Someone please tell me they are not so naughty when mature!!!!

[Louise Perry]

Why is it that you think you have got somewhere with your lovely red dog and then suddenly they are really naughty again. Think I may just be having a bad day possibily but could throttle reuben today! 

This morn on his walk he got over excited (as lots of dogs around) and kept running out of the field or my eyesight and totally ignoring the whistle. Then later at home decided to go back to some digging antics in the garden...

He is 15 months old, so obviously still a pup but sometimes I feel myself thinking, please grow up!

Do they get better, these cheeky monsters?

[Teresa]

NOOOOOOOO!!! They get better at being cheecky monsters!

The only thing they get better at is misbehaving! They improve all the details and techniques of their "charming" ways of doing whatever it is you don't want them to, no matter how well you dog proof whatever it is you want to protect!

Just today, my girls were out at 8am. at 8.05am I was yelling at them: they had decided to chase down my sheep and were about to corner my little lamb. They very reluctantly came back (they know, oh THEY DO KNOW! they are not suposed to chase them). They went straight to punishment ( go to the garage and lay down until I say it's ok to come out). I released them and they ran straight to my tomatoes - I know have Reds with tomato juice on them, and no tomatoes for me!
Back to punishment. at 8.45am (YES, 45 minutes) I was giving them my speech of "no sheep, no tomatoes, no chicken" Pitanga glanced at my mother's garden so I added "NO! No grandmas' garden either! Go chase birds!"

It's been 1h30 since that, I'm scared to look out my window - they have done something else, it's far to quiet - I don't care!

But then , I know at night my two girls will come curl up in my bed and spoil me with love and afection , so it's totaly worth it! And truthfully the last inspired day was a month ago, so they are getting a bit calmer - it's just when they do remember, they are also getting better at covering all the covered when misbehaving!

[Katie Rogers]

Okay so I have laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my face. I thought surely only I had the most crazy setters in the world in my life!! I'm now being owned by my 4th red dog. 3 while growing up at home and now I have my first that is my very own. I have to say for a 1 year old GiGi is really very well behaved. She comes when she is called, only chews up her own things, most of the time, and truly wants nothing more in life than to please me, however some days she just fails miserably! I just know one of these days she is going to wake up and snap outta it. She is truly my heart dog.

The first setter in my life was a male, Mick, who was 4 when I was born. I still remember as a young child my mom loading us up into the car because he had let himself out of the backyard again(he taught himself how to open the gate) or had jumped the fence(which he started doing once my parent's chained the gate). He loved to eat my and my sister's socks. My brother's he left alone, must've been too stinky ;) He died at nearly 15. He however was TAME in comparison to the next male we got, also named Mick of course, who was a maniac!! When he was about 4 we had a live christmas tree for the first time in years, which he of course thanked us for bring the bathroom into the house and lifted his leg on it repeatedly!! When he was just 2 I came down for school one day to find him with all four on the kitchen counter drinking out of the sink. He also once spilled a whole gallon of milk on the kitchen floor when my mom foolishly turned her back for a moment to get us kids on the bus for school. He was wild every second of his life. When he was 6 he chased some geese over a hill and we never saw him again though we searched for weeks and weeks. The third setter in my life is Molly, who still resides with my parent's at 11 years of age. She spends most of her time sleeping but will gladly still raid the garbage can if someone forgets to lock it, yes, they have to lock their garbage can. She also has on several occasions stolen entire pizzas or other plates of dinner off the counter when my mom leaves the room to call everyone to eat. Molly sleeps on the couch in the sitting area attached to the kitchen with one eye open ;) She wants everyone to this she is old and senile but she is still sneaky. She used to sleep in bed with me every night and every time I go to visit she tries her best to convince me she hasn't been fed since the last time I was there. When she needs something she will still come and dance in front of me and I'll say "show me" and she takes off to either her food bowl, water bowl, or leash depending on what she needs at the moment. She is the reason that I now have my sweet GiGi. She can be a wild child, don't get me wrong and yes she has made me cuss and swear, I have even sent the kids into the house just so I could cuss the dog out, but I love her to pieces and couldn't imagine my life without her. Just had to add my own crazy setter stories to the mix.

