One of the most striking features about an Irish Setter is their gleaming, long chestnut coat. Dogs boasts lots of feathering on their ears, chests, backs of their legs, abdomens and tails which in short means they are high maintenance when it comes to keeping their coats looking good and in top condition.
Their silky featherings have a tendency to knot up and get tangled if dogs are not regularly and frequently brushed. When dogs come back from a walk, their coats and more especially their feathers need to be towel dried before being gently brushed.
It's also important to regularly check an Irish Setters ears to make sure there are no foreign objects like brambles or thorns in them. It's also essential for their ears to be kept as dry as possible because they are prone to suffer from ear infections. If too much moisture is allowed to build up in a dog's ear canal, it provides the perfect environment for a yeast infection to take hold. This type of infection is known to be hard to clear up.
It's also a good idea to take an Irish Setter along to a professional groomer, especially if a dog boasts longer than usual feathering. An expert groomer would be able to thin them out so they are more manageable and they would be able to do this without changing the overall classic look that makes the Irish Setter stand out in a crowd.
Irish Setters as previously mentioned, are high energy dogs and therefore they need to be given a heap of daily exercise. They like to be busy which means a minimum of 2 hours’ vigorous daily exercise with lots of mental stimulation included in their day. If not given the right amount of exercise and mental stimulation, an Irish Setter would soon get bored and this could lead to them being unruly and wilful which makes them harder to manage and handle.
If you get an Irish Setter puppy from a breeder, they would give you a feeding schedule and it's important to stick to the same routine, feeding the same puppy food to avoid any tummy upsets. You can change a puppy's diet, but this needs to be done very gradually always making sure they don't develop any digestive upsets and if they do, it's best to put them back on their original diet and to discuss things with the vet before attempting to change it again.
Older dogs are not known to be fussy or finicky eaters, but this does not mean you can feed them a lower quality diet. It's best to feed a mature dog twice a day, once in the morning and then again in the evening, making sure it's good quality food that meets all their nutritional requirements. It's also important that dogs be given the right amount of exercise so they burn off any excess calories or they might gain too much weight which can lead to all sorts of health issues. Obesity can shorten a dog's life by several years so it's important to keep an eye on their waistline from the word go.
Irish Setters are susceptible to bloat which means they should not be fed just one large meal a day, but preferably 2 small ones. They should not be fed just before they go out for a walk or just when they come back from one either because this puts them more at risk of developing bloat.
