Gordon Setter

FCI standard Nº 6

Origin
Great Britain
Group
Group 7 Pointing Dogs
Section
Section 2.2 British and Irish Pointers and Setters; Setters
Working
With working trial
Acceptance on a definitive basis by the FCI
Tuesday 28 May 1963
Publication of the official valid standard
Monday 04 April 2016
Last update
Wednesday 01 June 2016
En français, cette race se dit
Setter Gordon
Diese Norm ist in deutscher Sprache sichtbar
Gordon Setter
En español, esta raza se dice
Setter Gordon
In het Nederlands, wordt dit ras gezegd
Gordon Setter

Usage

Pointing dog.

General appearance

Stylish dog, with galloping lines. Consistent with its build which can be compared to a weight-carrying hunter. Symmetrical in conformation throughout.

Behaviour / temperament

Intelligent, able and dignified. Bold, outgoing, of a kindly even disposition.

Head

Cranial region

Head
Deep rather than broad. Length from occiput to stop longer than from stop to nose. Below and above eyes lean.
Skull
Slightly rounded, broadest between ears. Broader than muzzle, showing brain room. 
Stop
Clearly defined.

Facial region

Nose
Large, broad, nostrils open and black
Muzzle
Long with almost parallel lines, neither pointed nor snipey. Muzzle note quite as deep as its length.
Lips
Not pendulous, clearly defined lips.
Jaws and teeth
Jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
Cheeks
As narrow as leanness of head allows.
Eyes
Dark brown, bright. Neither deep nor prominent, set sufficiently under brows, showing keen, intelligent expression.
Ears
Medium size, thin. Set low, lying close to head.

Neck

Long, lean, arched, without throatiness.

Body

Body
Moderate length.
Loin
Wide, slightly arched.
Chest
Not too broad. Brisket deep, ribs well sprung. Back ribs deep.

Tail

Straight or slightly scimitar, not reaching below hocks. Carried horizontally or below line of back. Thick at root, tapering to fine point. Feather or flag starting near root, long, straight, growing shorter to point.

Limbs

Forequarters

Generality
Forelegs flat boned, straight, strong.
Shoulders
Shoulder blades long, sloping well back, wide flat bone, close at withers, not loaded.
Elbows
Well let down and close to body.
Pastern
Upright.
Forefeet
Oval, close-knit, well arched toes, plenty of hair betweeen. Well paded toes, deep heel cushions.

Hindquarters

Generality
From hip to hock, the hindlegs are long, broad and muscular. From hock to heel short and strong. Straight from hock joint to ground. Pelvis tending to horizontal.
Stifle
Well bent.
Hind feet
Oval, close-knit, well arched toes, plenty of hair betweeen. Well paded toes, deep heel cushions.

Gait and movement

Steady, free-moving and true, with plenty of drive behind.

Coat

Hair
On head, front of legs, tips of ears short and fine; moderate length, flat and free from curl or wave on all other parts of body. Feather on upper portion of ears long and silky; on backs of legs long, fine, flat and straight, fringes on belly may extend to chest and throat. As free as possible from curl or wave.
Colour
Deep, shining coal black, without rustiness, with markings of chestnut red, i.e. lustrous tan. Black pencilling on toes and black streak under jaw permissible.
Tan markings: Two clear spots over eyes not over 2 cms (3/4 ins.) in diameter. On sides of muzzle, tan not reaching above base of nose, resembling a stripe around clearly defined end of muzzle from one side to other. Also on throat, two large, clear spots on chest. On inside hindlegs and inside thighs, showing down front of stifle and broadening out to outside of hindlegs from hock to toes. On forelegs, up to elbows behind, and to pastern joints or little above, in front. Around vent. Very small white spot on chest permissible. No other colour permissible.

Size and weight

Height at withers
Dogs 66 cm (26 ins.), bitches 62 cm (24 ½ ins.).
Weight
Dogs 29.5 kg (65 lbs), bitches 25.5 kg (56 lbs).

Faults

• Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and its ability to perform its traditional work.
• Faults listed should be in degree of seriousness.

Disqualifying faults

 Aggressive or overly shy.

NB :

• Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
• The above mentioned faults when occurring to a highly marked degree or frequently are disqualifying.
• Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
• Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding.

Bibliography

https://www.fci.be/

 

Additional information from visitors

Although black-n-tan setters existed all over Europe and Great Britain for centuries, the modern Gordon Setter was developed in the 18th century by the Duke of Richmond and Gordon in Banffshire, Scotland. Using a variety of working dogs, such as old English Spaniels, Bloodhounds, Collies and common setters and mastiffs, the breed's creator succesfully established a reliable scenthound and gundog, bred for endurance and steady temperament, instead of speed and prey-drive. The British Gordon Setter Club was formed in 1927 and today the breed can be found worldwide. Very intelligent and friendly, the Gordon Setter makes a loving companion, but this breed is nowhere near as popular as other setters, which is a shame, because it is by far the calmest and gentlest dog of the group. Quite heavy and slow, the Gordon Setter needs a moderate ammount of excercise. The coat is fairly long, wavy and feathered, always black-n-tan in colour. Average height is around 26 inches.

Detailed history

Edward Laverack, a big Setters lover and breeder inspired by Setters English, told the Setter that he was only an improved Spaniel, an appreciation which, in his mouth, had nothing derogatory for the breed, unlike.

