Gordon Setter E-Book

Nona Kilgore Bauer

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Serie: Comprehensive Owner's Guide
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 252

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

The regal and stylish Gordon Setter began as Scotland's original "black and fallow setter," a handsome sporting dog whose dignified and intelligent bearing continues to attract hunters, show fanciers, and pet owners alike. Among the largest of the gundog breeds, the Gordon Setter, colored in its classic black and tan pattern, possesses a bold, outgoing personality and a kind disposition, offering the right owner brains and beauty and a bit of brawn too. This Comprehensive Owner's Guide, written by sporting-dog authority, author, and breeder Nona Kilgore Bauer, offers a complete history of the breed from the corridors of Gordon Castle in eighteenth-century Scotland to the homes, fields, and show rings of the United States. The author's chapter on the breed's characteristics encapsulates the Gordon's personality and offers information about potential health concerns that all potential owners should be aware of. New owners will welcome the well-prepared chapter on finding a reputable breeder and selecting a healthy, sound puppy. Chapters on puppy-proofing the home and yard, purchasing the right supplies for the puppy as well as house-training, feeding, and grooming are illustrated with photographs of handsome adults and puppies. In all, there are over 135 full-color photographs in this useful and reliable volume. The author's advice on obedience training will help the reader better mold and train into the most well-mannered dog in the neighborhood. The extensive and lavishly illustrated chapter on healthcare provides up-to-date detailed information on selecting a qualified veterinarian, vaccinations, preventing and dealing with parasites, infectious diseases, and more. Sidebars throughout the text offer helpful hints, covering topics as diverse as historical dogs, breeders, or kennels, toxic plants, first aid, crate training, carsickness, fussy eaters, and parasite control. Fully indexed.

Leseprobe

Physical Characteristics of the Gordon Setter

(from the American Kennel Club breed standard)

Skull: Nicely rounded, good-sized, broadest between the ears.

Head: Deep, rather than broad, with plenty of brain room.

Eyes: Of fair size…dark brown, bright and wise.

Nose: Broad, with open nostrils and black in color.

Muzzle: The top of the muzzle is parallel to the line of the skull extended.

Neck: Long, lean, arched to the head.

Chest: Reaches to the elbows.

Foraquarters: Shoulders fine at the points, and laying well back. Forelegs big-boned, straight and not bowed, with elbows free and not turned in or out. Pasterns are strong, short and nearly vertical with a slight spring.

Ears: Set low on the head approximately on line with the eyes, fairly large and thin.

Feet: Catlike in shape, formed by close-knit, well arched toes with plenty of hair between; with full toe pads and deep heel cushions.

Topline: Moderately sloping.

Body: Short from shoulder to hips.

Tail: Short and not reaching below the hocks…thick at the root and finishing in a fine point.

Height (at shoulder): Males, 24 to 27 inches; females, 23 to 26 inches.

Weight: Males, 55 to 80 pounds; females, 45 to 70 pounds.

Hindquarters: The hind legs from hip to hock are long, flat and muscular; from hock to heel, short and strong. The stifle and hock joints are well bent and not turned either in or out.

Coat: Soft and shining, straight or slightly waved, but not curly, with long hair on ears, under stomach and on chest, on back of the fore and hind legs, and & on the tail.

Color and Markings: Black with tan markings, either of rich chestnut or mahogany color.

Contents

History of the Gordon Setter

The Gordon Setter’s history reveals that he’s much more than a black-and-tan gundog from Scotland. Learn about the breed’s origins and early ancestors, as well as instrumental figures in its development. Meet well-known Gordons and discover stories of the breed’s hunting ability, devotion to its master and emergence into the canine fancy.

Characteristics of the Gordon Setter

Hunter, show dog, friend and companion, the Gordon Setter does it all! Many breed fanciers say that once you’ve owned a Gordon, you will never own another breed of dog. Explore the Gordon’s physical traits and temperament, as well as health concerns in the breed, to discover if this is the dog for you…and vice versa.

Breed Standard for the Gordon Setter

Learn the requirements of a well-bred Gordon Setter by studying the description of the breed set forth in the American Kennel Club standard. Both show dogs and pets must possess key characteristics as outlined in the breed standard.

