Summary
The Gordon Setter is the largest and heaviest of the setters — a stylish, powerful Scottish gundog built like a weight-carrying hunter, with a deep shining black coat and rich chestnut-tan markings. Bred to quarter moorland for game birds, it is steady, thorough and tireless in the field, and calm, dignified and affectionate at home. Bold and outgoing but with an even, kindly disposition, it bonds deeply with its family and is famously good with children. It needs plenty of exercise, patient training and company; it is a big, sensitive dog that does not thrive on neglect.
History & origin
The Gordon Setter takes its name from Alexander Gordon, the fourth Duke of Gordon, who kept and bred black-and-tan setters at Gordon Castle in Banffshire, Scotland, in the late eighteenth century. Developed from the old Scottish setting dogs crossed with black-and-tan bloodhounds and other breeds, it was bred to work the heather moors — finding, pointing and flushing game birds — and to be steady, biddable and tough enough for long days on rough ground. The breed was recognised in Britain in the nineteenth century and by the FCI as a British setter; today it is the least common of the setters but remains prized by working and show enthusiasts for its brains, stamina and steady nature.
Care
The Gordon Setter's coat is flat, moderate in length and free from curl, with long silky feathering on the ears, legs, belly and tail — beautiful, but demanding regular care: brushing two or three times a week keeps the feathering free of tangles, and the coat sheds moderately. Ears, feet and the feathering behind the legs need particular attention, and an occasional trim tidies the outline. Setters are working dogs with real stamina, so they need a good daily run or long walk plus training or scent games; a bored Gordon Setter can become destructive. Intelligent and willing but sensitive and slow to mature, it learns best with kind, consistent, positive methods, and it needs early, thorough socialisation.
Conditions
The Gordon Setter is a big, active dog that suits owners with space, time and a love of the outdoors; it needs a garden or good access to open country and plenty of daily exercise. Patient, gentle and deeply attached to its family, it is good with children and usually with other pets, though as a gundog it should be carefully introduced to small animals. It is reserved rather than aggressive with strangers and makes a watchful companion. It dislikes being left alone for long and can be unhappy in a cramped, inactive household. Its size, coat and enthusiasm mean it does best with an involved owner who enjoys training, walking and sharing life with a sporting dog.
