Cordon Setter 

The Gordon Setter is the smartest of all bird dogs - and probably most other breeds as well. He is aware of your thinking and has a special affinity for his owner. He is a working partner in his relationship with his owner, and does NOT consider himself a dog. Yes, he has four feet - that's to run fast. Yes, he has a tail, too. But only rude people mention barely noticeable differences; certainly nothing of any importance . Gordons have reasoning capacity at the level of about a 5-year old human. They can consider a situation, make a decision, and live with the results. For example, we really prefer it if the (excuse me) "dogs" do NOT get in the garbage. But a Gordon can eye a garbage can, mentally list the contents, consider how much trouble he will get into if he makes the awful move, evaluate the consequences, decide that YOU were in error in throwing such wonderful stuff out, rationalize that he is not really "stealing" it, you just forgot to give it to him in the first place, and in the interest of protecting YOU from YOUR guilt over YOUR error, will take matters into his own paws. And when the wrath of an irate home-maker descends on his head, will accept the punishment and be really sorry. It depends on the individual Gordon as to whether he is sorry he got caught, or sorry he upset you. And if you doubt all this, just watch one figure all this out. They are clever; they are NOT subtle. Gordons have a (sometimes frustrating) habit that most of the best field dogs have. They will make a difficult 400 yard retrieve through a river, briars, and what have you, then drop the bird 15 feet away and race back out for the next bird. They seem to think that they have done the hard part, now you get in gear and do the rest of it, and let them get back to the important stuff - FINDING THE NEXT BIRD! Another field characteristic of many field-bred Gordons is their tendency when hunting to point the bird, and as the hunter approaches, break the point and circle the bird to pin it between dog and handler, thus reducing the bird's options for escape. This is heresy in field-trial circles, where a point, once established, better be held forever. Most people have heard legends about the one-in-a-million pointer that came on point in September and was lost. In March, the skeleton of the dog was found pointing the skeleton of the bird! That was NOT a Gordon Setter, and if that is what you want, don't even consider a Gordon. A Gordon Setter is many things. He is smart, he is wise, he is a best buddy, he is a hunting fiend. He will work day after day, and keep going to hunt more! But even the most extreme and intense Gordon Setter will NOT stay on a point until he dies! He may be intense, he may be dedicated, and he may love and live to hunt, but he is not stupid. In the past, and even to this day, Gordon Setters have received mixed reviews as a field dog. As a breed, they have been handicapped by novices or locally focused people that have tried to second guess the Duke of Gordon as to what a Gordon Setter was "meant" to do in the field. Too much time and energy has been spent worrying about non-essentials - to retrieve or not to retrieve, to run out of shotgun range, or not. The one thing we call all be assured of is that the Duke of Gordon set out to build the best bird dog he could! And he succeeded, but the controversy over the years since has led to some unfortunate results.  Among them - the New England-bred Gordon Setter doesn't run enough to satisfy customers in the west. That statement is made by the hunters out here. The east coast-bred Gordons tend to be too big, which may account, at least in part, for their range-restricted hunting. Dogs over 60 lbs. can't handle hour after hour, day after day hunting without becoming exhausted. Another contributing factor could be the lack of open areas to run in - are the dogs range restricted because they have no place to range, and therefore, selection for range is not a factor in breeding? What came first - chicken or egg? Do you think we are being too hard on the show-breeders-only? But wait! There's more! The other danger to our breed is the other extreme - Field Trialers. If show breeders are trying to make an Irish Setter out of a Gordon Setter, the field trial faction is trying to make the breed into an English Pointer! All run, no pattern, trained with a collar, and when the Gordon Setter doesn't measure up to Pointer standard, you discard the dog. The Gordon is the type of dog that works at a pace the hunter sets, but he is fast and thorough. Most Gordon Setters can adapt to any hunting situation, if it comes from FIELD lines. The flat pattern is the only pattern that cannot adapt. It works 300 feet on either side of your travel direction and if you walk too fast you walk right through their pattern. Even the All Age dog will pull down and work a Shooting Dog pattern if it is faced with a strong wind or heavy cover. I was in Ontario Canada with the publisher of "Ontario Out of Doors" and proved this point against his Pointers. I took two All-Age Field Champions out in heavy cover, and hunted grouse with him. He was amazed.An All Age Gordon does run bigger after 40 minutes in open cover, and continues to expand his range as the day goes on, so we don't send them where they are ill-suited. The Gordon pattern is far reaching, but he keeps one eye on his partner (and meal ticket) at all times. The pattern is missing in many upland bird dogs - they run, but don't apply the nose and pattern to the cover the way a Gordon Setter does. Therefore, the Gordon finds more birds! Ask an owner. The Gordon combines Bloodhound nose and Setter running gear straight out of Scotland where the Gorse Heather is blown flat (flat I said) and he has to move over this miserable and uneven surface with the birds buried down in it feeding. Scent is low and dog is running at a full gallop over the top off the cover. Nothing over 60 lbs. will succeed here!

Hindquarters *** The hind legs from hip to hock are long, flat and muscular; from hock to heel, short and strong. The stifle and hock joints are well bent and not turned either in or out. When the dog is standing with the rear pastern perpendicular to the ground, the thighbone hangs downward parallel to an imaginary line drawn upward from the hock. Feet as in front.

Coat ***  Soft and shining, straight or slightly waved, but not curly, with long hair on ears, under stomach and on chest, on back of the fore and hind legs, and on the tail. The feather which starts near the root of the tail is slightly waved or straight, having a triangular appearance, growing shorter uniformly toward the end.

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.

Note ***  Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

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