Especially to Those Who Have Contacted Us in Recent Months ...

For those who have contacted us in the past six months about our English Setter shooting dogs and puppies and other matters, we apologize for the delay in getting in touch with you,

We have had very limited access to the internet, not to mention being very busy with shooting trips, guided hunts, training a group of young setters, as well being involved in the design and construction process of a new kennel facility.

Even though we now have access to the internet on a more regular basis, catching up with the correspondence we've received will be undertaken in the order in which we received your inquiry. This may take some time due to the number of inquiries and other correspondence received and also due to the recent whelping of two January litters and the required time involved in the proper training and evaluation process of a very special group of up-and-coming young gun dogs.

To save further time regarding any new contacts who may be interested in our English Setter shooting dog puppies, we would like to advise that we have a three year waiting list at the present time. This time frame is based on current reservations as well as what our clients desire in a new puppy as well as on the bloodlines of our breedings, repeat clients, sex requested, color and markings, etc.

For those who are interested in seeing our excellent shooting dogs, we are always pleased to have anyone join us for a guided hunt and witness first hand what a setter shooting dog is supposed to do while hunting "wild" game birds.

At this time, we have limited openings available for booking guided hunts for the 2012-2013 hunting season. If interested, contact us through our Contact Us page (easily accessed by clicking here) for further information and pricing of available guided hunts and available dates. In the meantime, we sincerely hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season as well as the chance to enjoy some great hunting. A belated and heart-felt safe, healthy and Happy New Year from our house to yours.

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A Visit to Shohola

Freeman Lloyd was a prolific writer in his day on all matters "canine." He also became a close friend of George H. Ryman and visited Ryman's "splendid sporting estate" frequently.

In the most recent piece just-published on the "Fetters Setters ~ The Ryman English Setter Story," easily accessed by clicking here, "A Visit to Shohola" ~ link added to "The Ryman English Setter Story ~ Index" at the top of the page ~ colorfully recounts one of Lloyd's visits to George Ryman's Shohola Falls, Pennsylvania, home.

Of certain interest to George Ryman enthusiasts in this particular piece is a thoroughly descriptive narrative about the "great hall" in Ryman's home. While it has been described elsewhere by other writers, Lloyd's inclusive description leaves other narratives sadly wanting.

In our seemingly never-ending venture of sorting through, organizing and filing the massive amount of documents, photos and other materials from the previous four generations of Fetters Family English Setter histories, we recently came across this special piece and wanted to share it with our readers here. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did when we re-discovered it ...
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Valuable Tips on Training Younger Dogs in the Field

Ryman's Allegheny

Snow at a tender

six-months of age

Watching the progress of younger dogs in the field should be an enjoyable and memorable endeavor and as stress-free (for both the owner/trainer and the young dog) as possible.

Frustrations on the part of the inexperienced owner/trainer may begin to surface when one feels a younger dog is not progressing as fast as they have been told, according to something they read somewhere, etc. Circumstances such as this will not only diminish the enjoyment of the owner/trainer, but can serve to confuse and confound the younger dog as well.

When our children were still infants, my pediatrician gave me some invaluable advice on potty-training that could also be applied in a sense to younger dogs ~ that every child progresses at their own rate, and will potty-train when they are ready ~ and that when they are sixteen and eighteen years old it will not matter if they potty-trained at 10-months, 12-months, 18-months of age or even 24-months of age, whatever the case may be.

No one would think of demanding a baby of two-to-three months old become proficiently potty-trained, yet there are some who expect the world of a younger dog in the field when all the pup may be interested in at that particular point of their life is play. In addition, dogs have their own unique "ways of thinking about things" that may differ greatly from a human's points of view at critical times.

With the invaluable knowledge of four devoted generations of English Setter Gun Dog breeding and training behind him, John has written a wonderful piece in this regard, "Time, Patience and Understanding Equals Early Perfection" on the "Fetters Setters ~ Training Tips" page, easily accessed by clicking here.

And the common sense approach he offers is sure to bring the pleasure and enjoyment back into any young dog training experience in the field ~ not only for the owner/trainer, but for the very impressionable young dog as well.

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New Blog Page ~ Our Dogs ~ Hunting Scenes and Other Photos

Long overdue, however better late than never, is the addition of the newest Fetters Setters page, Fetters Setters ~ Our Dogs ~ Hunting Scenes and Other Photos, which can be found by clicking here.

As stated elsewhere on our pages here in the past, many of our records and other items were placed in storage sometime ago due to extensive travels necessitated by both business and family affairs. One of the wonderful aspects of having a number of these items under-foot again is that it has been almost like re-connecting with family and old friends in a sense.

