English Setter Colors!

There are a wide variety of colors and color combinations in the English Setter. Some colors are more common than others. Unfortunately, in the early days of setter breeding, Lemons and Chestnuts were often culled because they were believed to be inferior, which has made these colors more difficult to find. We see these colors occasionally in our lines, and hope to see more of them in the future.

English Setters are white with colored specks, or "ticking". They can be lightly ticked, meaning mostly white, heavily ticked with very little white (called roan), or any where in between. The possible colors of the English Setter are blue, orange, lemon, or chestnut belton. Belton is a village where the breed's founder, Edward Laverack, liked to hunt, and it refers to the ticking on the dog. When two colors combine with white, the color is called tri-color. It is possible to have blue/orange tri, chestnut/orange tri, and even lemon/orange tri. Eye patches or masks are also common. A "Belton" setter is a dog with ticking, but no patches.

Puppies are almost always born completely white, unless the pup has an eye patch or mask. Occasionally there will be a tell-tale spot or speck. It may take several weeks to see the color come to the surface, especially if the puppy is lightly ticked. It is very difficult to predict what colors will pop up!

Here are some examples: