The Llewellin Setter, America’s Setter
posted in General |by Joe Noe
Published in Bird Dog News, March/April 1997
America’s upland game bird hunting public seems to have been given two basic types of bird dogs to choose from, the are; the close ranging, slow hunting dogs represented by the Continental breeds, such as the Brittany Spaniel, German Short-haired Pointer, Weimaraner, Vizsla, German Drathaar and the Wire-haired Pointing Griffon; and the field trial pointer and setters.
Most field trial dogs tend to have extreme range and unfortunately, most of these will be out of sight and far beyond gun range before most foot hunters will have their guns uncased.
It is true not every dog produced out of field trial stock will become a field trial dog. Most, with proper training and plenty of work, can become very good foot hunting dogs.
Respectively, I submit the upland game bird hunting public of America has another choice. Within the setter family of dogs is a strain of a noble family of dogs that has been pleasing America’s bird hunting public for over a century.
These dogs are registered by the American Field Dog Stud Book as LLEWELLIN SETTERS. It has been a “Herculean task” for the few breeders of these dog to continually produce top quality bird dogs. They have been dedicated to the continuous improvement of this marvelous strain of English Setters.
To understand the Llewellin setter strain one needs to understand the setter breed as a whole. The English Setter is merely an “improved spaniel”. Early authorities are in agreement that the setting spaniel is an older breed of dog than the pointer. The setter was strictly an English creation.
One must recognize that every breed of dog is a cross section of different individuals and that origins are in some cases unproven theories and lots of pure guess work. Long before registrations were kept, every section of England, Scotland and Ireland, had different setter strains such as Featherstones, Lavats, Laveracks, and many others. Wales had the milk white setters, Ireland the red or Irish setter, and Scotland the black and tans or Gordon setters.
Occasionally, dogs from theses strains found their way to America. The resulting dogs became known as “native setter”, these came from kennels with names of Campbells, Gildersleeves, Ethan Allen, Morfords, and many others.
The man responsible for the development of today’s English setter must go to Edward Laverack of Shropshire, England. He crossed, out-crossed and inbred his dogs until they were the standard of excellence. they were animals of great beauty, mostly orange beltons with thick, heavy, smooth coats and with heavy blocky heads.
In the 1870’s the first Laveracks were imported to the U.S. and sometime later dogs came from the kennel of R. Purcell Llewellin. These new imported dogs soon gained popularity over the native setters. they were simply better bird dogs. The pure Laverack almost passed from existence.
Llewellins are a strain of English setter named after R. Purcell Llewellin. The name was given in the U.S. not in England. In a letter written to a Mr. Moore in Philadelphia, PA., Llewellin states, “He only sent culls to America.” The culls he sent to America were faster dogs with shorter hair and utility type heads. But none the less it was upon his foundation that American fanciers built one of the most wonderful strains of field performers ever seen in any part of the world – The Llewellin Setter.
The foundation of the Llewellin strain of dogs were called duke, Dan, Rhoebe and were from setters of Mr. Laveracks kennels. Duke, Dan and Rhoebe were no great dogs themselves but when bred to each other something fit and the resulting dogs were far superior to their ancestors. Llewellin was not the first to breed these dogs but he did so with much more success than those before him.
The late, William Brown, long time editor of the American Field, stated in February of 1972 that, “A Llewellin setter is a strain of English Setter. When it is designated Llewellin, it means that the dog’s bloodlines traces without an out-cross to Duke, Dan, Rhoebe and the Laveracks. Years ago, most of the winning setters carried a relatively high percentage of Llewellin blood but unless they were 100% the designation was not accorded.”
Llewellin began to send his dogs to the U.S. around 1872. He bred dogs until his death in 1025. Then a Mr. William Humphries bought the Llewellins’ dogs and bred then until his death in the late 1960s.
Llewellins were and still are utility type setters, bred to suit the needs of the hunting conditions in the U.S.. The Laveracks were more of a bench show dog with massive frames, thick coats and were slow. Llewellins were fast, had range and great stamina.
“The Llewellin type dog,” represents dogs of medium size, compactly built with relatively small short heads, as compared to the Laveracks, and a harder thinner coat; tail inclined to curve up over the back like a fox-hound. In size they are supposed to vary from twenty-two to twenty-four inches in dogs, bitches slightly less. Average weight of dogs, 50 pounds; bitches forty five. Today’s Llewellin may vary, some may be smaller than the minimum size and weight and some may be larger than the maximum size and weight.
