Many years ago, a study was done in Beagles that found that getting a Beagle pup at 49 days was optimal for socialization.

Well, first of all, Irish Setters are not Beagles.  I could give you a 10 year old Irish that had been kenneled all its life and it would have no problems with socialization.  I've had two year old Irish who've never been in a car, leap in their new owners cars and look out the window like they have been doing it all their lives!  Irish are people dogs and socialization and bonding with a new family is NOT a problem.  (I will digress here and say that and say that I have heard it can be in some breeds, especially in those that would naturally pack, like some of the hounds.

49 day old Irish Setters are still babies.  We may have just weaned them from their mother and given them their first shots, but they are not yet ready to leave their brothers and sisters.  They learn to play and to be dogs by playing with their littermates.  They learn self esteem and acquire a sense of security.  One day one is top of the heap, another day another is.  By putting them out into a scary world where they are the littlest things when only babies, seven weeks old, I feel that we do them and their new owners a disservice.

Plus ... seven week old babies can't be housebroken yet.  Sorry.  And if they start going in the house because they are babies, the odor may linger and you may have a terrible time getting them to stop going at the place where the odor is.  And, their smeller is better than yours.  Concrete is a major smell catcher.

If you wait until the pup is 10-12 weeks old, the breeder will probably have given two shots and wormed once or twice.  The baby is more ready to face the world with less chance of catching something.  And, they are old enough to easily housebreak.

I really don't know why folks WANT a baby younger than 10-12 weeks old.  I wouldn't want to bring a baby that age into my house ... they are better able to withstand the stress of separation 10-12 weeks.  So don't ask me to sell you an Irish Setter pup at 49 days.  I won't do it!

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Dogs are creatures of habit.  Given a chance, they will go potty in the same places regularly.  We just have to make sure it's the place where we want them to go potty!

Two things make housebreaking easier -- a crate and a fenced yard.  A third factor that eases housebreaking is having someone home with the pup, at least for the first few days.

The pup must be old enough to understand what is going on.  A six-week old baby goes potty whenever and wherever.  All you can do is keep it off good rugs and let it out a lot.  But assuming the pup is about 9-12 weeks old, you can begin housebreaking.

First, never use the "tried and true" technique of rubbing the pup's nose in his pee.  Irish Setters are very sensitive and they don't deal well with physical or even verbal punishment.  You'll do much better with praise with an Irish Setter than with punishment.

The key to successful housebreaking is scheduling and organization.  Get the pup up at the same time every day and immediately take it to its "potty place".  Feed the pup several (4 or 5) small meals a day while housebreaking.  Make the meals interesting so the pup will eat it all ... add some canned dog food or table scraps to make it more interesting.  Then, take the pup to the "potty place" about 10-15 minutes later.  DO NOT play with the puppy at these times ... the pup will forget to go potty and will go as soon as you are back in the house.  Let the pup take care of business, sniffing, etc.  Have the last person up in the house take the puppy out before they go to bed.

Until you are sure the pup is housebroken, keep it in a crate or with you at all times.  Crating a dog is not cruel.  Many dogs love their crates and go in them on their own.  They are a place of safety -- their homes.  Crate the pup at night.  Either a plastic shipping crate (like a Varikennel) or a wire crate will work.  Make sure it is not too big or the pup may potty in it.  (You may need to block off part of the crate with a box until the pup is bigger.)

If you are loving, firm, positive, and consistent, housebreaking will be much easier and you will be happier with your puppy.

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PRA, Progressive Retinal Atrophy, is a nasty disease of the eyes that causes relatively young dogs to go blind.  Unfortunately, it has been a problem in Irish Setters.  Back when we first started breeding Irish Setters, in the late ‘60s, there were only two things you could do to get some handle on PRA.  One was to test-breed a blind bitch.  That is, you could breed your boy to a blind girl and hope that none of the pups went blind.  As you can imagine, that was a very depressing undertaking.  The other thing you could do was to look at the pedigree to get an idea if you might be in trouble with PRA.  A veteran breeder, Will Newhall, would rate a pedigree for chance of PRA, using knowledge of those dogs who had produced PRA.  But, essentially, it was a crap shoot.

Today, Irish Setter breeders are much luckier.  Because PRA is a simple genetic recessive, we now can test for it by a blood test.  The blood test will tell us if the dog is genetically clear of the disease, or if the dog is a carrier (meaning that, bred to another carrier or a dog with PRA, blind pups could result), or if the dog has PRA.  The blood test, at first, was very expensive.  While not cheap, it has gone down in cost enough that that there is no excuse for any breeder producing blind pups.

As an Irish Setter pet buyer, you should ask the breeder if one (or both) of the parents is genetically clear of PRA.  With a pet, which you are not going to breed, it is only necessary that one of the parents be genetically clear.  If one is genetically clear, the pup CANNOT go blind from Progressive Retinal Atrophy. 

Remember, PRA as a simple genetic recessive is an Irish Setter disease.  It does not have the same form in some other breeds, and is not a problem in many breeds.

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Recently, one of our pet owners asked me about his dog's coat.  Despite the fact that he was feeding a balanced diet, with supplements and lots of oils, the dog's coat was somewhat dry and was falling out.  What should they do?

Well, first, check for worms.  Take a stool specimen in to your vet, and worm if he finds anything.  Puppies usually have roundworms.  If the infestation is especially bad, you will see "spaghetti" in the stool.  But, if it's not that bad, you may see nothing.  We've found over the years, that if the dog's stomach is black, he is quite likely to have hookworms.  Vets may disagree with me ... just call it an "old breeder's tale."  Some of the heartworm meds are supposed to take care of worms, but it doesn't always work that way.  I've heard from folks who still had worms.

If you've ruled out worms, are feeding a balanced diet with lots of oils, and the coat is dry, dull, and maybe even falling out, have your vet check the dog's thyroid function.  Unfortunately, thyroid problems are currently relatively common for Irish Setters.  This is especially a possibility if the dog's coat is looking light in color.

Allergies may be another possible culprit.  And, here again, allergies are relatively common in Irish Setters.  If you suspect allergies, pull back to a basic diet ... feeding a lamb and rice dry food.  Lamb and rice foods are tolerated usually without allergic reactions.  Then, if the coat improves, slowly add supplements and other foods, one at a time, back into the dog's diet.  Allergies really impact on coat, at least in Irish Setters.  I had one go bald once!  (And a bald Irish Setter is NOT a pretty sight!).  With careful attention to her diet, she re-grew the coat, though we never figured out what it was that made her go bald.  Last winter I had FOUR of the dogs get bald spots on the top of their backs ... the vet ran all kinds of tests ... he consulted with veterinary dermatologists ... and we never found out for sure what caused it.  I suspected a cleaner we were using in the kennels and discontinued that.  Whatever it was, it just went away and they re-grew hair.

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