English Setter Trivia
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47 free English Setter trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
This English Setter trivia quiz covers the 'Gentleman by Nature' from its 15th-century setting-dog ancestors to the modern show ring. Questions run through the belton colours (blue, orange, lemon, liver, tricolour) and where the word came from, ticking and feathering, size, head carriage, temperament, exercise and Coren's ranking, plus health facts on deafness and lifespan. History takes in Caius's Index of 1576, hawking and netting, Edward Laverack's Ponto and Old Moll, Llewellin's Duke, Rhoebe and Kate, Dashing Bondhu, the 1874 import to New Jersey, Count Noble in Pittsburgh, and Jim the Wonder Dog of Marshall, Missouri. Competition questions cover Dual Champions and Countess, three Crufts wins, the 11-month-old Westminster winner of 1938, Adonis as AKC registration number one, and the breed's rise and fall on the vulnerable breeds list. Questions run from easy to expert with the difficulty shown on each one, and every answer was checked against a reference page and carries its citation. If you enjoy it, try our Dogs and Irish Setter quizzes next.
30 of 47 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Alongside the English and two Irish setters, which black-and-tan breed completes the setter group?
The Gordon
The Gordon Setter is named after the fourth Duke of Gordon, who kept a celebrated kennel of setters at his castle in Scotland.
Q 02The flecks of colour on an English Setter's mainly white coat are known as what?
Ticking
Ticking is the name for small flecks of colour on a white coat; both British and American standards prefer it spread all over the body rather than gathered in heavy patches.
Q 03In which American Kennel Club group does the English Setter compete?
Sporting
Sporting is the group for dogs bred to find game birds for the gun, and the AKC counts the English Setter among its nine charter breeds, first registered in 1878.
Q 04A white English Setter with black flecks is called what?
Blue belton
A white coat flecked with black is called blue belton, the grey-blue effect coming from black hairs mixed through the white; orange and liver beltons are named for their flecks.
Q 05In the English Setter breed standard, which feature is judged 'the darker the better'?
The eyes
The eyes should be dark brown, 'the darker the better', in both the British and American standards, which want a bright, mild expression; the nose only has to match the coat, black or liver.
Q 06The English Setter colour term 'belton' is said to be named after what in England?
A village
A village called Belton is said to have lent its name to the flecked coat; the breed's Victorian founder used the word for his own strain, writing of 'my Beltons' in his 1872 book on setters.
Q 07Which word do both the British and American breed standards use for the English Setter's overall look?
Elegant
Elegant opens both descriptions, and the coat has to match: the British standard allows a slight wave but no curl, and the American one wants it flat, free of curl and woolliness.
Q 08How does an English Setter carry its head when working?
High, to catch the airborne scent of birds
High, to catch the airborne scent of birds: their scent hangs in the air, so a setter ranges wide over open ground with its head up and should never track foot scent.
Q 09The long silky coat on the ears, legs, belly and tail of an English Setter is called what?
Feathering
Feathering is the longer silky hair on the ears, chest, belly, legs and tail; American standards want it moderate, never so heavy that it hides the dog's lines or movement.
Q 10The English Setter's standard temperament is summed up in what phrase?
'Gentleman by Nature'
'Gentleman by Nature' is the English Setter Association's motto for the breed, though the club warns that beneath the lovable exterior lies a mischievous, strong-willed animal.
Q 11English Setter breed clubs ask breeders to screen for which inherited condition that brings arthritis in later life?
Hip dysplasia
Hip dysplasia is an inherited malformation of the hip joint that leads to arthritis, so breed clubs in both Britain and America ask for hip X-rays before a dog is bred.
Q 12Unlike British setters, continental gundogs such as the vizsla are bred to hunt, point and do what else?
Retrieve
Retrieve: continental breeds such as the vizsla are all-rounders that hunt, point and fetch shot game, while British setters are specialists whose job traditionally ends once the birds are found.
Q 13Setter folklore says an English Setter gallops so smoothly that what could be balanced on its back?
A drink
Q 21Which Latin work by John Caius, translated into English in 1576, described the setting dog?