Your Puppy Gordon Setter

Find out about how to locate a well-bred Gordon Setter puppy. Discover which questions to ask the breeder and what to expect when visiting the litter. Prepare for your puppy-accessory shopping spree. Also discussed are home safety, the first trip to the vet, socialization and solving basic puppy problems.

Proper Care of Your Gordon Setter

Cover the specifics of taking care of your Gordon Setter every day: feeding for all ages; grooming, including coat care, ears, eyes, nails and bathing; and exercise for your dog. Also discussed are the essentials of dog ID and traveling safely with your dog.

Training Your Gordon Setter

Begin with the basics of training the puppy and adult dog. Learn the principles of house-training the Gordon Setter, including the use of crates and basic scent instincts. Get started by introducing the pup to his collar and leash and progress to the basic commands. Find out about obedience classes and training for other activities.

Healthcare of Your Gordon Setter

By Lowell Ackerman DVM, DACVD

Become your dog’s healthcare advocate and a well-educated canine keeper. Select a skilled and able veterinarian. Discuss pet insurance, vaccinations and infectious diseases, the neuter/spay decision and a sensible, effective plan for parasite control, including fleas, ticks and worms.

Your Senior Gordon Setter

Know when to consider your Gordon Setter a senior and what special needs he will have. Learn to recognize the signs of aging in terms of physical and behavioral traits and what your vet can do to optimize your dog’s golden years. Consider some advice about saying goodbye to your beloved pet.

Showing Your Gordon Setter

Step into the center ring and find out about the world of showing pure-bred dogs. Here are the basics of AKC conformation showing, how shows are organized and what’s required for your dog to become a champion. Take a leap into other competitive sports: obedience, agility, tracking, field and hunting events.

KENNEL CLUB BOOKS®GORDON SETTER

ISBN 13: 978-1-59378-280-1

eISBN 13: 978-1-59378-631-1

Copyright © 2005 • Kennel Club Books® A Division of BowTie, Inc.

40 Broad Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 USA

Cover Design Patented: US 6,435,559 B2 • Printed in South Korea

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, scanner, microfilm, xerography or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Photography by Carol Ann Johnson

with additional photographs by:

John Ashbey, Paulette Braun, T.J. Calhoun, Cantor Photography, Alan and Sandy Carey, Cook Photography, Cott/Francis, David Dalton, Isabelle Françis, Gilbert Studios, Bill Jonas, Klein, Petrulis Studio and Michael Trafford.

Illustrations by Patricia Peters.

The publisher wishes to thank all of the owners whose dogs are illustrated in this book, including Val and Russell Mosedale.

The setter breeds, including the Gordon and the Irish (right), are wonderfully trainable and make responsive family companions.

Beauty, brains and bird sense. These glowing accolades describe the modern Gordon Setter as accurately as they did the “setting” dog that roamed the highland moors centuries ago. Those who own the Gordon Setter would heartily agree. Although originally developed as a superior working dog with a distinct tri-color coat, over the years the Gordon has typically been kept as a dual-purpose personal gundog and family companion known for his black and tan coloration. It is said that once you live with a Gordon, you would own no other breed.

History records the origins of the Gordon Setter very simply: he is a native of the hills of bonny Scotland. Beyond that singular fact, specific details of his origin lie hidden in the rolling mists of his ancestral birthplace.

Early literature suggests the existence of black-and-tan setters as far back as the 15th century in Scotland and England. The early setter breeds are believed to have evolved from the first spaniel dogs whose name reflects their own country of origin. Spaniels (or “Spanyells” as they were called during the era of Henry VIII) took their name from Spain, long considered the homeland of the spaniel that later found its way to England, France and Ireland.

These original spaniels and setters were essential to the survival of their owners. Used in tandem with hawks to procure food for the table, they were a most important asset in areas where geese and other food-source birds were plentiful. In those early days, the dog would couch, or “set,” to indicate the position of the game birds. On command, the dog would flush the bird, and the hawk was immediately released to capture the prey and bring it back. In a second method called “netting,” the gamekeeper threw a net over the flushed birds, a system that allowed him to assess the quarry and release the younger birds to continue their breeding cycle. Both methods of bird hunting eventually fell from favor with the advent of the shotgun.