But who was this former Spaniel? Some say it would be a Spanish hunting dog, hence its name. Gaston Phoebus, count of Foix, quotes for his part in his famous Treaty of the hunt, the Dog of Oysel, a kind of spaniel who went to bed as soon as he had spotted the bird to capture, which then allowed the hunters to throw a net on the dog and the bird, hence the name of Oysel. It is most likely that the Setters descend from this dog. Moreover, the word Setter itself comes from the English verb to set, which means to set up, in this case to lie down, or strengthen, to freeze, that is to say to take the stop for the dog.

From the first days of the shooting hunt, these dogs were imported, perhaps from France, to the British Isles and more particularly to Ireland, where they were a great success. The Setters could then present different dresses: red, white and orange, tricolor ... It seems that the dogs that developed in Scotland were frequently black and fire.

Thus, a painting of the seventeenth century shows King Charles II accompanied by two dogs, one is very clearly a Cavalier King Charles and the other a Setter, black and tan (black and fire).

At the end of the eighteenth century, Alexander of Gordon, Duke of his state, began to select in his kennels in Aberdeen a very particular lineage based on local black and tan and Irish tricolor. Legend has it that a bitch Colley with a black robe, admitted to the duke's hunts thanks to his admirable nose and his ability to stop the game, was covered by the stallions of the Duke of Gordon, and thus contributed to create the breed. Alexander de Gordon had set himself the goal of obtaining a rustic dog capable of hunting the grouse, a bird of extreme timidity, very difficult to approach. It is presumed that other crossings were made, perhaps with the Pointer and the Great Continental Spaniel (thus, again the Dog of Oysel), some even speak of Saint-Hubert. Others, and more likely, mention a new contribution from Irish Setter. The Duke of Gordon was not alone in searching for such a dog, and was soon followed by other precursors, such as Major Douglas de Broughty, Lord Penmure, and Mr. Thompson. All worked very well, and their dogs were soon very popular throughout the UK.

At the beginning of the 20th century, all Gordon Setters were black and fiery, but not all Black and Fire Setters were authentic Gordons. In fact, this dress had developed in other regions, apart from the carefully supervised lineages of the kennels of the Duke and his followers. The current Gordon Setter is said to come from a cross between these two strains, the noble and the other.

The story of the Setter Gordon can not be mentioned without mentioning the reappearances of the white color that occurred at the time and still occur in the dress of these dogs. Poetic spirits see in them the mark of the original Colley blood. Others, more pragmatic, are the responsibility of the Irish Setter ancestry. Indeed, this Setter was formerly white and red and many are the subjects of this race that present today white marks. Similarly, Gordons are sometimes marked with white on the chest. In general, beauty lovers try to eliminate these spots, because they prefer the aesthetics of a dress more united.

But the future would still bring other fluctuations in the destiny of this dog. The beginning of the nineteenth century marked, besides further spreading of Gordon in Great Britain, its export to other hunting areas. The breed arrived in France and Scandinavia, where it was very well received. It should be noted that the Scandinavian Gordon Setter Club has become the largest association of black and light lovers in Europe!

The breed also flourished in France and neighboring countries. The end of the Second Empire represented the apogee of Setter Gordon in France: Napoleon III himself used it in his drawings! Everything was going well for the Gordon in France when the defeat of 1870 came: it was the end of the great imperial hunts and the hour of decline for this dog.

The Gordon had to perform a "desert crossing" in the rules until 1905, the year that saw the formation of the National Breed Club. Imported primarily by Paul Caillard at this time, the Setter Gordon had fallen right. He was coming back to the moment when the French Spaniel, bastardized by an ill-realized selection, was no longer able to give satisfaction. The hunters leaned over the Setter Gordon, who was less impetuous than the Irishman, who was more rustic than the Englishman, and proved to be the ideal substitute. Become their favorite, the Gordon knew an unprecedented glory, which allowed, unlike many other races, to survive the war of 1914-1918.

During the 1920s, the selection of the Gordon Setter unfortunately led to a decline in its popularity among hunters. Indeed, it seems that very heavy dogs have been preferred to others, more athletic; As a result, the French no longer had anything but Gordons turned into oxen, obese, unable to "keep the distance" on a long day of hunting. The race was quickly discredited, and it would surely have lost even its most ardent amateurs if a certain Busnel Valley had not come into action.

In 1928, this Norman breeder, returning from an unforgettable grouse hunt in Scotland, decided to give back to the French cattle the quality that made him so badly lacking. After fifteen years of relentless effort, his breeding, "La Gordonniere", produced dogs as good as they were beautiful, of which the Duke of Gordon himself could have been proud.

Currently, the Setter Gordon remains perhaps the last of the Setters as far as the number is concerned, but in the field, he does not yield to anyone. Very athletic despite its large size and weight, • it hunts "French" and can suit anyone who wears the rifle. It adapts wonderfully to all territories, hunting all game, with a preference for the shy (and therefore the most difficult) such as woodcock and snipe, and does not fear a whole day's work. A superb breed that is also suitable as a companion dog, although its primary purpose is that of a born hunter. Beautiful, good, sweet and loving, the Setter Gordon is more and more loved by hunters and others. Because, never stingy neither of efforts nor of tenderness, it proves to us that one can be Scottish and know how to give.

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