Hi Guys,

Hope everyone is well?

God I love these forums! I'm addicted! I only joined about a month ago but can't leave them alone now!

Ruby has her third show in a fortnight, and I think her coat is one of the things that is letting her down.

We have the showgroom as recommended and the copper shampoo but she still has these horrible "wispy" bits down her sides that I cannot get rid of! One lady told me they are just dead hair and will just strip out but I cannot get them out easily by pulling them and I don't want to hurt her, if anything they look like that fluffy new coat, not dead hair.

Also, she had a tick on her nose which was removed correctly and has caused no further problems, other than a small bald patch which even after about a month or more is showing no signs of growing back, what with that and the scratch near her eye that is now bald she looks like a scallywag not a potential show winner! The annoying thing is before we entered her for her first show she had absolutely no blemishes on her coat! How annoying!

Thanks in advance guys!

Nicki xxx

How old is ruby?  Setter coats are funny things and without eeing it's hard to say.

Are the whispy bits lighter then the rest?  If they are lighter then her coat then it's dead hair and hand strippinig technique will get them on easily, if they are her normal colour I would go with new coat coming though so leave it and let the rest catch up.  If you have any pictures that would help determin.

As for the bald patches, for some reason face/muzzle hair always takes along time to start to grow.  A little aloe vera on the hairless spots could help.

Hi ice_queen.

Thank you for that, I shall get some gel!

Ruby is 15 months. With regards to the wispy bits, they are lighter, I will take some close up pics and get them on for you to see, if it is dead hair how would I strip them out please? I strip my Border Terrier myself by hand, is it the same sort of principle for her coat?

Thanks for the help!

Nicki xxx

Yes it's very similar. you just gently tug on the small bits, rather then doing all over just pinch what it is that needs taking out.

Sometimes a good bath and good brush though will help the coat quality.

We have started to use Linseed Oil in our dogs meals (Gordon Setter and Bernese Mountain Dog) and it seems to be helping with the quality of their coats - and the shine is amazing :-D

Dakkobear.  Just looked up linseed and relised it's also known as flax seed oil which I have one of my bitches on along with starflower oil.  The two oils in Yumega. :)  They do really make an improvment in a dogs coat don't they!

definitely - treacle's is much less brittle-looking but the difference to Bramble's (BMD) is amazing after just a few weeks. We buy horse stuff and give them some in their meals. My parents used to feed Wilson's Dog meal to one of our dogs years ago - it had linseed oil in it and his coat was always gleaming and strong which is why I thought I'd try linseed :-D

Its also rich in omega 3 so might help their brains - I live in hope with treacle but at 4 I think any brain she had went missing before we got her - a really daft mutt but loveable with it :-D :-D

Hi Nicki, some Irish Setters have that teddy bear coat when they're young. It doesn't last for ever, and is a sign of a particularly good adult coat to come. So don't dispair.

It is possible to strip it out gently by finger and thumb. Although it will groom out naturally when it's ready.

I have Irish Setters too, so I'd be interested in hearing more about Ruby.

My oldest boy Bailey, is now 13 years old, and his showing days are over, but my younger boy Rory is 19 months.

Dawn R.

>Its also rich in omega 3 so might help their brains - I live in hope with treacle but at 4 I think any brain she had went missing before we got her - a really daft mutt but loveable with it  

I''m afraid althoug huge difference in coat, never saw difference in intelligence.  Although I' sure setters are too intelligent they want us to think they are stupid.....

ahhhh that must be it LOL

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all of the advice, its very helpful, I shall definately be getting some linseed oil and aloe vera gel to help with the bald patches! It is reassuring to know that it is quite common in Setters, after yearning for a setter for a long time I now have two so I am in my element!

We collected Geoffrey from his breeder last week, he is nine weeks tomorrow, and is an absolute joy! He is starting to pick up the command "sit" already, I can stack him a little and he is doing amazingly well with his house training!

In response to Dawn - Ruby is 15 months, she came from pet breeders and her parents were pet dogs but her grandparents and great grandparents were show dogs, some of which did really well in the ring, we intended showing her much earlier but she was poorly as a baby and we wanted to make sure first and foremost that she was well before thinking about anything else.

I agree with the comment that Irish Setters are actually very intelligent, they just like to make us think that they are stupid :-) , although it has to be said, they are the most clumsy things as babies :-)

Nicki xxx

They are so cleaver as puppies.  I have a litter of 6 week olds and they already ask to go out to the garden by screaming and jumping up at the puppy pen by the back door, if your quick enough to get them outside they do it outside...they only ask for afew sconds though...And if they want a cuddle they scream the other end of the puppy pen which is between the kitchin and living room and yes I shouldn't have but I picked them out and thats it they do it all the time, ignor them and they pretend to get their leg or jaw stuck in the pen bars...and no it's never been stuck but they know I won't take the risk and I go over....I really am well trained!!!!!!

As ruby is 15 months she will most likely be going though the ugly setter stage which all 4 setters go though.  They look ugly, gangly, coat goes funny....I'm sure it will sort itself out soon.

Best of luck with both your setters, an addictive breed...We had 6 red and whites at one point...

Hi ice-queen,

Its so funny that you should say that about the puppies pretending to get stuck etc for attention as myself and my partner were discussing this last night, we have a Border Terrier, Dougie, who although much smaller is definately the boss of the house, well he keeps having a grumble at Geoffrey the baby, no biting, just putting him in his place, but my god you should hear the pup when this happens, quite often it happens when we are in bed, and he makes this terrible sounding shreak like he is in the worst pain possible, and the minute we go down to him, he stops! Little bugger. We still keep going to him though, I wouldn't take the risk that one time he might actually have hurt himself or something (god forbid).

I hope you are right with Ruby, that she will look nice in the end, because even though she is the most beautiful girl ever (of course I am biased!) there is just the odd thing, like the coat, letting her down for showing :-( . At the end of the day she is first and foremost our pet and ultimately I wouldn't care if we couldn't show her, but it would be a shame as she has so many other really good physical attributes.

Your right about them being addictive, I love my Border, who we had first, but I am sold on Setters now!

Nicki xxx