Breeding programs in that era were based on the talents of the individual dog rather than on the promotion of a specific variety or breed. In her 1620 writing, Hunger’s Prevention or the Whole Art of Fowling by Land and Water, author Gervaine Markham describes a “setting dog” of the black and fallow (tan) variety as being the “hardest to endure labor,” an apt description of the Gordon Setter, who is well known for his endurance as well as his aristocratic coloring. A full century later, in the 1726 Treatise on Field Diversion, we read again of “two distinct tribes of setters”: the “black and tanned, and the orange, lemon and white.”

Young Lorne was the type of Gordon Setter admired in 1878. He is poorly marked and lacks symmetry by today’s standards.

At the turn of the 20th century, the noted canine artist Richard Ansdell painted a setter holding a grouse.

Despite the myriad accounts and other colorful myths surrounding the setting dogs of those ancient times, credit for the Gordon Setter is most commonly accorded to a nobleman named Alexander, the Fourth Duke of Gordon (1743–1827).

A drawing from 1800, believed to be the first well-drawn example of setter breed types. At the top is a Gordon Setter; in the center, an Irish Setter; and reclining, an English Setter.

History’s first mention of the Gordon breed refers to the duke’s passion for the black-and-tan setter as a gundog of importance. The duke employed a shepherd who owned a black-and-tan (some accounts say black-and-white) Collie bitch named Maddie who was reputed to be a superb grouse dog, pointing stiffly with her head and tail outstretched. The duke allegedly bred the Collie to his personal setters, although there is no written documentation to prove that the duke deserves such breeding credits. These matings produced dogs with superior noses that tended to circle their quarry and place the birds between themselves and the gun, much as the Scottish sheepdog circles the flock.

An excellent head from 1930, Eng. Ch. Dawn of Daven out of the famous dam Babs of Crombie.

Another nobleman, Lord Rosalyn, who had setters with similar bloodlines, was said to have bred his dogs to the strain created by the duke. Other breedings with alleged Bloodhound crosses further cemented the Gordon’s superior scenting powers and his rich black-and-tan coloration.

The mid-nineteenth-century book The Dogs of Scotland comments further on the duke’s Gordon Castle setter dogs, describing a mostly black-and-tan dog with a heavy ponderous appearance, spaniel-type ears, strong legs and feet, a luxurious well-feathered coat and a regal head. Although not noted for their speed, the dogs had excellent staying power and could press on from morning until nightfall. As hunting dogs, they were easy to break and naturally backed well. Their noses were reputed to be top drawer and they seldom made a false point.

Much of this early history is conjecture, as formal pedigrees were then unknown and records loosely kept at best. Dogs, especially hunting varieties, were bred primarily for their talents and secondarily for an individual breeder’s preference for a certain color or ability. Dogs were frequently offered as gifts to monarchs and other royalty and rulers, which led to further crosses to the more common spaniel and setter strains. Duke Alexander is known to have used setters from other prominent kennels in his breedings, always looking to produce excellent working dogs and improve his breeding stock. It was also known that he preferred the tri-colored coat of black, tan and white because it showed up better on the moors.

CANIS LUPUS

“Grandma, what big teeth you have!” The gray wolf, a familiar figure in fairy tales and legends, has had its reputation tarnished and its population pummeled over the centuries. Yet it is the descendants of this much-feared creature to which we open our homes and hearts. Our beloved dog, Canis domesticus, derives directly from the gray wolf, a highly social canine that lives in elaborately structured packs. In the wild, the gray wolf can range from 60 to 175 pounds, standing between 25 and 40 inches in height.

Peter of Crombie, the sire of many important champions, was painted by the canine artist Ward Binks in 1928.

When Alexander died in 1827, his estate passed to his eldest heir, George, who, as the Fifth Duke of Gordon, apparently did not share his father’s passion for breeding a superior hunting or pointing dog. When George passed away nine years later, the Gordon estate passed this time to a nephew, the Duke of Richmond, who later held the combined title of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.

During George’s reign as duke, the Gordon kennels dwindled to a mere eleven dogs. These remaining dogs were offered at a public sale upon his death in 1836. In what was to become a saving effort, the new heir to Gordon Castle purchased a 5-year-old male named Juno for 34 guineas. Most historical accounts claim that the new duke continued breeding setters of the tri-colored variety. Under 3 generations of nobility, Castle Gordon setter breeding continued for well over 100 years.

