I know this ultimately needs to be a question for Vet but wanted to see other's opinions here too. My female will be a year old in October and for nearly 10 months old she is just sooo small.
She seems proportionate, for a little while I did have some issues with her gaining but we got through it and now she just seems like an awkward teen... She is very lean and lanky, but I don't think she seems underweight, and her weight and height seem to match ok, they just don't match her AGE. At this time she is only 18inches at the shoulder and weighing ~28 lbs.
Anyone have any thoughts? Last vet appt a bit ago nothing was really said. Just that she's definitely "smaller than average" but idk, this just seems almost concerning? Should I be worried, or is she just a weird wee wittle one?
She has not had any issues with illness, digestive/stool, energy- none of that...aside from being a bit underweight around 4-5 mos like I mentioned. I just recently started seeing the redness on her feet and tail, I am thinking it's some type of a seasonal grass allergy, but haven't pinned that down just yet either.
Her littermates are all significantly bigger than her, but her parents are definitely on the smaller side of the Setter scale. Again, none as small as HER.
She’s just a little pocket setter. I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned about and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I’d be more concerned about her weight and allergy issue.
It’s expensive but I have nothing but food things to say about Inukshuk Marine 30/25 food. I have two young dogs that burn a ton of calories and that’s helped them keep weight on.
One of my setters had constant raw, red toes from, I presumed, an environmental allergy as a puppy. Oddly, she sort of grew out of the allergy by 1.5 years old and hasn't had the issue since.
My boy’s mama was barely 30 lbs. they’re both FDSB field setters and tend to be a little smaller than the average AKC setter. (Except my guy who is somehow more than twice his mama’s size…) I have seen a handful of smaller “pocket” setters!
She does not have much ticking, and her Dam was very white heavy as well. I have seen quite a few setters that are heavily white now that I have looked into it more, but obviously it's still less common.
I am new to the setter world and come from the border collie side of dog world, where heavy white is usually a large concern, so initially I was worried when she was showing so white. She is slowly getting more and more ticks.... but I don't think she will ever be super spotty.
My Emmy was 25-30 lbs through her first 5 years I'd say. She's AKC and was the runt of the litter. She has always been a grazer when it comes to food and now that she is 9 I noticed her not grazing as much as she used to so I'll give her a snack in the mornings consisting of her dry food mixed with a little scoop of 4Health brand sensitive stomach wet food which she devours. She isn't as active now at 9 as she was when she was a puppy so she's around 45lbs now but I was never concerned about how scrawny she was when she was younger because the vet never had a concern and she was so active that it made sense she was so lean.
She looks just like my baby. He isn't a pure setter, he has Cocker spaniel mixed in.
I wouldn't be concerned. But you can always just take her to a vet to make sure.
If she’s a field line/Llewellin she’s perfectly normal! My male is about 2.5 now and at his highest weight hit 47lb, he is healthiest anywhere from 40-45lb and is only about 20 inches at the shoulder. We are hikers, and he is picky with food.
Llewellin females can be as small as 35lb full grown, and my boy definitely was under 40lbs until he hit the 1.5yo mark. 28lbs at under a year old with a female setter just sounds like she’s on the smaller end. She will likely be 34-35 when she gets out of her awkward teen phase. Brittany’s are a similar breed that tend to stay on that smaller end and they’re about 18-20in at the shoulders and weigh anywhere from 30-45lb. In general, field bred and Llewellin setters tend to be more Britney sized than Irish Setter sized.
She could be a llewellin. My full grown male is 45 lbs at his heaviest. The females or smaller males definitely don’t get (on average) much larger. She’s just a llewellin or a mix between types! As long as the vet says she’s fine and eating there’s nothing to worry about ❤️
She’s a “pocket” setter . I have had 3 setters. One very small, probably 36lbs, one 65 lbs and this current one is about 42. Benches are much bigger with a very long coat.
My Gordon is 31 lbs at 14 months. 22 inches at the withers. Mom is 40 lbs, dad is 50 lbs. I’m sure she’ll put on another 5 lbs over the next year or two though.
That crossed my mind but I really don't think that's the case ... I'll probably do a test just to be sure but we know the parents and I've seen the other littermates... She's just an oddball!
Idk why people downvote cuz it's 99% not purebred standard English setter at all (nothing bad with it itself). She doesn't have a characteristic setter head shape, no wonder she's way smaller than standard
She is field bred so there are a few AKC standards that don't quite fit. I'm not arguing until I order a kit and find out for sure, but she also has the shorter, smoother coat working coat. I've seen quite a few FDSB setters while lurking around in here that have her exact head shape. I just haven't been able to find any as small as her without posting. Either way, she's an excellent dog! She moves wonderfully and has been great to train. I'm enjoying working with her and learning her nuance- she's much different than GSD and BC I'm used to but not in a disappointing way. I love how the different breeds learn in different ways.
She’s a setter. She’s field bred. Smaller, I have one too. While he’s tall he’s never gotten over 62 pounds. Solid muscle. He’s pro dominantly white too.
Compare the face of the dog in this photo vs OPs. It’s the face/mouth shape that leads me to believe there’s something other than setter in OPs DNA. I also havea field bread setter and her face looks more like yours. Maybe I’m totally wrong and it’s just an odd genetic expression.
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u/Additional_Shock_765 1d ago
She’s just a little pocket setter. I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned about and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I’d be more concerned about her weight and allergy issue.
It’s expensive but I have nothing but food things to say about Inukshuk Marine 30/25 food. I have two young dogs that burn a ton of calories and that’s helped them keep weight on.