The English Setter breed is believed to have been developed from land spaniels of Spain, Spanish Pointer, Water Spaniel and Setter. It was introduced to the United States in the 1870's. The English Setter has a mild, sweet disposition. He may bark at strangers who come to his home but more as a greeting than a threat. English Setters come in a variety of colors. This dog thrives in the country where it can get a lot of exercise.
The English Setter is one of the oldest breeds of gundogs that were used as bird dogs trained to find and point game more than 400 hundreds years ago.
Originally setters were called setter-spaniels and are believed to be developed from the old Spanish Pointer, Water Spaniels and Springer Spaniels. Three distinct types of English Setters have been developed - Laverack, Llewellin and Ryman. All of these types are superior hunting dogs with excellent disposition. The Ryman type was developed by G. Ryman in the early 1910's from Laverack and Llewellin setters to combine the the Llewellin's outstanding field talents with the beauty of Laverack setters. Ryman setters are orange or blue belton or tricolor. Ryman setters are very popular as hunting and show dogs. They combine beautiful looks, intelligence, mild disposition and good hunting abilities. This breed is very intelligent and active and requires lots of human attention. English setters can be noisy and destructive if left alone for long hours.