Upon the final closing of the Castle kennel in 1907, gundog fancier Isaac Sharpe purchased the remaining Castle setters. Sharpe raised Gordons under the Stylish Gundog prefix, and his records indicate that these were all tri-colored, with black, tan and white markings.

In 1859 canine history took a major step forward with the advent of the first-ever dog show, held at Newcastle on Tyne. Entries were limited to only setters, known then as Black-and-Tans. A Gordon Setter took first prize, a dog named Dandy who was owned by Mr. Jobling. Four years later, at the first field trial ever held for dogs, Gordon Setters also captured first, second and third placements.

With the founding of England’s Kennel Club in 1873, the Gordon Setter was classified as a “Black and Tan Setter.” As a point of interest, the breed was recognized as the Gordon Setter first by the American Kennel Club in 1892, then three decades later by The Kennel Club in 1923. However, the Gordon had such a devoted following that Gordon Setter breed clubs were founded in the United States in 1888 and in England in 1891, many years before the breed’s official recognition in England by The Kennel Club.

Bred by Murray Stewart, this is Bydand Clansman, born in 1928.

The next documented era in the Gordon’s history enters the mid to late 1800s and revolves around devoted British Gordon fancier, the Reverend T. Pearce of Morden Vicarage in Dorset. Rev. Pearce was widely respected in the whole of the canine community and in Gordons in particular. His most famous male, Eng. Ch. Kent of Castle Stock, was widely used at stud, and his influence is still evident in many current Gordon Setter families. Kent reportedly serviced about 60 bitches every year, a stout figure of activity for any male of that time. Kent’s most famous progeny resulted from his mating with Rev. Pearce’s Eng. Ch. Regent, who was out of Lord Bolingbroke’s Argyle. The most famous of those whelped included Young Kent, Eng. Ch. Rex, Silk and La Reine.

Bydand Coronach, bred by Murray Stewart, became an English champion in 1932.

Representing a Continental version of the Gordon in the 1930s, Int. Ch. Lucky was the toast of Dordrecht, Holland. Outstanding for his head, legs and feet, Lucky was bred by J. J. Ambags.

Rev. Pearce was also a celebrated author who wrote under the pseudonym “Idstone.” His writings attributed great brilliance and sensitivity to his Gordons, and he often wrote of their near-human perceptions of his thoughts and needs. In one especially poignant story, Pearce speaks of his Gordon bitch named Rhine. Rhine was a quiet and gentle soul who never fussed about in her kennel, except when she saw Pearce preparing for a shoot. At any indication, she would climb over her 8-foot fence and sneak unseen into his vehicle, often remaining unnoticed until the shooters reached their field. On one occasion, she followed her master’s scent for over four miles and finally met up with him at his gunning station, thus proving the prowess of the Gordon Setter’s nose.

GIVE ME MOOR!

The Gordon Setter was especially popular as a shooting dog on the Scottish grouse moors, where his strength and stamina were both necessary and advantageous.

Another of Rev. Pearce’s Gordons, Robin, also showed his intelligence and sensitivity while out hunting with a young and inexperienced retriever. The young dog had missed a wounded bird and was struggling in his hunt to find it. Robin was told to stay. Unable to control himself, Robin broke position, found and caught the bird, took it to the younger dog and then returned to his original position. Pearce marveled at the dog’s decision to give the bird to the other dog and not to his master, a feat that would stun dog trainers even today. He once wrote of his Gordons, “I myself have had setters of marvellous sagacity…whose reflections and method and deductions have startled me at times, and who acted from a power to which I should hesitate to give the name of instinct.”

Despite Rev. Pearce’s devotion to the Gordon, it was Isaac Sharpe who raised the Gordon Setter to prominence during the early 20th century. That era witnessed a rise in sport shooting and a demand for dogs to shoot over on a hunt. Isaac Sharpe had acquired the last of the Castle Gordon Setters and kept them under his Stylish Gundog prefix along with other working breeds, such as pointers, spaniels and retrievers, hiring them out for shooting parties by the week and often for an entire hunting season. He also kept a staff of gamekeepers and trainers to accommodate those sportsmen who wanted handlers with the dogs they hired.

