after much discussion within family, we have decided on an irish red setter, they fit our family like a jigsaw, and i have researched them, for a while now.

trouble is i understand they need 2 hours free safe running a day?
well we have plenty of fields near our house, but they are near roads, none enclosed,
so my question is, is it possible to exercise a red setter on a lead, say 2 hours a day onlead?

many thanks
Chlo

hi chloe,
it is possible to exercise any dog on lead, i reckon combining jogging and walking onlead say for 2 hours, will be fine for a red setter.
obviously they would prefer off lead, but they will adapt as long as plenty of onlead is given, so they can stretch their legs.

i might be wrong, maybe a red setter expert could help?

Gem

Setters were bred to spend all day running on the moors. Obviously this is impractical for most people but I really don't think you can consign any of the gundog breeds to a life totally restricted to being on the lead. You may be able to supply the physical exercise but you will not supply the mental stimulation. You are doing the right thing by researching the breed before getting one but a dog must dovetail into all aspects of the family life and in this particular case I feel you would be storing up problems for the future.

Sorry, John

Hi John,

I don't see how a dog that is well exercised on lead gets any less mental stimulation than a dog who is well exercised off lead.   In both cases they are supervised and not truly allowed to free roam.  What is the difference? 

I have always lived in areas where dogs were prohibited from being off lead and personally do not have the time to drive to open fields and so on.  Which is one of the reasons I chose a small breed now, fyi.  However, in the past I've owned and shown GSDs and they were always exercised on lead.  It was a heck of a lot more effort, considering they needed to trot for miles, but it is possible.   They had mental stimulation aplenty with play and a large fenced garden (as I have now for my small dog).

I am not disagreeing per se, I simply do not understand why UK dog owners seem to be so adamant that dogs must be allowed to run about (outside of the garden) off lead. 

Stacey

It also depends on the breed of dog you own.  Gundogs are very different from GSDs in their outlook on life.  As a member of the pastoral group Shepherds generally do what their name suggests, gundogs, particularly pointers, setters and HPRs are bred to run and run and run they do.  They want to hunt and point, GSDs do not.  I have walked with loads of GSDs and gundogs together and we gundog owners basically can sit in the middle of a field and have a picnic whilst the dogs are hurtling past like exocet missiles; the GSD owners all had their dogs at their feet :D

Also perhaps it is because in the UK people tend to walk a lot more than in the US?

Hi Tohme,

Thanks for your response.  Yup, GSDs do tend to stick close to their humans.   I've never owned a gundog so I do not know the difference in temperaments.  I know Cairns and they would run and hunt until exhausted, although unlike gundogs they are not likely to come back on command.  However, the exercise requirements are vastly different given the difference in size and structure.

You are right, people in the UK do tend to walk a lot more than people in the US.  My experience has been that dog owners in the US either let their dogs out the door and forget about them (despite the leash laws) for the most part, or, more typically confine them to their gardens and give them a short walk every once in a while.  At least this was true for the most part in East Coast suburbia.

Stacey

Do you think the show strain is more relaxed?  I know someone who has working english setters and they would go loopy being on a lead all the time. 

To see my dogs run, I think that some breeds are meant to be allowed to run.

Helen

I fostered a red setter for a short time a few years ago and to be honest he would have run the length of the country given his own way. We couldn't keep up with him at all. :( I feel it would be really unfair to limit such a breed to lead only exercise but I'm sure you could compromise?

For instance you don't have to be in a field - surely there is a decent sized park nearby, or a beach? It's not just the exercise they crave either it's the stimulation they get through smells and training exercises too.

When we first got Lily because she is deaf we couldnt let her off the lead and the guilt I felt was enormous because when we were out all she wanted to do was play with other dogs but was restricted to the end of her lead (and this was a 15m lead :D )  Watching her play with other dogs off lead now is lovely and she gets so much from it.

Dogs love playing together, they cant play properly if on the lead and I feel therefore that they miss out on alot of social interaction with their own kind

JMHO

Claire :)

A deaf dog can run free, they get use to using their other senses.  I just made sure she always knew where I was. Hand signals work well for the deaf and they get use to watching for them :) Years ago one of my Labradors went blind but even she still had her free running.

Best wishes, John

She goes off lead now, it was just when we first got her that she didnt.  We use hand signals with her and she is quite good at keeping an eye on us (because the times when she doesnt we hide or run away from her -- keeps her on her toes :D )

Think you'll find Chloe that any gundog breed would benefit from 2 hours OFF lead exercise a day.  To run, sniff scents, use it's natural ability is what having a gundog is all about.

I have shared my life with numerous Irish Setters over the past thirty years and there is no way you could expect one to be happy without off lead free time. They will exist, and they will be physically fit, but they will be deprived if no free time is available. Irish Setters live to range and hunt. I wish you could come and walk with me and mine any morning and you'd see how much free running means to an Irish.
I wish you well in your search for a suitable breed but the Irish Setter is not it.
Dawn R and Bailey(my fancy Irishman)

Don't you have a car, that you can drive somewhere to allow off the lead play?
I do agree that no off lead activity could lead to a bored, dull dog. You want to see mine on an evening which is my 2nd walk of the day (1 off lead, 1 on) as we only go round the houses and she even looks depressed at that lol, i'm not going the park in the dark but try telling that to the dog!

To miss the opportunity of watching a setter or pointer running free, quartering the ground, stopping on point, this is the real joy of owning such a breed! Think what it would mean to never see these things happen!

Best wishes, John

When the dog is young, and on limited exercise anyway why not train it a reliable recall, and get it totally focused on toys?
That way when you have an adult dog, you can meet all of the natural hunting instincts through play, building up a really close bond with you, and you will be able to trust it off lead. Why would it wander off when all the good things in the world come from you?
Obviously right near a road isn't a good idea, but if you put the work in while young, then I see no reason why a dog exercising near a road isn't possible. If a dog has a bad enough recall any walk is near enough to a road to be dangerous!
How close to the road are you talking?

I must be honest, the idea of any active dog not being allowed off lead grieves me :(

All the dogs i know very well in my life - BSDs, Flatcoat, Beardies, Golden retrievers, would be very unhappy on lead all the time. i think it helps if a dog can be exercised say, from a bike, or if the owner jogs, (and you would need an owner who is totally dedicated, rain or shine, for many years of the dog's life) but as John and others have said, the physical exercise gained form this does not in any equate to the equal need for mental exercise.

A dog off lead is meeting other dogs, sniffing, scenting, racing to see things and racing back - plus probablly working with its owner and interrracting with other dogs. If a dog is exercised only on lead, these needs cannot be met and you will end up with one very fit dog who may be full of exploding energy! The more itis exercised, the more it will need :(

I like Jo's post - why not get the training really good (and remember you will have th edreaded teenage months when recall will not be good, and you will need to train through this frustrating period) and thus have an obedient dog who can be kept safe. Irish Setters are far ranging sometimes but dont have to be with training.

Best wishes
Lindsay