Breeding a golden retriever x irish red setter

64478339

Hi folks,

I have a Golden Irish dog (golden retriever x irish red setter) and she is over a year old.

She is an amazing, beautiful, loyal, affectionate and clever dog. I got her from a breeder and her parents are both show dogs with excellent pedigree. Obviously as she is a mixed breed she has no papers.

I have been wondering lately if it would be a possibilty to breed her. Reason being I would like another 1 or 2 like her and family and friends also want a puppy from her.

If I choose to breed her in the future, what would be the best option to do so? With another golden Irish, with a retriever, with a setter, or should I breed her at all?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Can't seem to upload pic on this sorry!

Thanks
Robert

Knine

The best option is to spay her when she is mature & if you really want another dog, get one from a Reputable Breeder. There is no good reason to add any more cross breeds to the world. I am surprised she is from show dogs as it is against the code of ethics to cross breeds.
You might find family & friends will not be as keen when the litter is on the ground.
Anybody with a decent Golden or Irish who is reputable will not let you use their dog. I get approached a lot with my breeds.

If you decide to proceed anyway there is a lot of health tests that need to be done on both potential parents - hips, elbows, eyes as a minimum. You would also need at least 1K to hand in case she has trouble having them & need time off work or somebody to hand rear in case she can't feed them or you lose her.

64478339

Good to know thank you!

DBB

Just to add to knine's post... if you cross a GR x Setter to another GR x Setter, most resultant pups will look very like either GRs, or Setters. The chances of any pups looking like their mum are small. This is because when you cross a first generation cross to another first generation cross, they don't "breed true"... they revert to resembling one of their grandparents.
The other options... crossing her to another purebred GR will produce ¾-bred GRs... they'll strongly resemble purebred GRs!
Crossing her to another purebred Setter will produce ¾-bred Setters... they'll strongly resemble purebred Setters!
So... if you're looking for a pup that looks like her, then it's another 1st generation pup you'll need to look for, just like she is.
I don't have any great issues with people breeding crossbreeds, in theory... if they do the health testing appropriate to both parent breeds, and if they raise the pups conscientiously and with a great emphasis on good socialisation and living within the home... I'm more interested in people being able to source healthy, friendly, well-rounded pet dogs. I personally don't really mind what breeds the parents happen to be. The catch to this, of course, is that conscientious breeders of crossbreeds are few and far between, in Ireland at least. They are out there, but in nowhere near enough numbers to even vaguely satisfy current demand, with the result that buying crossbreed dogs is fraught with all, maybe more of the downfalls associated with puppy farming and backyard breeding.

64478339

That's really helpful, I was a bit clueless on all this hence asking. Sounds like breeding her is out of the question. I may search for a pure bred irish setter as they are fantastic dogs and great excercise partners! Thanks again.

JustAThought

64478339 wrote: »

Hi folks,

I have a Golden Irish dog (golden retriever x irish red setter) and she is over a year old.

She is an amazing, beautiful, loyal, affectionate and clever dog. I got her from a breeder and her parents are both show dogs with excellent pedigree. Obviously as she is a mixed breed she has no papers.

I have been wondering lately if it would be a possibilty to breed her. Reason being I would like another 1 or 2 like her and family and friends also want a puppy from her.

If I choose to breed her in the future, what would be the best option to do so? With another golden Irish, with a retriever, with a setter, or should I breed her at all?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Can't seem to upload pic on this sorry!

Thanks
Robert

Retrievers seem to be consistently up there as the most popular family pet - setters are madder and have fallen from grace somewhat in popularity so a healthy, happy, goodnatured temperment vet checked & guided retriever might be the best option! They are certainly what are selling like hotcakes on dog and puppy sale sites in Ireland for the past covid 19 year and what you tend to see being lead around and loved and trained in the parks and coastal paths with adoring children and parents in tow atm.

borderlinemeath

JustAThought wrote: »

Retrievers seem to be consistently up there as the most popular family pet - setters are madder and have fallen from grace somewhat in popularity so a healthy, happy, goodnatured temperment vet checked & guided retriever might be the best option! They are certainly what are selling like hotcakes on dog and puppy sale sites in Ireland for the past covid 19 year and what you tend to see being lead around and loved and trained in the parks and coastal paths with adoring children and parents in tow atm.

