Irish Setter
Learn about the temperament and personality of the Irish Setter. Discover what he's like to live with, his traits and characteristics and how he generally behaves. And look at lots of Irish Setter photos.

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Irish Setter Temperament
The beautiful Irish Setter makes a fantastic family pet for an active family. These happy-go-lucky dogs possess a rollicking personality. They are very high-energy and need lots and lots of exercise. A daily walk is good, but usually not enough. These dogs like to run, and they are fast! And you have to be careful because they like to follow their nose and explore the world. They are outgoing, athletic, and mischievous, with a strong hunting instinct. They love to play -- they love games and toys! They also love to be outdoors. It is important to start obedience training early to prevent an Irish Setter from developing destructive habits. They can cause a lot of damage to your furniture if they get bored. They are intelligent, quick learners, and can make wonderful obedience dogs. Once they learn something, they remember it for a long time. They will want to please you. But they are independent thinkers, and will try to creatively manipulate situations to their advantage. They can be quite the pranksters. They do well with children, but are so boisterous that they can accidentally knock small kids down. They are also not very tolerant of rough toddler play. They also like to lick kids' faces, so if you are a germ-a-phobe, this could be a problem. Most Irish Setters do well with other dogs and with cats. They are very affectionate, and can be quite demonstrative. They make good watchdogs, because they love to watch everything and to keep you informed of all events. They will certainly announce the arrival of all newcomers to your yard, including squirrels and birds. These clownish dogs act like puppies for the first 2-3 years of their lives, but they do housetrain quickly. They are fun, fun-loving, and loving family pets, whose exuberant tails can make short work of your coffee table.
Irish Setter Training
The Irish Setter is intelligent and quite easy to train. He learns new commands quickly at an above average rate.
Irish Setter Shedding
The Irish Setter sheds a fair amount of hair. You'll find hair stuck to your couch, carpets, clothes and everything else in your home.
Irish Setter Grooming
The medium-length coat of the Irish Setter only requires an occasional brushing. But because he sheds you may find yourself brushing him once or twice a week to remove loose hair. (What you get out with a brush doesn't fall out in your home!)
Adopt an Irish Setter
Irish Setter Photos
Rating: Ease of training
Tells you how easy or difficult a breed is to train.
A higher rating means the breed is easier to train, a lower rating means the breed is harder to train.
An easy to train breed require less time and patience to train.
Rating: Intelligence
Tells you how intelligent a breed is in terms of how quickly it can learn commands from humans. A higher rating means the breed will learn your commands faster (and is therefore generally considered to be more intelligent), while a lower rating means the breed will learn your commands more slowly (and is therefore generally considered to be less intelligent).
Keep in mind that this is only one way to measure a dog's intelligence and a low rating might still mean the breed is highly intelligent in other ways.
Rating: Shedding
Tells you how much hair the breed sheds. The higher the rating the more hair the breed sheds.
Rating: Watchdog
Tells you how good the breed is at being a watchdog and raising the alarm when a stranger approaches. A higher rating means the breed will bark vigorously to warn you of a stranger's presence on your property. A low rating means the breed probably won't bark much if a stranger enters your property.
Rating: Guard dog
Tells you how good the breed is at being a guard dog due to the appearance, size, and strength of the breed. A breed with a high guard dog rating will make an intruder think twice before stepping foot on your property.
Rating: Popularity
Tells you how popular the breed is in terms of ownership. A higher rating means that more people own the breed. The more popular a breed is the easier it is to find and purchase one because there are more breeders breeding it.
Rating: Size
Tells you how large or small the breed is. A lower rating means the breed is smaller and a higher rating means the breed is larger. It gives you a quick idea of how physically large or small the breed is compared with all the other breeds.
Rating: Agility
Tells you how agile the breed is. A higher rating means the breed is fast and nimble on its feet while a lower rating means the breed is heavier and slower on its feet.
Rating: Good with kids
Tells you how good the breed is with children. A higher rating means the breed is good with children. Note: all breeds are generally good with kids when they're raised with them.