Sharpe’s Gordons were known to hold their own against the best, whether shooting or running in competition. His famous Gordon, Stylish Ranger, won The Kennel Club Derby in 1901, and The Kennel Club All-Age Stake the following year. Considered the finest Gordon running in his day, Ranger was shipped to Norway in 1906 to continue his breeding career.

Isaac Sharpe’s Gordon Setters dominated the breed throughout his lifetime. In 1938, more than 30 years after Ranger was exported, a fine young bitch named Stylish Stagestruck won the Challenge Certificate (a British show award) at England’s largest show, Crufts. Again due to international demand, Stagestruck also left the country when she was purchased by Mrs. Sherman Hoyt of Blakeen kennels in the United States.

Blossom, tracing her pedigree back to the famous Eng. Ch. Kent of Castle Stock, was bred by Rev. Macdona in 1872. This is a famous painting from the end of the 19th century.

The Gordon enjoyed success in both the show ring and the field in the UK. Gradually, however, the true hunter became removed from shows and field trials, and the Gordon Setter fell out of favor. Additionally, some breeders were concerned about the Gordon’s size during his development in the late 19th century, contending that he was too big and could not keep pace with the smaller, racier English Setter. And although the Gordon was unequaled in game-finding ability, the breed also suffered due simply to the numerical superiority of the English Setter breed. The Field Dog Stud Book for 1902 showed approximately 1200 English Setters registered compared to only 20 Gordons.

Eng. Ch. Bouncer of Ardale, bred by M. Milburn, Jr., became a champion in 1929.

Today’s Gordon Setter is family friend and potential hunter dressed in stylish black and tan.

Apparently size was not the only determining factor in the Gordon’s decline in popularity. By 1952, one published writing referred to the breed as a “collection piece.” Ironically, the breed’s failing popularity may have actually saved the Gordon from the exploitation that has plagued other very popular breeds. Compared to popular gundogs like Labrador and Golden Retrievers, the Gordon Setter is generally a healthy breed and prone to only a few of the many health problems common to sporting dogs of similar heritage.

GORDON SETTERS IN THE US

The first Black and Tan Setters to come to the United States were imported from Gordon Castle by George Blunt of New York in 1842; their names were Rake and Rachel, and the latter was given to the famous orator Daniel Webster. Rake was described as having a white curly coat with tan markings and a black saddle. Rachel was black and tan. Blunt and Webster bred the dogs and used them for hunting, thus establishing the breed on American soil.

In 1874 in Memphis, Tennessee, the first field trial took place, and the dogs entered were recorded as being “setters.” These trials, however, didn’t take off with Gordon owners, as their dogs did not excel as well as the other gundog breeds. As interest in field trials expanded into the southern and western states, Gordons fell out of favor to the Pointer and English Setter, who could work faster and harder for hours on end.

A hunter and breeder by the name of Harry Malcolm deserves mention for his promotion of the Black and Tan Setters. His large kennel in Maryland did much to put the breed on the map in the East. He served as the first president of the Gordon Setter Club of America, the organization he founded, and he wrote the first breed standard. In 1877, at the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, 79 Gordon Setters were entered. The American Kennel Club officially changed the breed’s name to Gordon Setter in 1892 in honor of the breed’s British origins.

EFFECTS OF WAR

World War II was greatly responsible for the current canine gene pool in the UK. Food rationing severely depleted food supplies, and many owners were forced to give up or destroy their dogs. By the end of the six-year war, Gordon Setter numbers were depleted and breeding stock was scarce, limited to many of the dogs seen in modern pedigrees.

During the last quarter of the 19th century, many wealthy American enthusiasts imported outstanding Gordons from England. The British sold many fabulous dogs to American fanciers, and these dogs were consistently winning at the shows. Nevertheless, the first two decades of the new century were a low point for the breed, likely caused by financial woes of the wealthy and the beginning of wildlife conservation laws that impacted hunting.

