My best friend has a fox lab. It's an awesome dog. I'm partial to the long hair though, which sounRAB ridiculous because they shed so much. But those dogs are fracking awesome.
I've had two Irish Setters. One was brilliant while the other was a complete retard. They're great water dogs though. It didn't take long for them to be trained to retrieve shit either.
i know.... you like long hair, but theyre known to be some of the best hunting dogs there are. my old boss had one we hunted quail, dove, and ducks with
I too ^ have always thought Irish Setters were durab, I have seen more of them run into the path of cars more than any other dog.
I never heard of a Gordon Setter, so I looked them up and they look like a good bird dog and they are smart.
It's an awesome dog, just impossible to tire out. I live in a pretty small house, so I couldn't have one. Those things have to be pretty much ran to sleep.
MJS - do you have any photos of your setters? Have you had another dog breed to compare them to?
the setters were equal in intelligence but a lot less spazzier than the retrievers when they were pups, but once they get to around two or three they're basically the same.
probably a long shot..
i have a springer spaniel, perfect size dogs, aren't full of energy 24/7 and are used for your neeRAB. Heard some greats things about them in the hunting world.