Breeding the Lines, a Successful Long-term Strategy ~ Part Two

by John Fetters
© 2010 Fetters Setters, all rights reserved

George H. Ryman shooting over Ryman's Birdy Anne,

a 47-pound short-coupled Setter considered to be

the "perfect Ryman Setter" according to

George H. Ryman's standards and ideals.

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Breeding quality setters is more involved than just planning a breeding between a sire and dam and being dependent on a pedigree alone, especially when a breeder pays too much attention to the ancestry back beyond the third generation and off the right edge of the pedigree.

Mistakes are also made when a breeder plans a breeding around a pedigree based on the looks of the sire and dam and hopes these two factors will far outweigh any problems cropping up in any of the off-spring along the way.

Anyone can breed dogs and produce litters. However the problem with such undertakings is that the breedings are based on producing high volume and making money instead of the long-range effects that will most certainly occur.

One of the most prevalent effects of this flawed breeding strategy I have noticed over the past ten years is the lack of uniformity of puppies from within same litter.

This predominatedly includes setters with differences in size, conformation, tail length (from very long to curled or sickle), undershot and overshot bite, as well as a lack in proper eye and nose pigmentation.

There is also an ongoing problem of Thyroid trouble with female setters as well as problems in male setters having only one testicle at maturity.

These problems are cropping up on an alarming rate due to un-informed and inexperienced breeders who just breed for whatever happens (breed "paper" rather than breed good gun dogs) for the sake of making money.

In his time, George H. Ryman bred, raised, and trained setters which suited his ideals of what he thought a setter shooting dog should be.

Ryman accomplished his goals through hard work and dedication to his setters on a full time basis. His daily routine revolved around his dogs with no other job standing in his way.

During the Ryman era of hands-on breeding, setters he selected for his personal shooting dogs were uniform in size, weight, and conformation. His personal preference for males was 50 to 55 pounds and females 45 to 50 pounds, short to medium coupling, proper length of tail, correct eye and nose pigmentation as well as good coat length and color.

These ideals were based on his famous male grouse and woodcock setter shooting dog, Ryman's Racket Boy and his famous female grouse and pheasant setter shooting dog, Ryman's Birdy Anne (shown above in photo in the field with George H. Ryman). These two setters were the "perfect Ryman Setters," according to George Ryman.

Today we see individual breeders grasping at straws in an attempt to promote and sell a setter using the Ryman label, using labels such as "Ryman Style," "Ryman Type," etc.

These breeders' ideas of quick fixes are to rely too much on looks and pedigrees alone, coupled with using modern day bloodlines that in no way come close to any of the bloodlines Ryman had at his disposal.

Another idea some of these breeders employ is to go the route of trying to achieve overnight success through bringing in outside bloodlines of the American Llewellin Setter in an attempt to scale down the cumbersome oversized setters in their line- breeding programs.

Again, this is just breeding "paper," for whatever happens and ~ does not solve the ongoing problems that already exist from within the lines. This is not a serious dedication to breeding quality setters by any stretch of the imagination.

Again, it is no more than simply grasping at straws to promote a product overnight for the sole purpose of selling that product to the unknowing purchaser.

Unfortunately this include the breeders who are out there offering puppies at astronomical prices ~ breeders who aren't concerned with quality breedings, but rather who are more concerned with well-financed and well-publicized marketing adventures to make money.

Good breeding doesn't happen overnight by throwing a male and female setter together to have litters, no matter what the "paper" trail behind them.

Good breeding takes time and patience and a willingness to test and re-test through repeat breedings, as well as holding onto the resultant offspring from those breedings to hunt over before one can say they achieved anything in regards to offering a quality setter shooting dog to the interested sporting public.

Breeding "perfection" ~ recent Fetters Setters litter

consisting of four Blue Belton and Tan-Ticked, three

Blue Belton and three Orange Belton ~ eight females,

two males ~ the Dam is a four-year-old perfect Orange

Belton, a mirror-image of Ryman's Racket Boy, George

H. Ryman's famous Grouse and Woodcock shooting dog

(all puppies have been spoken for, no inquiries, please)

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