The revival of the Gordon Setter took place in 1920, thanks to Charles T. Inglee of Inglehurst kennels, who imported stock from Norway, Denmark and Sweden after failing to find enough good-quality dogs in the States. These Scandinavian imports were excellent hunters with strong, racy bodies and dark coloration. Inglehurst Joker became a champion in 1922 and would be the key sire for Mr. Inglee’s kennel. Superb in the field and in the show ring, Joker passed along his excellent features in 78 breedings to 300 puppies, 20 of which became champions, not the least of whom was Inglehurst Joker Jr. Ch. Petra, Joker Jr.’s dam, produced almost half of Joker’s champion get, including Am./Can. Ch. Leitchvale Marksman and Inglehurst Marie, both of which were top winners.

FIRST AKC GORDON

The first Black and Tan Setter to be registered by the National American Kennel Club (later the American Kennel Club) was Bang, whelped in 1875 and owned by J.W. White.

In all, Mr. Inglee bred 300 Gordon litters, producing 40 conformation champions and countless superb hunting dogs, all in his kennel’s mere 15 years of operation. Various kennels spun off from Inglehurst, including Dr. Rixford’s Rixford kennel, Donald Fordyce’s Clonmellerslie kennel and James Munn’s Gregorach kennel, the latter producing the group-winning male Ch. Ginger, sire of seven champions.

In 1924 the Gordon Setter Club of America was restarted by Mr. Inglee and six other gentlemen. He held the title of secretary from 1924 until 1929, while Frank Burke was the first president and Hugh MacLaughlin the first treasurer of the reorganized club. With membership in the AKC, the new club began holding specialty shows, field trials and other performance tests.

Dr. A.P. Evans’s Svane kennels, also based on Inglehurst dogs, began in 1922 and produced many excellent field trial winners, including Svane June, whose dam was Inglehurst Lady, and Svane Baby June, the daughter of Svane June. The Marcella kennels of James Powell and Frank Morgan also produced dogs of excellent quality, including Ch. Marcella’s Bud (sired by Dr. Inglee’s Joker) and Ch. Larrabee’s Pietro, out of Stylish Fannie.

Other important early kennels were Marinero, owned by John Taafe, and Royal Hall, owned by Pat Hall (both of California); Avalon kennels of A.N. Nichter (Ohio); EEG/Scotia owned by Charles and Edna Girardot (New York); Serlway kennels, owned by Dr. Claude Searle (Illinois); and Blakeen kennels, owned by Mrs. Sherman Hoyt.

Ch. Downside Bonnie of Serlway, shown winning Best of Breed at the great Morris & Essex Kennel Club.

Mrs. Girardot based her kennels on Ch. Larrabee’s Pietro, bred by the Marcella kennels, and Dochfour Beauty, an English import to Avalon kennels. They produced Mrs. Girardot’s most famous and first bitch champion, Ch. Larrabee’s Avalon Beauty, who produced Ch. EEG’s Scotia Nodrog Rettes. Nodrog would become the foundation of the Afternod kennels. Other important dogs here were EEG’s Scotia Lancer, Ch. Scotia Lancer’s Son, Ch. EEG’s Scotia Atom Bomb and Ch. Larrabee’s Jock. The EEG Gordons lasted nearly two decades, well into the 1950s.

The Serlway kennels, based in Chicago, were active for only a short period but would have a lasting impact on the breed, providing foundation stock for many East Coast kennels. Beginning with the great stud dog named Bonnie, Dr. Searle’s dogs produced many champions. Both Downside Bonnie of Serlway, the sire of 8 champions and the top-winning Gordon since Joker, and Valiant Nutmeg of Serlway, the dam of a record 12 champions, were imported from England. Other important dogs were Ch. Brutus of Serlway (the sire of Ebony Sultan, the second Field Trial Champion), Ch. Black Rogue of Serlway (the sire of Loch Ridge Major Rogue), Ch. Kent of Serlway and Ch. Lancer of Serlway (the sire of Ch. EEG’s Scotia Nodrog Rettes).

In the dawn of World War II, British breeders, having learned a hard lesson from World War I, exported their very best dogs to the US in an effort to preserve their lines. Imported in 1936 by Mrs. J. W. Griess, Barnlake Brutus of Salmagundi sired four champions (out of Dr. Searle’s Nutmeg) and eight out of Ch. Larrabee’s Cricket.

