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

by John Fetters

© 2008-2009 Fetters Setters, all rights reserved

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Pictured above, Ryman's Racket Boy, bred by George H. Ryman,

although a male, a near mirror-image of the setter shown below
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Pictured above, Fetters-bred "Grouse Greta," a 42-pound, fully

trained Blue Belton female, shown at 16 months old in 2009
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After many years of breeding, training and hunting the "Ryman" setter lines on a variety of "wild" game bird species and obtaining exceptional results, I noticed some time ago that I would need to introduce new blood into my lines which would be compatible and blend well with that which I already had achieved.
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However I did not wish to introduce the same blood being used on a regular basis by a vast majority of other present-day breeders ~ as the resultant offspring from those lines were not headed in any direction I would be satisfied with. .

As a matter of mention here, during this time I turned away a number of other breeders who contacted me out of interest in breeding to my shooting dog lines. .

The lines I was breeding ~ and which generations of my family before me also had bred ~ had everything a "Classic" shooting dog must have: that being heart, drive, speed and the required stamina to hunt for hours upon hours each and every day and in any type of cover, no matter what type of weather conditions were encountered on any given day.
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During my endeavor, I also did not want to risk losing the "Classic" good looks and working qualities of what I already planted; and so I did not care to follow the same breeding path being undertaken by other breeders who were (and are) breeding setters like the resultant setters made available during the "Calkins" era ~ which began in 1955 and has continued with highly varied results to this day.
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While the "Calkins" scheme of breeding was and is even today an easy method of breeding to produce a large beautiful English Setter through the use of modern day Bench and Field lines, the resultant offspring does not measure up to what a George H. Ryman bred setter once was and still should be. .

I find these types of setters to be more suited to the sportsman who has a busy schedule and limited time to spend afield ~ and not so suited for the serious upland game hunter who spends hours upon hours afield.
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With the above observations in mind, I started doing test breedings through the introduction of new blood from the best imported blood with an infusion of the old Wing Commander lines.

After a lapse of time ~ from 1999 to 2006 ~ I finally reached my goals in producing an even better "Classic" setter shooting dog which is even more in keeping with the same type of setter shooting dog George H. Ryman himself would be very pleased to see and shoot over..

Through constant vigilance and relying on the accumulated knowledge my family before me passed on to me ~ and who themselves bred for shooting dogs which met the George H. Ryman standards as well ~ successful breedings have continued, the result of one such breeding which is pictured above with Ryman's Racket Boy, a setter bred by George H. Ryman himself..

It should also be said here that contrary to some of the present "marketing" techniques, there is no such thing as "modern" George H. Ryman standards ~ or for that matter, a "modern" Ryman setter. Setters bearing the "Ryman" brand name either meet George H. Ryman's timeless standards, or they don't.

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George H. Ryman's standards were developed over a period of time by him with much hard work, patience, vigilance and accumulated knowledge. .

Although many of the "Ryman" setters went through remarkably drastic changes during the ensuing "Calkins" era after his stroke and subsequent death, George H. Ryman's own set of strict standards remain the same today as they were when he was alive and actively breeding his famous shooting dogs.

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John's Great-Grandmother and Some of the Fetters Family Heritage English Setters

While sorting through the massive Fetters Family English Setter histories, we came across these photos which we'd like to share with you here.

Below you will also see a photo of John's Great-Grandmother, Mary B. Fetters, at the young age of 86, with a female Orange Belton Setter out of bench and field lines (note the dog's litter of pups in the background). The English Setters in the other three photos are also Fetters Family-bred and owned.

These photos are circa. 1950s, and we will be sharing more of the Fetters Family English Setter history and heritage with you in the near future.

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Thank You for Your Patience ...

As with the time it took to begin the input of information on the "Fetters Setters ~ The Ryman English Setter Story" page (which now has published on it the first five chapters of this amazing saga), we are currently organizing the beginnings of the vast amount of information which will be appearing here.
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Many of our documents, records, photos and other items have been in special climate-controlled storage for sometime due to our extensive traveling ~ and only recently has the weather begun breaking sufficiently enough that we have been able to begin the safe retrieval of them.
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The Fetters Family English Setter histories have been meticulously kept for five generations now ~ and are as massive in size and content as they are meticulous and inclusive ~ and only John can satisfactorily direct the organization of these documents, records and photos for publishing ~ and orchestrate the telling of this also-amazing saga of a family consistently and famously dedicated to the breeding, raising, training and hunting of this wonderful gun dog.
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Few if any of today's English Setter owners and/or breeders have the long history in this on-going endeavor and dedication to the breed found in John's family tree ~ and we hope a number of our readers will find it a compelling saga as well as intriguing.
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In the meantime, your patience is greatly appreciated. Check our "Fetters Setters ~ Classic Style English Setters ~ Home Page (found by clicking here) for timely updates whenever anything new is added to our main pages.
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As with all good things, we sincerely hope you will find the future contents of the "Fetters Setters ~ History and Heritage" page well worth the wait.

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