De Canibus Britannicis
De Canibus Britannicis began as a favour to a friend: Caius wrote his survey of British dogs for the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner, who was compiling a vast encyclopaedia of animals.
Q 22What Latin name did the Tudor naturalist John Caius give the setting dog?
Index
Caius called the setting dog Index, Latin for one that points out, because it betrayed 'the place of the byrdes last abode' to the hunter.
Q 23Which Victorian breeder's strain became the foundation of today's show-type English Setters?
Edward Laverack
A drink: American fanciers say a teacup and a British club president was told a glass of Champagne, because the breed is built with a level back for a smooth, tireless gallop.
Q 14The English Setter's mostly white coat is linked to a raised risk of which inherited condition?
Deafness
Deafness from birth is commonest in white-coated breeds, and about one in eight English Setters in a long American university study was deaf in at least one ear, so litters are given a BAER hearing test.
Q 15The setter is named for what the dog originally did on scenting game birds?
Crouched low and froze
Crouched low and froze: the early setter dropped into a 'set' to mark hidden birds, then crept in on command to put them up.
Q 16Why do breed clubs urge a securely fenced yard for an English Setter?
It wanders off after game
It wanders off after game: like many bird dogs, an English Setter left loose will range far from home on an interesting scent, so clubs and vets call a fenced yard essential.
Q 17Which game birds is the English Setter classically used to hunt?
Quail, pheasant and grouse
Quail, pheasant and grouse are the English Setter's classic quarry, upland birds it holds on point until the hunter arrives.
Q 18Which word do gundog trainers use for a setter puppy that gets visibly excited around its quarry?
'Birdy'
'Birdy' is the trainers' word for a pup that lights up around game; most setters are born with the instinct, and it is the trait trainers look for when choosing a puppy.
Q 19John Caius, who first described the setter in print, held which post at the Tudor court?
Royal physician
Royal physician: Caius was doctor to Edward VI and Mary I and refounded the Cambridge college that still bears his name, so the first account of a setter came from a medical man, not a huntsman.
Q 20The English Setter is believed to derive from the Spanish Pointer, the large Water Spaniel and which breed?
The Springer
The Springer Spaniel joined the Spanish Pointer and the large Water Spaniel in the mix, and with so much spaniel blood the early dogs were simply known as setting spaniels.
Edward Laverack bought a pair of setters in 1825 and bred from their line for decades; his dogs became the show type, while a younger breeder's outcrosses produced the working strain.
Q 24The Victorian breeder behind the modern English Setter bought his founding pair of dogs from a man in which profession?
A clergyman
A clergyman: the Reverend A. Harrison of Carlisle sold him Ponto and Old Moll, a pair prized because the parson's line had reportedly been kept pure for thirty-five years.
Q 25A Victorian breeder outcrossed show-winning English Setters to create a strain that would excel at what?
Field trials
Field trials were the goal: the show winners of the day often faltered in competition on live game, so Llewellin outcrossed them, and field-bred English Setters still carry his name.
Q 26English Setters are said to make poor kennel dogs because they crave what?
Human company
Human company is what the breed lives for: clubs say it is happiest indoors with its family, and a young setter left alone for long spells can turn destructive.
Q 27Britain's first dog show, in 1859, had classes only for pointers and setters and was held in which city?
Newcastle
Newcastle staged it in the town hall, and setters of every colour competed in one class; separate English, Irish and black-and-tan classes followed at Birmingham within a couple of years.
Q 28When the champion American setter Count Noble died in 1891, which newspaper marked it with an obituary?
The New York Times
The New York Times reported that rival owners refused to show their setters against Count Noble, so kennel clubs offered inducements just to have him appear as an extra attraction.
Q 29Jim the Wonder Dog, a 1930s Missouri setter, was said to obey commands in foreign languages, shorthand and what else?
Morse code
Morse code joined shorthand and foreign tongues on the list, and what baffled the professors who tested Jim was that his owner spoke only English.
Q 30For seven years running, Jim the Wonder Dog was said to have picked the winner of which annual event?
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby: Jim was shown the list of runners before each race and was said to pick the winner seven years in a row, and he was also credited with calling the 1936 World Series.