feel through the ribs.
Similar breeds
If This Isn’t Quite the One
Irish Red and White Setter
The older breed this one descends from, and the steadier of the two. The Red and White is stockier, a touch more biddable and considerably rarer; the Irish Setter is taller, racier and easier to find.
English Setter
A comparable pointing setter with a noticeably calmer head. The English is gentler and matures sooner; the Irish is more energetic and stays puppyish for far longer.