Our Story
We were drawn to Gordon Setters in a roundabout way. Connie grew up with her Grandparents having Irish Setters. She always wanted an Irish Setter. I had Labradors and English Springer Spaniels because I mostly hunted Waterfowl and occasionally upland game living in Illinois. What I knew of Irish Setters at the time we started looking to fill Connie’s desire was that they were over-bred in the past, and much of the hunting desire and capabilities were lost. (I later learned that this is not completely true.) As I started reading on the various Setter breeds I found that Gordon Setters had kept their hunting desire “better” than most of the other Setter breeds. I then convinced Connie that we should get a Gordon Setter. So our search began………
What I found was a challenge. It was difficult to find Gordon Setter litters. We bought our first Gordon Setter in March of 2013. Her breeding came from a French Imported sire and an American bred hunting line. We called her Storme, and she really made an impression on us! She is a crazy and loving dog. She made us fall in love with the breed. A couple of years later we decided to get another Gordon Setter when I found a litter that came from incredible field trial lines. That is when we brought Rhett home.
I was interested in learning more about the breed and its field training, so I went to a field trial near our home that was sponsored by the Gordon setter Club of America. That day changed my knowledge curve and focus on what we wanted to do with our two Gordon Setters. I met Jane Sindel who introduced me to Jean Webb. From that moment on I learned a lot about the breed, their capabilities, strengths, and weakness. I started to train with Jean. Within a month of training the focus became field trials for Rhett, and hunt test with Storme. I had participated in retriever hunt test, but I was completely new to pointing breed hunt test and field trials. Jean and a little later Cassie Allen began to teach me about horses, pointing dog field trials, and hunt tests. I reaffirmed that what I enjoy most about hunting was the dog work. This was a great way to enjoy my dogs afield more often, and they absolutely love it!
Our focus in the breeding program will be to promote the Gordon Setter breed for its field and companion traits. We breed only Gordon Setters that have passed rcd4 Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) and Cerebellar degeneration tests; and have OFA rating on hips and elbows of fair/normal or better. We are a small family breeder that will have puppies available once to twice a year at most.
Take a look around our Web and Facebook page. You will find various pictures and information related to us and our dogs!