Katie and GiGi

[Sue Paterson]

Its a brilliant thread...I love it. After 38 years of setterdom I have so many tales of destruction, madness etc.Perhaps we should write a book! A dog proof house...now there's a thought....no such thing. Even now they still get one over us. The other day I took a dining room chair into the boys room to stand on to get the room freshener from the top of the cupboard (on the wall out of reach!!! thats still been chewed!!!). I left it there for 3 minutes while I took the freshener into the kitchen to change it......came back...chair overturned....puppy firmly attached to leg which is looking extremely the worse for wear for such a short time of mutilation! He wagged cos he thought this was his next new toy....all the others (3 ranging from 5 to 13) turned there backs and took sly glances in my direction, waiting for the wrath of 'she who must be obeyed' HA HA!
I was soooo calm I don't believe it. Said No firmly and upended said chair thinking 'well Neil can rub it down and revarnish it' only to find the little so and so's had chewed the corner of the seat first!
How in heavens name can they do all that in 3 minutes?????
BUT it was MY fault...I shouldn't have put them in that position should I ?......
Dino our first boy ate the complete works of william shakespeare, a wall and a set of kitchen cupboards before he was a year old! Scarlett used to chase swallows across 3 fields and back for hours, deaf and blind to all shouts and screams. She was definitely the one that you didn't let off the lead if you had something else to do that day. I remember letting her off and she disappeared...I was at the tearful 'that's it I'll never see her again. I'd better go home and phone the police' stage when I met a lady with English Setter. She consoled me and said to stay where I was. Sure enough about an hour later, out popped Scarlett. tail wagging, tongue lolling, soaking wet and mud everywhere...she slept for an hour and was ready to go again!
Oh such memories......

[Lois McCullough]

We returned from a 2 week holiday yesterday and Hamilton and Micawber were in kennels for their holidays, on collecting them we were told how adorable and delightful Micawber is and Hamilton being the elder and much 'wiser' kept young Micawber in check. One hour later, we arrived home the ducks were chased off the pond the sheep grazing in the fields were scattered by the 'boys' barking through the fence. My shoes left in the hall were taken thro' to the breakfast room, tissues in my hand bag were chewed and scattered round the house, the phone charger was removed from one of the cases - the 'boys' are back!! You'd think the rest of the evening would be quiet and peaceful no such luck, I had just settled down to watch a TV programme Hamilton wanted a cuddle so he jumped up onto the settee as close as possible followed by Micawber who knocked my glasses off and then the pair of them rolled over with all 'fours' in the air to have a 'rough and tumble'. We're definitely back it looks like 'pay back' time but couldn't wait to have a cuddle.

[Louise Perry]

Sorry guys but i thought I had posted a while ago thanking you for all your lovely stories and advice but doesnt seem to be here, so thank you. All your stories really made me laugh and not so much despair as Reuben is actually what it seems like a normal setter and in some comparisons not as much as a monster as some of yours haha.
Reuben has settled a bit again now (hope I am not speaking to soon) and is actually listening to me quite a bit more especially with the whistle! So training back on schedule and all quite well apart from when he gets too over excited and impulses take over but i have learned how to deal with that a lot better and can spot it before getting out of control (well most of the time).
As I am a bit calmer and less stressed i otice how much more he does listen to me and our walks are becoming much more of a joy and fun together. he adores walking with me and my little boy and is always keeping an eye out for where we are and especially my little boy. he gets worried if he is lagging behind and runs back for him, it is very sweet as he seems to be looking after for him and being protective of him.
So thank you again and i am sure our setter antics will continue to be a joy!

[Lesley Gilks]

Benson has definitely got better as he's grown but sometimes behaviour could change from day to day and I think it's how he woke up that morning.  I was trying to get him to come to me because some horse and riders were in the park and he would run up and then just shoot past, with a cheeky grin on his face.  The day before, his recall was spot on.

He once leapt in the lap of a lady in a wheel chair, much to her surprise.  He gave her a big sloppy kiss and then ran off into the woods!     

[Howard Glansfield]

That made me laugh.I remember when Fred was about a year old,I accidently dropped his lead ,he took off up the drive of a house and in through this stranger's front door.(It was a hot summer's day so the door was open)I was calling him frantically,The next thing I saw was a female barely covered with a towel dashing down stairs as she escaped this large red dog who had jumped into her bath! I apologised profusely to her husband as he returned Fred.He couldn't stop laughing and ,luckily, everyone saw the funny side of it.

[Lesley Gilks]

Ooh, that's funny!  I think you've beaten me with that story.

[Joan M Cox]

Oh dear he must be our Saffy's twin!!! All sounds so familiar!!  Saffy is our 5th Irish and just over 12 months.  Yes they do eventually grow up, but afraid like us you about 3 - 4 years away!!!!!!  Great fun isn't it?   Still they are the only breed we'd ever have!  It will all be worth it in the end, that's what I keep saying to myself!!! LOL!! Good luck!