Setter

Setter, a breed of sporting dogs that formerly marked game by "setting" or crouching down. This was at the time when birds were netted. Since the introdnction of firearms setters have been broken to mark like the pointer (q.v.). Spaniels were originally used as setters, and the English breed probably sprang from a cross between the spaniel and the pointer. The English setter is generally white, marked with red or ticked with black; but there is great diversity in the coloration. The coat should be soft and wavy, the limbs thinly and the tail deeply fringed, and there should be a good growth of hair between the toes. The Gordon setter is derived from the English setter crossed with a collie bitch, broken to set, and is black and tan, with a head somewhat like that of a bloodhound. The Irish setter, of unknown origin, is less stoutly built, and generally red.