Llewellin Setters Breeders Blog

The subject of umbilical hernias comes up frequently. One must assume therefore that the condition also comes up frequently in many if not all breeds of dogs.
This is a subject where you will no doubt find variances in Veterinary opinions. Some vets clinging tenaciously to the opinion that all defects at the midline are hernias and therefore must be surgically repaired without delay and the dog never bred. End of subject. Naturally, you can never be shown to be wrong if you follow this course of action so you remain above criticism.

Research on line will only serve to confuse you more. I propose therefore to simply pass on to you my own experience, particularly with the Llewellin Setters and will then publish for you information what I consider to be one of the most valid and informed professional articles on this subject.

Delayed closures, which may or may not be actual hernias, are found in the Llewellin Setter. The offspring of certain bitches seem to produce examples more than others. This would indicate that it tends to be hereditary. Good breeders will try to phase these animals out of the breeding program since it is, if nothing else, a nuisance and a significant expense. Around $250 average to repair. If the animal is a female who will be spayed it is really not a problem at all since surgical entry can be made at the umbilical and repair made when closing. The repair is usually straightforward with no complications and the hunting dog’s life will go forward as normal.

It is my own experience that the majority of examples we see in Llewellin Setters are not in fact true hernias but rather delayed closures which resolve by 9 to 12 months. You will find vets who are adamant that this will never happen. Take it from a breeder it can and does happen with this breed. It is important to check every day to see that the protrusion stays soft and can be reduced (pushed back in) and that nothing is being trapped.

If you want to make an immediate contribution to your vet’s retirement fund, go ahead and get it fixed. Nothing lost beside your money. If you keep an eye on it and wait it out it will resolve most of the time.

From my kennel we would never sell you a pup with this condition unless we discuss it first and you understand the prognosis. Of course we work constantly to eradicate all congenital and hereditary situations but the fact is this has been cropping up for hundreds of years so we may have to work around it a bit longer.

Keith H. Smith

If your Llewellin Setter pup is going to live in the house, and we most certainly encourage this, then you will be very interested in housebreaking him. There is a school of thought that a gun dog must be a tough macho beast who endures the weather no matter what mother nature throws at us and to get him accustomed to this he is better off living in an outside kennel. This is pure nonsense. Get pup bonded and close to you and sharing your world. He will handle better, understand you better, and respond better to commands. If he could also have an optional outside kennel to use at certain times especially to enjoy the good weather periods, then so much the better.
(Read on …)

It is only natural I suppose that if you have been lucky enough to get a Female dog who really excels in the field that you would want to breed her and make the offspring available to those not so fortunate. Your friends and relatives must surely want a dog just like yours!

In addition,”It is common knowledge that having a litter of pups is good for the female dog, it helps to settle them down” So, I am shopping for a male pup, which I will be able to breed to my bitch eventually. All breeders get calls all the time with this type of input. Let us consider this matter. (Read on …)

To the new owner the question of how to train and when to commence training are issues we are often questioned on. Of course we must split the training issue into two parts.

Part I. Yard Work

This would be the training you would expect to do even if you had no intentions of ever hunting with the dog. However, yard work is very necessary as a foundation for field work also, so it is the mandatory first phase.

Part II. Development of the finished bird dog. This is a process also of several steps which are best accomplished in logical sequence without hurry or pressure on the dog. The question of whether any of these steps are best done by the owner or placed into the hands of a professional will be discussed. (Read on …)

Male or Female?

It is a fact that enquiries for female pups occur at a ratio of at least 2 to 1 versus males, sometimes much higher. Why is this, we often ask? We are given a number of reasons, many of which make little or no sense and in fact quite often after discussion of the pros and cons a client will change direction.

Some examples from these discussions follow:

“I have read that females are just better hunters”. Okay, let’s see if there are verifiable facts to back this up. One thing easy to do is to go to the published records of the Field Dog Stud Book and see if over the years more females have won major field trial events than Males. The answer is a definite NO. In the National Championships over a period of 88 years it has been won 60 times by a male and 28 times by a female. This is not of statistical significance since we did not look at how many males versus females were entered. We suspect many more males were in competition. (Read on …)

Very few subjects are more controversial or problematic to both the breeder and the client than that of how and when to decide on which puppy you will take into your life. There has been much written on this subject and almost all of what has been read by the writer seems very questionable or totally non applicable, at least to the Llewellin breed. Let’s start with what age should the pup be?

In the State of Pennsylvania at least, the state law prohibits the sale of pups under 7 weeks old. This is a good law–there is no good reason to take the pup away from it’s siblings before this time and plenty of good reasons to allow it more time with them. (Read on …)

There is much discussion by Setter owners, and would be owners, on the topic of Setter tail carriage. In particular, how the tail will or does appear when the dog is on point.

This is of much more interest in the United States than in Europe. The reason for this is that the field trial community, especially the horse back trial enthusiasts in America, have selectively bred both Pointers and Setters over the past 100 years to be “High at both ends” meaning the dog should point its birds with the head held high and the tail at or close to vertical, the so called, “twelve o’clock”, position.

This is the appearance we have all become most accustomed to seeing in gun dog magazines and sporting artwork of more recent origin. The reason for the high tail being preferred is connected to increased visibility of the dog on point at long ranges associated with horse back trialing. (Read on …)