The Laveracks, Like All Early Setters, Were Serious Hunting Dogs

For hundreds of years the various setter strains of the British Isles were bred to find and point birds for the hunter. Because Edward Laverack’s strain excelled in these abilities, and in beauty, crosses with them became the foundation of the modern English setter.

Everything changed when shows and field trials were invented in the mid 1800s and breeders shifted their focus to winning in competition. Field trial dogs became more and more specialized for style and other qualities that can be seen and judged in a trial. Shows became dominated by people (and their dogs) who may or may not have ever even hunted. Over time these factions have drifted further and further away from the original purpose of the breed.

By the early 1900s there was a strong contingent of American hunters who didn’t care about competition. They wanted English setters that were good hunting dogs. They appreciated the looks and personality of the setter, but also wanted a dog that went out and just did the job for them. This is where George Ryman entered the picture.

So Did Ryman Really Develop a New Type to Meet This Demand?

Well, yes. And no.

How you answer this question depends on your perspective. At a time when setters were drifting away from their original purpose – producing birds for the gun – Ryman abandoned competition and focused on breeding dogs that excelled at consistently handling birds for hunters. They did so instinctively and intuitively, with little or no training, and at an early age. So from the perspective of bird hunters of the time, yes this was a new type specialized for hunting.

However looking at this question from a historical perspective what Ryman actually did was restore the original abilities English setters possessed before the advent of competition. So no, he didn’t so much invent a new type as reinvent the wheel.

Bred To Hunt

Emphasis on competition necessarily changed the dogs’ performance so some of those original characteristics, some of which were very much undesirable for the new purposes, began to disappear. By ignoring competition (he bitterly complained about the quality of show and field trial dogs) in favor of selecting for hunting ability, Ryman was successful in restoring the original hunting abilities of the English setter.

Let’s take a closer look. Ryman bragged that his dogs were early developing natural bird finders that didn’t need much “commanding”. He wrote of his customers “in a few days of shooting on birds, a season’s work, they have a better dog on game than any dog they have ever saw with three seasons’ experience“. When we originally read this we thought it was just hype because we lacked the experience and knowledge to understand what he was saying. In reality, this is exactly what an English setter was supposed to do because it’s what English setters were originally bred to do.

By way of illustration, in his book The Setter (1872, Chapter 7, page 38) Edward Laverack wrote “I have frequently shot over setters at nine and eleven months old, as steady as need be…” then “My breed hunt, range, point, and back intuitively at six months, and require comparatively little or no breaking.” Sound familiar? It’s pretty much what Ryman said about his dogs 80 years later. Laverack also stressed, over and over, the importance of endurance and the ability to hold up in many different types of terrain – not for an hour or two but all day for days on end – so it should be no surprise to see dogs like this depicted in his book.

The illustrations included here are of “Laveracks” from The Setter. Because they were bred for endurance they had appropriate conformation for a hunting dog. Contrast that with these setters from a recent Westminster show.

While the name “Laverack” is often considered synonymous with show dogs, the modern show English setter is a far cry from the dogs Laverack was producing in the 1800s.

Not by coincidence, today’s Ryman-type breeders are producing English setters very much like those of George Ryman and Edward Laverack – English setters that conform to the original intent and abilities of the breed. These abilities are maintained in hunting lines by breeders who understand and focus on them. Otherwise they are inevitably lost.