questions about my uncle's dog

[Genny]

Hi everyone,

My uncle got an irish setter months ago, and she's 9-10 months old now. I was wondering about her size. She's not any taller than a full grown cocker spaniel. Is something wrong with her? She's also very skinny...not from not eating or anything, and I know normally they are slim dogs but she just looks so young....

Is that a normal size??? Is she just really small...I don't want to ask my uncle about it, he acts so proud of her and I don't want him to think I thought something could be wrong with her? :rolleyes:

thanks for any replies !!!!

[Karen]

No, that's not normal, an Irish Setter should be tall enough for a cocker to walk beneath. Is she a purebred dog, with papers, pedigree? If not, I'd guess she's a mix. They are slender dogs, even full grown, and as she's not even a year now, I'm not surprised she looks skinny-skinny.

[Genny]

Hello Karen,

He has papers on her and saw the mom and dad. So she is a pure bred dog I'm sure, but her size just got me to wondering was something wrong? I just got a great pyrenees puppy a few months ago and she's 5 months now and she is taller than his dog...

His dog acts ok and eats fine. She acts very very hyper like I think a normal irish setter should act, but it's just her size that makes me wonder????

[mike001]

This is not normal size for a 9 mo.old Irish Setter, if she is registered you could get in touch with the breeder and talk about the size and your worries. If your uncle is planning on showing her, she will be too small. Is she gauranteed for health issues? Something is stunting her growth. How tall were the parents?

[luvofallhorses]

do you know if she was the runt of the litter? Irish setters are supposed to be really tall.

[Genny]

Hi everyone,

Mike, he doesn't plan on showing her or anything like that; he just got her for a pet. He thought about breeding her for a while there but decided not to, so about a month ago he got her spayed. I didn't see the parents, but from what my uncle said the dad was a regular size and the mom was really small.

luvofallhorses, he said that she was the biggest girl left when he went to get her. So nope, not a runt ;)

[BC_MoM]

Sorry, papers or no papers, that is not an Irish Setter.

On average, Irish Setters are 25-27 inches taller, and 60-70 pounds.

[Genny]

She prob. only weighs 40 lbs, but I'm not sure. She looks just like an irish setter, just not the right size. I wish I had a picture to show you but I don't right now :( I'm going to try and find a picture online somewhere that she favors a lot and send it.

[Genny]

Hey, she looks a whole lot like this....her face and everything favors this dog and she is about the same size...

http://puppydogweb.com/gallery/irishsetters/irishsetter_bryant.jpg

[Genny]

and she also favors this one some....so what do you think? I know these aren't her but this is pretty much what she looks like and she's 9 months!!

http://puppydogweb.com/gallery/irishsetters/irishsetter_campbell.jpg

[Giselle]

Are you sure you're using the right comparisons? A Cocker is a very small dog, probably 15" at the withers at most. An Irish Setter is almost twice that. At 9-10 months, the average Irish Setter puppy should be around 23"-25". Are you SURE you got a very good look at the puppy's size and you're *positive* that it is an Irish Setter?

By the time the IS puppy was 6 months, she should've been 15" already. The fact that she hasn't grown between 6-9 months is very very odd. ETA: Some lines of dogs take a longer time to physically mature (I know some breeds can take upwards of 2-3 years), but they almost always reach their full height by 12-15 months, with very rare exceptions.

[BC_MoM]

Does she look like this?

http://www.europuppyusa.com/images/dog_breed_info/english_cocker_spaniel.jpg

[lizbud]

This pup pictures looks about 12-14 week old puppy.

http://puppydogweb.com/gallery/irishsetters/irishsetter_campbell.jpg


What did they feed the pups?

[Genny]

Are you sure you're using the right comparisons? A Cocker is a very small dog, probably 15" at the withers at most. An Irish Setter is almost twice that. At 9-10 months, the average Irish Setter puppy should be around 23"-25". Are you SURE you got a very good look at the puppy's size and you're *positive* that it is an Irish Setter?

Giselle, hey. I'm sure she's an IS. He has the papers, my brother went with him when he got her at around 9 weeks. I know how big a cocker spaniel is, she's about that size too. My mom's best friend from school has had many cockers over the years so I've been around a lot of that kind. She 'could possibly' be a little taller than one, but not much at all if any :eek:


Does she look like this?http://www.europuppyusa.com/images/dog_breed_info/english_cocker_spaniel.jpg


No, she's doesn't look like that at all. She looks like the pictures I sent pretty much :)



What did they feed the pups?

Who? My uncle or the breeders he got her from? If you mean my uncle then he feeds her OL' Roy I think canned dog food and dry. He sometimes gives her table scraps and that's about all I guess....

[lute]

O'l Roy is THE worst food to feed! It could possibly be that who ever he got her from deprived the pups of the proper diet. Their growth could have been stunted. I would definatly talk to your uncle about feeding te dog another food. Make sure the #1 ingredient is a meat product. Never a meat BY product or a grain.

[Giselle]

Ahhhh, there you go. Ol' Roy is cr@p food, for lack of better words. It's basically a bunch of fillers used to bulk the food up and do nothing more. I would never in a million years feed it to my dogs, much less a growing puppy. Puppies need a lot more calories than adult dogs. Because Ol Roy is mostly grains and fillers, chances are that his puppy never received her full amount of required nutrients. It's disturbing that she is so stunted, but I guess that's the most plausible answer. *shrug*

[Genny]

Really? I will definitely tell him about that. I guess he had no idea because I didn't. I'm glad we don't feed our dogs that! What kind of brands do you feed your dogs???

He's a stubborn person at times so I want to know of a 'good' kind to tell him about to get instead. He also goes to Wal-Mart to get the dog food and probably won't want to go anywhere else to get dog food, so what's a healthy brand there? :) thanks guys!

[Pam]

You might want to visit this site to see the breed specifics for Irish Setters.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/irishsetter.htm
I personally don't think that eating poor quality dog food would stunt a dog's growth to that degree but I could always be wrong. My thinking is that the small size is genetic and maybe the dog didn't come from the best breeder. That all said, she has a home now where she is loved, so you just go from there. Maybe you could coax your uncle to try giving her some better food but suggest it nicely. :)

[Genny]

Maybe you could coax your uncle to try giving her some better food but suggest it nicely.


yes, very nicely so he won't feel like I'm trying to be bossy or whatever :D
he's like that some time!

Thanks for the great web~site; I go to that site often to read up on certain breeds sometimes..it's a good one.

I never thought about her growth being stunted by a certain kind of food, but I'm sure it happens like the others said, but at least she is in a loving home now. She acts like any other dog, very hyper like an IS should be...just smaller :rolleyes:

[BC_MoM]

Well, I still doubt she is an Irish Setter until I see some pictures. *hint hint* LOL!

[Genny]

LOL I'll defin. try to get some pictures, but like I've told everyone I'm trying to get some sent of Sadie my Great Pyr pup but right now my camera is messed up so I can't :rolleyes: but when ever I do get some where I can send them I definitely will ;)