The Heslop kennels were founded by George and Myrtle Heslop in 1936 with Larrabee’s Cricket (out of Inglehurst Lady Belle), who also was bred to Brutus to produce two top winners and sires: Courageous and Crusader. Crusader sired a fabulous bitch in Ch. Heslop’s Burnvale Duchess, who was bred back to her uncle Courageous several times. Duchess is credited with 13 champion get. The Heslop Gordons provided foundation stock for a number of kennels, including Muriel Clement’s Gordon Hill kennels, Margaret Sanger’s Sangerfield kennels and Jake and Dottie Poisker’s Windy Hill kennels. By the time the Heslops retired in the late 1940s, they had produced 29 champions, a truly remarkable record considering that they did so during the dire times of World War II. Few other kennels were producing dogs or finishing champions during the war.

George Thompson of Baltimore, Maryland started his Loch Ridge kennel in 1940 and continued until the mid 1950s. Thompson based his kennel on many fabulous dogs that he purchased from top American breeders, including Mrs. Hoyt, George Heslop and Mrs. Girardot. He bred Loch Ridge Liza Jane (a Brutus-Cricket puppy) to Downside Bonnie to produce Ch. Loch Ridge Dalnaglar Jane and Loch Ridge Vagabond King. The top stud dogs here were Ch. Blakeen Talisman, Loch Ridge Major Rogue (out of Ch. Rita of Avalon CD) and Eng./Am. Ch. Great Scot of Blakeen. The bitches of special note were Ch. Blakeen Saegryte, the dam of seven champions, and Heslop’s Dorvius, a top show dog. A Loch Ridge dog, by Talisman out of Saegryte, became the breed’s first Dual Champion in 1952. Her name was Dual Champion Loch Ridge Saegryte’s Tibby, owned by George Penterman of Shuriridge kennels.

Ch. Sangerfield Portrait, born in 1967, finished her championship at just over a year of age, bred and owned by Fred Itzenplitz.

The Milestone kennel of Miriam Steyer Mincieli of the Bronx started in the late 1930s and stayed active until 1975. The legacy at Milestone began with EEG’s Old Faithful Lass and Ch. Milestone Monarch, who in turn produced Ch. Milestone Grande Duke and Ch. Milestone Magnificent. Ch. Milestone Matriarch, the daughter of Magnificent, became the foundation of the Sun-Yak kennel owned by Donald and Celeste Sunderland of Washington State.

Ch. Legend of Gael, CD, the top-winning Gordon Setter of 1969, 1970 and 1971, shown with handler Jane Kamp (now Forsyth) at the Ladies Kennel Club in 1971. Legend was owned by Mrs. Cheever Porter.

Ch. Afternod Yank of Rockaplenty was the first Gordon Setter to win the Sporting Group at Westminster. He was owned by Mrs. W. W.Clark.

Other kennels that emerged in the 1940s were Thurston’s or Thor’s Hill (owned by Arelyn Thurston of New York), Halenfred (owned by Harold Sydney of Rhode Island), Windy Hill (owned by Jake and Dottie Poisker of Pennsylvania), Gordon Hill (owned by Muriel Clement of Connecticut), Afternod (owned by Vincent and Marion Wilcox of Connecticut) and Sangerfield (owned by Margaret Sanger). All of these breeders devoted decades of their lives to the Gordon Setter breed, sharing their dogs, improving the breed, contributing to the development of the dual-purpose Gordon and promoting the breed throughout the country. Dozens of kennels to follow would not exist without the selfless work of these breeders.

The decade of the 1950s is marked by two ironic events: the revival of field trials for the breed, emphasizing the working attributes of the Gordon; and the first evidence of hip dysplasia in the breed, the bane of working dogs in nearly every breed. Among the new faces of the 1950s were Donald and Carol Chevalier (Loch Adair kennels), Cal and Elsye Calvert (Denida kennels), Ridgely and Pat Reichardt (Blarney Stone Gordon kennels), Ken Lasher (MacGregor kennels) and Warren and Stephanie Malvick. Among the top winners and producers of the decade were Ch. Blakeen Talisman, Ch. Fast’s Falcon of Windy Hill, Ch. Heslop’s Burnvale Duchess and Heslop’s Burnvale Janet.