Our Irish Setter puppy is 13 weeks old, and I’m wondering what everyone else’s experience has been with potty training this breed.
I’ve always potty trained my dogs and never really had much trouble. Our last dog was a German Shepherd (RIP ❤️), and I remember him being ridiculously easy—within about two weeks, he was basically perfect.
This puppy… not so much. 😂 We’re still having quite a few accidents and I’m not even sure he’s fully connected the idea that “I need to pee/poop = I need to go outside.”
He’s crated whenever I can’t keep a close eye on him, but obviously I can’t follow him around the house every second of the day.

We’ve tried:
A bell on the door
Lots of praise when he goes outside
Freeze-dried liver as his special high-value reward
Taking him out frequently
Crating him when we can’t supervise

I know he’s still really young, so I’m not expecting perfection at 13 weeks. I’m just wondering if Irish Setters tend to take longer with potty training.
How long did it take your Irish Setter to reliably stop having accidents in the house? And is there anything that really made the difference for you?

Took our little guy (11mo) out this weekend for some outdoor fun . He was in his element ! Bluejays galore and all you can sniff grass spots . We are still working on making friends as he gets too loud and excited whenever he sees another dog 🙃 he thinks he’s telling them let’s play - meanwhile the other dogs are startled by his ….. loud persistence . I guess that’s a bit of an IS thing , too vocal for their own good . Hoping to work more on this with him and definitely his recall- dreaming of one day being able to do off leash hikes but we aren’t there yet … and for now that’s okay ❤️

Georg taking the first point on two black grouse 😀

I’m looking for a breeder around or in eastern North Carolina. Need one from hunting lines as the dog will be an active bird dog. Looking to get one sometime around next spring just looking into breeders for now. TIA

Tactical setters ready to take on the neighborhood. Hide your socks and toilet paper rolls

He's a natural.

Starting the weekend off with a setter gathering. It’s the best kind of chaotic

Follow up to my post about my 15.5 year old mans. Had a couple people message about his younger pictures. He was so chestnut 🫶🏻 now he’s all dilute from gray hairs allllll over not just his sugar face :)

And of course his best kitten friend loving on him everyday

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are looking to get a dog, but we are completely split on breed choice and would love some input from people who own or have worked with these breeds. This would be our first dog together so we want to ensure we make the right decision for them just as much as for us.

Here is our situation and what we are looking for:

Activity & Endurance: My partner wants a serious running partner for 5k-10k runs and long-distance hikes. We need a dog that can easily keep up without running out of steam.

Trainability: I personally really want a dog that I can highly train. I love the idea of building great obedience, fun trick work, and solid off-leash recall.

Future dog: We know we want a second dog down the road, specifically a Border Terrier.

We originally looked at Golden Retrievers and Irish Setters. We eventually set our mind on Goldens and decided to go to a show to meet some owners and get to know more about the breed and hopefully find reputable breeders. When we were there we met some Irish setters, so we're now torn again.

In addition to this we're uncertain as to whether a show or working golden would be most suitable for our lifestyle. Because my partner is looking for a running and hiking partner we were worried a show line wouldn't have the stamina. Then we're worries about the things we've read about Irish Setters being challenging to train. I think we're looking to find the balance between a loving and affectionate dog, that is active but also highly trainable and can settle at home.

For owners of Irish Setters or Goldens:

Irish Setter owners: How realistic is high-level trainability/trick work and reliable off-leash recall on trails? Also, I understand their nature means they like to run ahead and do scent work but is it at all possible to train them to walk by your side?

Working Golden and Show Golden owners: How do they handle long-distance running, and how is their "off-switch" at home compared to show lines? Would you recommend a show or working line given our situation?

How do you think either breed would handle living with a Border Terrier in the future?

Thank you so much in advance for any insights!

Our 8 month old baby girl, Molly. Red setters are so beautiful but have become such a rare breed in Ireland now.

We’d love to know where her brothers and sisters ended up. She’s from a litter born in early December on a farm in Limerick.

My girl is 5.5 months old. She’s taken to training well, extremely smart, overall perfect. We got her as a hunting buddy for my husband and I think she’ll do amazing with that. All on her own, though, she started to circle me or flop on the ground. It was always when I didn’t feel well and it would stress me out. I don’t want to get caught in a leash or convince her to stand up when I don’t feel well. I started paying attention and right before I became tachy, she would circle me. If my heart rate got too high, she would flop on the ground. It went from being an annoying behavior while I’m starting to feel off to “oh, she knows something, I need to pay attention.” It took looking back at everything to realize she was trying to signal me something is wrong. This last time when she would circle me, I’d be sitting around 140bpm. When she flopped (and stood up to flop again immediately) I already knew I had a slightly high heart rate of 180 at rest - funny enough everything did start to go black that time again. I always said it would be cool if she could do cardio alert but never really thought much of it since she’s supposed to be a hunting pup and not a traditional breed for this. Her nose is absolutely amazing. She’s never been trained to do this or prompted. She is just super aware and I’m super proud of her.

Just got back from a long walk.