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1. How long have you been in Irish/English Setters?

JJ, I started in Irish in 1973 in Anchorage, Alaska

PD, 27 years

MM, I started in 1973..17 years

2. Who was your fist AKC Champion?

JJ, First Champion that I bought as a young adult and finished was Ch O'Sheehan's Lady Mikelle, CD in 1975 with several BOB's. The first homebred Champion was Ch Mi Jean's Promise of the Future in 1978.

PD, Am/Can Ch. Guys'N Dolls Zachariah

MM, Ch.. Kinvale Royal Irish (Ch Courtwood Spring Son x Ch. Kinvale
Majorette of Kendel, CD, the start of Evergreen line.

3. If you could use only one word to describe your line what would it
be?

JJ, Powerful

PD, Type

MM, Balanced

4. What is the one thing you feel needs Improvement in your breed?

JJ, I think we still have to work on movement. It seems that the dogs that give you a good side movement can't seem to get it together coming and going or vice versa.

PD, Type

MM, Front assemblies.....Many of today's Irish setters are lacking in
proper length and return of upper arm...there are also a number of
straight shoulders....many people, judges included, are feeling for
smoothness in neck to shoulder transition, that they forget to check
where those shoulder blades are...many straight shouldered dogs have
"smooth" shoulders. True, effortless front reach suffers when the front
is not made correctly.

5. What do you feel is the one thing that sets the breed apart from any
other breed?

JJ, With Irish I think it is their aristocratic behavior, or I guess some may say that is their devil may care attitude! But with most they just stand there and demand to be looked at in awe.

PD, Unique in markings, none look the same.

MM, The outline....one should be ale to "see" an Irish from the outline.

6. What dog that you had nothing to do with would you liked to have
owned?

JJ, I would have loved to have taken Ch Courtwood Summer Forecase home with me the many times I saw Sue attempting to show him, but really it was him taking her along for the ride. They made a great team.

PD, Ch. Lancelot of Blue Bar

MM, Tough one here....there were so many that I would have loved to have
owned......I think it would be Ch., Courtwood Summer Forecast......he
always gave me chills when he moved...such power and grace built into
one dog....I also greatly admired Ch.. Meadowlark's Vindicator.
And although I never saw Ch.. Legend of Varagon or Ch.. Innisfail
Flashback Design in person.....I think they were way ahead of their
time.
The bitch that I have always admired was Ch. Charlton's Oriental
Jade.

7. Who do you think is the most prestigious judge to win under? What is the
most prestigious show?

JJ, The most prestigious judge, got me there. I love to win under breeder-judges that I respect their opinions and have liked their dogs that they have bred or campaigned. and onto the the most prestigious show, there again I love the specialties and again when the judge is REALLY judging the dogs and not letting anything else cloud their judgements, these wins rank pretty high in my book.

PD, I don't think that there is any prestigious judges and as far as prestigious shows, it would be the English Setter Association of America

MM, I am not sure there is one person that I can place over all
others.....I think wins under people who are regarded as respected "dog
people" by the fancy at large, are the most gratifying. Show: My first thought is Westminster......but as a breeder, I imagine our National Specialty would rank quite highly.

8. What dog would you clone if given the chance (does not have to be a
dog you bred or owned but can be)?

JJ, The one dog that I owned and would have loved to clone years ago would be my Cody, Ch Tramore Jester O'MiJean

PD, BIS/BISS Ch. Oakley's Cigar

MM, Perhaps I would clone either Ch..
Candia Indeed or Ch.. Shannon's Erin to bring them back into our
breeding programs.

9. What do you think of advertising?

JJ, Usually very expensive....... but a lot of the time in Parent club issues, such as the Memo to Members from the ISCA you get to see class dogs from other parts of the country that you can't see otherwise,
So this helps breeders trying to find stud dogs, to buy puppies etc.
When you get into the All Breed magazines I feel that a lot of Handlers use it again to further their cause of their dogs with judges.

PD, Advertising is essential when heavily campaigning a special. In this day and age, judges are more prone to following others footsteps.

MM, There is no doubt in my mind that advertising plays an important
role in this game.....We all enjoy reading who won what.....and 80%-90%
of our views/opinions regarding a dog is made from the pictures and wins
that were advertised.
Advertising is BIG BUCKS.....and really only those who have the BIG
BUDGETS can really put a dog out there for the fancy to see. But even
the little guy can afford to place an important win every once in a
while...it does pay off.

10. What do you think of trimming?

JJ, I personally love to see a dog very well groomed and as some may see it, over trimmed or sculptured. The people who can do it and make a dog look great and natural are few and far between. But if a dog has lots of coat I feel that it does make our redheads look their best.

PD, I truly believe that we are involved in a beauty contest. Without excellent trimming, a good dog sometimes will go unnoticed. I don't like excessive sculpturing of the coats. There are ways of trimming the underline without it looking hard edged.

MM, I admire anyone who can trim a dog so that its good points are
featured and its negative points are minimized.......I like to see a dog
appear natural looking....not hacked......I also like a nice underline,
but it needs to be done with thinning shears and not straight edged
scissors, as some do....so the dog appears neatened up, but not
artificial.....and that is a fine line!
Far too many people do severe grooming the week the dog is entered
in the show, rather than go severe ahead of time and let it begin to
grow in and work the coat as the show approaches... I would also like to add that I feel it is important that those established in the breed go out and help those who want to TRULY learn....no one knows it all.....and no matter how long someone has been
in this, there is always something to learn each and every time we go
and compete.