Differences I've noticed between some retrievers and setters.

Retrievers shed far more fur. They're double coated and blonde hair is EVERYWHERE if you don't brush them down on a very regular basis. I've 5 red setters and if there's a GR visiting in the house I notice immediately by the increase in dust bunnies of blonde hair.

Retrievers (In my experience) tend to be far more prone to food guarding. I've met a good few retrievers who will bare teeth (to dogs and humans) if they feel the morsel of food they guarding is threatened. Out of my 5 setters, only 1 would be anyway close to being guardy with food and that's only for high value treats and bones. He'll share a bowl with the others if it's regular food or the licking of something nice. And in his defence he was found very sick and malnourished when he was young so I fully understand why he might be like that.

There's a nervous energy to some GRs that I don't see too much in my setters, or other reds that I've handled. Possibly that they are under exercised or that there's a bit of anxiety that is masked by their normal "happy go lucky" nature - it's rare to see a Goldie that isn't smiling. I think there's a happy confidence to red setters - in addition to their boundless energy!

A lot of the setters bred in Ireland tend to be field setters, so this is where the non stop energy comes from. 3 of mine are field setters, the other 2 are half field half show line. But they all need to run and burn off energy or they can be destructive. One of my older boys is particularly fond of digging. He hasn't got the energy for endless running any more but if he doesn't get out for a ramble he may have a little dig when he's excited:pac:


Of course retrievers are far more popular than setters so there will of course be plenty of badly bred and puppy farmed dogs. Thankfully setters haven't become a puppy farm favourite, but plenty of them bred in sheds and barns of hunters who wouldn't exactly put pet socialisation to the fore when breeding.

JustAThought

Interesting post!!! I’ve ‘known’ - friends of family I would often have walked with or visited - more red setters than retrievers oddly but did have a (georgous) GR come to live with me for a few years as a foster - definately right on the GR hairyness - even now I sometimes shake out an old coat or blanket and am festooned with strands of perfect blonde! We never hd food gaurding issues but I guess with any dog that can be training / background past issues rather than a breed issue. My experiences of the RS’s (3 homes) would not have been anything like positive and I probably would be a bit biased against the poor breed for that reason! Thou they are georgous mad high energy affectionate demanding outdoor dogs!

I didn’t realise there were 2 strains of RS - field dogs and some other - do they have different features/builds and characteristics or are they ‘just’ different lines and functions for showing only not hunting?

Knine

Other Setters to look at/consider would be the Irish Red & White Setter & also the Gordon Setter, both lovely Breeds. The Gordon being the heavy weight of the Setter Breeds

borderlinemeath

JustAThought wrote: »

Interesting post!!! I’ve ‘known’ - friends of family I would often have walked with or visited - more red setters than retrievers oddly but did have a (georgous) GR come to live with me for a few years as a foster - definately right on the GR hairyness - even now I sometimes shake out an old coat or blanket and am festooned with strands of perfect blonde! We never hd food gaurding issues but I guess with any dog that can be training / background past issues rather than a breed issue. My experiences of the RS’s (3 homes) would not have been anything like positive and I probably would be a bit biased against the poor breed for that reason! Thou they are georgous mad high energy affectionate demanding outdoor dogs!

I didn’t realise there were 2 strains of RS - field dogs and some other - do they have different features/builds and characteristics or are they ‘just’ different lines and functions for showing only not hunting?

The field setters are smaller and less feathering sometimes the coat is lighter in colour. The show lines are taller, their coats are thicker and the feathering grows longer. It's very clear when they're side by side.