From 1890 to 1920 Llewellin setters won practically every major field trial in the U.S. It was in the 1920s that the pointer began to cause the decline of the setter. The reason was and still is that the setter takes longer to train. Today’s trainers simply prefer faster results. It means more money. the pointer is no better bird dog but is a quicker study.
Some, so called experts, say you can recognize a Llewellin by its color. The color of a Llewellin, some say, is to be white, black, tan and ticked, the tan being on the front legs and muzzle. But Llewellins come in a variety of colors, white and orange or lemon, black, white and tan, white and chestnut, some tricolor chestnuts, blue or orange belton, some with spots or ticking. In the early breeding of setters in England, some colors were held to be correct while others were frowned upon thus the association fo a particular color with Llewellins. The pillars of the American Llewellin strain, Gladstone, Count Noble, Druid, Rake, Leiseter and Lincoln showed these various colors.
To produce a Llewellin one must breed a Llewellin to a Llewellin. Breed a Llewellin to an English setter the resulting pups will be registered as English setters, not Llewellins.
Llewellins are excellent gun dogs, they are bird dogs for the individual hunter that makes this dog a member of the family. Setters on the whole tend to be one man dogs. The Llewellin tends to be this way even more so. This trype of disposition lends the Llewellin to be the dog for the sportsman that wants not only a quality bird dog but a loyal, devoted friend and family member.
As a breed, most Llewellins are very easy to train. Most will not need extreme disciplinary measures. A loud authoritative tone of voice will usually be all that is needed to control the majority of Llewellins. They posses a very easy going temperament and a high degree of nervous energy. They crave and need the affection of a kind and loving master and respond best to it. An occasional pat on the head and a happy loving tone in ones’ voice is all that is needed to keep a Llewellin lyal for a lifetime.
They posses a nose that is equal to any other breed of bird dog. Time after time they will point birds at fantastic distances. Hunting behind dogs with such good noses will mean bumped birds will become a rarity. Rare, unusual? Yes, but not for Llewellins.
Llewellins on the whole have extreme style, by this I mean they point with head and tail. It was their style, pointing and the running that revolutionized the early field trail standards. Standards that are still used today. Their running style is unequaled by any other breed of bird dog.
Their tails ehp the air and their merry running style slashes the country apart. Their hunting desire is shown in theri never quit enthusiasm.
Llewellins are extremely intelligent bird dogs. They can and do adjust their range to suit the territory being hunted. Put one down in a 100 acre plus field and he will rim the edges and do so with intelligence and enthusiasm. Move into thick cover and watch the dog adjust range and tighten down. No matter what the terrain, the Llewellin will stay in touch with his partner. He may go over the hill in search for the scent that will paralyze his every muscle, but he will not run off or take to self hunting. They have the ability to hunt several days in a row, all day for they have a heart that never quits.
The younger you start a Llewellin the better. By starting a dog early, you allow the pup to learn his way around naturally. Given the opportunity most will point at an early age, some will be pointing and holding as early as four or five months. Retrieving and backing will come naturally to most. Patience and a little work by way of repetition will have them working like an older dog.
The dogs Mr. Humphries produced in the 60s and 70s are called Bondhu. The Bondhu’s coat tends to be thick and shaggy, thus burrs will be a problem. They also have limited lung capacity, thus they cannot be all day hunters, several days in a row.
But on the other side of the coin, when you find a Bondhu with the thinner shorter coast of his American cousins and can run all day, you really have something worthwhile. And when you breed that kind of Bondhu and breed him to certain females of the Llewellin strain, the resulting cross produces excellent bird dogs. One American breeder in the early 1070s looked for nearly fifty years to make just such a cross.
The Llewellin is not as widely known today as in the early 1900s for breeders of other breeds have done far more advertising.
Lately some breeders have been able to find some old line Laveracks in Russia and Belgium, with the Berlin wall having been removed, they now have been successfully imported to the U.S. They still carry the heavy coats, large blocky heads and lower tail carriage, but with very selective breeding can be a help to the improvement to the Llewellin breed as a whole.
So if you are looking for a bird dog that has a merry gait, style stamina, nose, intelligence and the ease of handling, try a Llewellin setter. you will find out why your great grandfather or uncle hunted with one. Llewellins are old-fashioned bird dogs for today’s hunter.