We have been in the process of retrieving these treasures and unpacking, re-sorting and re-organizing them for sometime. The initial photos on our newest page are only the beginning of a vast amount of material which we plan to share here.

We have foregone any captions on the initial batch of these as most are relatively self-explanatory. We may or may not add written information in short doses at some point in the future, depending on when we feel the need and as time allows.

While styles and fashions come in and go out with time, the beauty of a well-conformed English Setter in the field and at home near the hearth are indeed timeless.
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Beauty as well as stunning ability are attributes the Fetters Family English Setters have been known for through five generations: a setter must possess brain and stamina to hunt everyday under adverse weather conditions and in any type of cover encountered. These outstanding qualities are continued in the bloodlines we breed and maintain to this day.

We hope you enjoy these photos as much as we have enjoyed going through them and sharing them with you here.


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Latest Additions to Fetters Setters ~ Antiques and Collectibles Page

Safely packed away and stored for sometime due to our extensive travels, many of the pieces in our personal collection of English Setter and Gun Dog pieces require the same time and care in the unpacking as they required when initially packed.

We recently had an opportunity to unpack even more of these pieces ~ again with a number of them being Fetters Family heirlooms, handed down to John by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

We have shared more of these pieces with our interested readers on the Fetters Setters ~ Antiques and Collectibles page, which can be easily accessed by clicking here.

Recent pieces which were just posted there today span a time period from the Early 1900s to the 1950s and include relatively rare pieces which were lovingly cared for and preserved by John's family. We hope you enjoy the latest additions.

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A Lively New Addition to the Fetters Setters Web Site/Blog: Fetters Setters ~ Training Tips

Typical eight-month old Female English Setter

by Roscoe Gladstone and Irene Cooper (circa. Early 1900s)

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One of the newest additions to the Fetters Setters website/blog is a brand new page, "Fetters Setters ~ Training Tips" which can be easily accessed by clicking here.

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As some of you are already aware, the Fetters Setters English Setters bloodlines and upland game hunting traditions have been on-going for no less than five generations.

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The first article, personally written by John Fetters as all of them will be, is only the first of many tips and topics which will be appearing there.

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You will have a rare opportunity to share in some of the vast reserve of knowledge and insights John has acquired through the years ~ much of which has been passed down religously through the Fetters Family.

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If you have any specific topic you would like to see there, just use the "Fetters Setters ~ Contact Us" page, accessed by clicking here, and we will see what we can do to accommodate you.

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John has been encouraged for years and years to put some of this vast knowledge ~ much of which has been passed along by his family through four generations of upland game hunters and English Setter owners and breeders ~ down on paper.

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However now, with The Lady of the House (who is writing this particular piece) having a background in professional publishing, he no longer has a reason not to finally do so.

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As with most of our English Setter and Gun Dog related topics, John does the initial writing ~ which is then edited and formatted by The Lady of the House and published here.

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Anyone who knows John personally is already aware that he has the capability of doing at least a dozen things at one time ~ so The Lady of the House will have her work cut out for her as John already has four more different articles in progress, besides seven or eight (or fifteen or sixteen) other projects going on.

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Now You Can Send a Vintage English Setter Postcard from the Fetters Setters Site ...

We've found a wonderful Internet program and function we've added to the Fetters Setters site which now will give you the opportunity to send Vintage English Setter Postcards to family and friends. You can access the "Fetters Setters ~ Send Vintage English Setter Postcards to Family Members and Friends" web page from the Fetters Setters Links list included on every Fetters Setters web page ~ or you can access it now by clicking here.

The program is very easy to use and self-explanatory. The selection of Vintage English Setter Postcards there is fairly basic and limited at this time ~ as it is still in the early stages of development ~ and the backgrounds you will find there are fairly basic as well. We hope to add more variety to the site as time allows (more Vintage English Setter Postcards and a wider variety of custom backgrounds), however the important aspect now is that we tested it several times and it does work. Perfectly.

We have a collection of Vintage and Antique English Setter Postcards and prints which we will be sharing there ~ and you may occasionally find another breed of dog (particularly other breeds of Gun Dogs) there as well as gamebirds, nature and Upland Game Hunting themes and sometimes just a generic or seasonal antique or vintage theme (such as vintage and antique Valentines).

You're invited to stop back and see what we have there periodically as we will add to it and change the offerings there from time to time. We have the basic "bones" of our web site/Blog completed now and ~ as you may have already noticed ~ we are now working on rounding out and filling in the content and themes of each individual page a little at a time. In the meantime, feel free to use the Fetters Setters ~ Send Vintage English Setter Postcards to Family Members and Friends anytime and as much as you like.

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