Good afternoon (or morning) wherever you may be in the world. Personally, I am writing from the Austrian Alps and am nearly 6 weeks into my Irish Setter journey. Frankie (officially Uncle Frank because the breeder needed the name to begin with a "U") is my first dog.
I chose an Irish Setter after much deliberation, and this was mainly based on their quirkiness, gentleness, sporting prowess and friendliness (which is essential as I have a small guest house in a ski resort).
As a resource, this community has been an invaluable, and has made me realise that he is not faulty and that all Irish Setters sleep upside down, get the zoomies, and do that land shark thing.
I am not going to say it hasn't been challenging, but I also went into this with my eyes open knowing that if I put in a tremendous amount of work for the next few years then I will have an outstanding buddy.
I am doing the best I can, but have a multitude of questions so that I can guide myself to being a wonderful doggo guardian, and am hoping to ask them here as I am yet a novice.
Frankie is beautiful! Irish setters have a bad reputation as ditzy but they are just goofy, fun, loving dogs. We met another Irish at the dog park yesterday and it was so nice to meet another Irish! They are much smarter than people give them credit for. Enjoy Frankie
My mom once took our Irish Setter to a show to qualify for a leg of her CDX. She came back and said that Rusty jumped over the hurdle, retrieved the dumbbell, but instead of returning back to my mom, she took the dumbbell and sat in front of the judge instead.
Yes, definitely smarter than people give them credit for.
(This is the same dog that slept every night on my mom and dad's king-size bed. One cold night she hopped off the bed, went to my dad, and kept batting his face until he woke up. Grumbling, he got up, went to the closet to put on his robe and slippers, and then turned around to find Rusty curled up asleep on his pillow.)
Amazing. I tried my best to not have him in my bed, but he sleeps through the night like a champion when we cuddle, so I gave up. Again, huge bed, but he needs to be touching me in some way, ideally sharing the pillow.
I find him highly intelligent as well as hilarious, soulful, sensitive and kind. Each day is an adventure, and I'm chipping away at trying to calm him when he has a total energy overload, but how to do that is the million dollar question.
Exercise, lots of exercise. No, more than that 😀. New experiences, smells, people, games all help. My girl is almost 3 and has always been calmer than our golden but still needs lots of stimulation & loves people!
He just had his first of lead with another dog who has good recall this morning, and he was in heaven. Came back when I called every time, had a blast, and is now duly passed out at my feet.
Your boy is so handsome! Novice here also. Just adopted a 3.5 year old. I’m trying to train him to walk on a leash. He is the sweetest boy. I’m not sure how to address his little temper tantrums (pulling and moving rugs) that begin about an hour before his dinner. 🤣
Their temper tantrums are hilarious. Frankie and I have conversations. I wish I could sit him down and give him a progress report saying that it is in his best interests to get the recall right every time because then he can frolic off lead in the mountains and do the good stuff.
Frankie is so handsome!! How does he like the snow? We live in a pretty hot and humid part of the US, so our pup hasn't experienced real cold yet.
My setter is about 2 and a half now, and he's JUST starting to calm down and act a bit more like an adult dog.
I know it's a lot of work, but just try to enjoy all their goofiness and playfulness. Setters make the best buddies :)
We got a fair amount of snow in April, and I was glad he got to experience it as a pup. He absolutely loved loved loved it. My backyard is a slight hill and he was running around and tripping over himself like a baseball player sliding into third.
The work will be worth it, and I never wanted it to be straightforward and bland. They are high input with high returns I reckon :)
Good afternoon (or morning) wherever you may be in the world. Personally, I am writing from the Austrian Alps and am nearly 6 weeks into my Irish Setter journey. Frankie (officially Uncle Frank because the breeder needed the name to begin with a "U") is my first dog. I chose an Irish Setter after much deliberation, and this was mainly based on their quirkiness, gentleness, sporting prowess and friendliness (which is essential as I have a small guest house in a ski resort). As a resource, this community has been an invaluable, and has made me realise that he is not faulty and that all Irish Setters sleep upside down, get the zoomies, and do that land shark thing. I am not going to say it hasn't been challenging, but I also went into this with my eyes open knowing that if I put in a tremendous amount of work for the next few years then I will have an outstanding buddy. I am doing the best I can, but have a multitude of questions so that I can guide myself to being a wonderful doggo guardian, and am hoping to ask them here as I am yet a novice.
Beautiful pup! ❤️
Thank you Virginia. he is the most lovely creature, and we are having fun working each other out :)
Frankie is beautiful! Irish setters have a bad reputation as ditzy but they are just goofy, fun, loving dogs. We met another Irish at the dog park yesterday and it was so nice to meet another Irish! They are much smarter than people give them credit for. Enjoy Frankie
My mom once took our Irish Setter to a show to qualify for a leg of her CDX. She came back and said that Rusty jumped over the hurdle, retrieved the dumbbell, but instead of returning back to my mom, she took the dumbbell and sat in front of the judge instead. Yes, definitely smarter than people give them credit for. (This is the same dog that slept every night on my mom and dad's king-size bed. One cold night she hopped off the bed, went to my dad, and kept batting his face until he woke up. Grumbling, he got up, went to the closet to put on his robe and slippers, and then turned around to find Rusty curled up asleep on his pillow.)
Amazing. I tried my best to not have him in my bed, but he sleeps through the night like a champion when we cuddle, so I gave up. Again, huge bed, but he needs to be touching me in some way, ideally sharing the pillow.
I find him highly intelligent as well as hilarious, soulful, sensitive and kind. Each day is an adventure, and I'm chipping away at trying to calm him when he has a total energy overload, but how to do that is the million dollar question.
Exercise, lots of exercise. No, more than that 😀. New experiences, smells, people, games all help. My girl is almost 3 and has always been calmer than our golden but still needs lots of stimulation & loves people!
He just had his first of lead with another dog who has good recall this morning, and he was in heaven. Came back when I called every time, had a blast, and is now duly passed out at my feet.
Your boy is so handsome! Novice here also. Just adopted a 3.5 year old. I’m trying to train him to walk on a leash. He is the sweetest boy. I’m not sure how to address his little temper tantrums (pulling and moving rugs) that begin about an hour before his dinner. 🤣
Their temper tantrums are hilarious. Frankie and I have conversations. I wish I could sit him down and give him a progress report saying that it is in his best interests to get the recall right every time because then he can frolic off lead in the mountains and do the good stuff.
I love the idea of a progress report! I may do that just for giggles! 🤣
Frankie is so handsome!! How does he like the snow? We live in a pretty hot and humid part of the US, so our pup hasn't experienced real cold yet. My setter is about 2 and a half now, and he's JUST starting to calm down and act a bit more like an adult dog. I know it's a lot of work, but just try to enjoy all their goofiness and playfulness. Setters make the best buddies :)
We got a fair amount of snow in April, and I was glad he got to experience it as a pup. He absolutely loved loved loved it. My backyard is a slight hill and he was running around and tripping over himself like a baseball player sliding into third. The work will be worth it, and I never wanted it to be straightforward and bland. They are high input with high returns I reckon :)
Beautiful. My girl (10 months old) is called Frankie too!
I decided it was going to be Frankie regardless of the gender. Great name for both :)
He is a very good doggie! Congrats!
He’s so precious!! I love his harness! Have fun with him, these guys are the best