Irish Red and White Setter

Irish Red and White Setters are generally a healthy breed.

The Irish Red and White Setter is a breed of dog, more specifically a setter.

Irish Red and White setters should be combed and well brushed each week to keep the coat well groomed.

Irish Red and White setters successfully compete in conformation shows and field trials attaining champions in both disciplines.

The Irish Red and White setter should have an aristocratic, well proportioned, balanced appearance yet still be strong and powerful without lumber or coarseness.

The Irish Red and White setter can be the most devoted and affectionate of dogs making them ideal all-round family dogs.

The Irish Red and White Setter Club of GB felt the outcross was not desirable nor necessary.

As the breed name implies Irish Red and White setters must be red and white and it is an important feature of the breed.

Irish Red and White setters do not require as much trimming for presentation in conformation shows as the other setters as they have lighter coats.

The Irish Red and White setter still has an ingrained natural working ability, so when correctly trained and given the appropriate opportunity, will work well performing its original function.

Despite the breed's early origins, it almost became extinct until dedicated breeders managed to revive interest and restore the Irish Red and White setter to a viable position.

It is part of the Setter family, which includes the red Irish Setters, Irish Red and White Setters, and black-and-tan Gordon Setters.

Initially, the list included the Irish Red and White Setter and the Gordon Setter but Gordons were re-classified as viable in January 2007 after consultation with the breed clubs.

It wasn't until January 1, 2009 that the Irish Red and White setter became eligible for American Kennel Club registration and was thereafter able to compete in the sporting group at its shows.

All registered Irish Red and White Setters are the descendants of the dogs accepted by the Irish Kennel Club at the time of the revival of the breed in the 1970s.

The programme was supported by the Irish Red and White Setter Club of Ireland, the Irish Red Setter Club (Ireland) and other national Kennel Clubs.

It was shown that of the more than two hundred breeds registered by the Kennel Club, compulsory health tests exist only for the Irish Setter and Irish Red and White Setter.

The Irish Kennel Club approached the Irish Red Setter Club during 1976 to ask if it was willing to help oversee the revival of the Irish Red and White Setter.

From 1 January 2009, the Irish Red and White Setter was fully recognised by the American Kennel Club (AKC), and was eligible to compete in conformation and all other competitive fields.

The IKC felt there was a high degree of inbreeding within ten generations of Irish Red and White setters and wished to increase the genetic diversity of the breed to prevent genetic problems arising from close inbreeding.

Currently there are four dogs in the AKC's Miscellaneous Class which are Dogue de Bordeaux, Redbone Coonhound, Irish Red and White Setter, Norwegian Buhund and Pyrenean Shepherd.

Irish Red and White setters bred by the Gormleys under their kennel name of 'Meudon' proved influential worldwide as their red and whites were exported to Italy, America and Holland as well as to the UK.

The Reverend Noble Huston (died 1944), was the minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Ballynahinch, County Down and a breeder of dogs, credited with saving the Irish Red and White Setter from extinction in the early the twentieth century.

It considered the genes of the working lines of Irish Setters were very similar to those of the Irish Red and White setters and the close ancestry had already been used to aid the revival of the Irish Red and White setter.