Currently I house and kennel 8 exceptional and loving Llewellin Setters and do not keep any other breed! Each of my Llewellin’s displays their own unique hunting styles, instincts and many other quality traits both in and out of the field! These Llewellin’s come from over 150 years of strict bloodlines, careful breeding and are only surpassed with additional training.

(Getting Started 2013)- All Dickens Llewellins are FDSB Registered and DNA verified Llewellin Setters!

It is true; The Dickens Llewellin’s Kennel is not as old as the other websites Kennels! However, like the others, I have owned and/or hunted with many different breeds of bird dogs for over 35 years. I started with a Llewellin (Bandit), owned and hunted with others in between, and will end owning Llewellin's as I believe them to be the best and most versatile bird dogs and upland hunting dogs, as well as a beautiful and loving breed!

This website and my dream to start my own private Kennel (not a business) comes from over 35 years of experience with various breeds.(Setters-Irish, English, Llewellin’s, Springer’s, Pointers, Spaniels, Retrievers, etc)

While the Llewellin Setter is bred specifically to be some of the best performing bird dogs, gun dogs, and instinctive hunters, Llewellin Setter Puppies and Adults are also excellent house dogs as well. Like any dog, the Llewellin Setter will always require outdoor walks, exercise and/or hunting trips as to remain healthy and vigorous, but there is nothing wrong with keeping them in the home and showing them the love and attention they need, deserve and desire.

The Llewellin, the English Setter breed in general is a non aggressive, gentle and loving breed, in fact the Llewellin seems to thrive on quality time love and attention. Spite the Llewellin Setter (aka the English Setters) reputation of being highly energetic in the field, it usually applies to their conditional excitable nature, hunting instincts and the environment. Outdoors the Llewellin Setter is a ball of energy, but in the home they will change character quickly and become calm and gentle loving pets asking for your attention or simply resting at your feet.

How well do you know the pet competition world; In Bench, Field Trials, or other? Do you actively participate in any pet or sport dog competitions?

For most Pet Owners, the answer to the above is "NO" and/or "I DON'T"!
These days, everyone wants a dog with a champion bloodline as they beilive it to be a higher standard and quality of pet and therein lays a problem!

Many people believe that Bench/Show and Field Trial Wins and Championships are the most important factors in choosing a pet or hunting dog and anything less is substandard! Choosing a breeder or puppy based on Championships or Wins alone lack's the important consideration and insight that is often is overlooked; Competitions do not represent The Best of ALL Dogs of any specific breed or category, only those few dogs which the owner’s chose’s to compete.

Let’s face it! There are millions of Llewellin Setters and other breeds out there that have never been entered into any type of pet competition! It's not because these dogs don't have the same potential as this or last year’s Champion didn't come from a Champion Bloodline, etc; but because the vast number of pet owners simply do not participate in the competitive sport for any number of reasons! The most common of reasons is Time and Cost as it is not a cheap or quick one day venture to the county fair to win the blue ribbon; it’s a timely 365 day venture with many high cost and expenses!

In estimation, it is common sense to state that out of a one hundred thousand dogs, 99.5% of Llewellin Setters and other breeds of pure bloods have never been evaluated or judged in the competitive arena or field. Had this larger majority been subjected to the time, training, and investments, they very well could have been or surpassed the current champion but we will never know! In such cases, that Non-Champion pedigree dog may not be as unworthy of your consideration as you may think! It simply means the dog parents (Sire and/or Dam) and the owner’s have never competed!

When you look at a pets pedigree from this prospective, Wins and Championships alone does not accurately represent the best out of ALL Llewellin Setters, or even a fair competition between two or more breeds, it only represents a hand full (est: 0.5%) of dogs which are fortunate enough (where the owner chose to invest heavily and train professionally) to compete.

All English Setters are an import breed which originated in the United Kingdom, England. The Llewellin Setter is a special Bloodline of the English setter which received its name from the owner and breeder Purcell L. Llewellin. Mr. Llewellin won his fame back in the mid 1800s when his dogs competed and won many of the championships in the United Kingdom’s Kennel Club competitions.

The Llewellin Setter is first and foremost an English Setter by breed and a Llewellin Setter by a specific bloodline strain. The Llewellin bloodline has been kept pure and passed down since the mid 1800s too today; thus this long history of pure blood is unique and more closely kept among Llewellin breeders in the US than the rest of the English Setter World!

Even more the rarity of this closely guarded bloodline is the fact that in the US a Llewellin Setter can only be a registered as a true Llewellin if the descendants can be traced back to 3 particular Llewellin Setters of 1870's* from the UK Kennel Club(Duke, Rhoebe, and Kate); that is almost 150 years of guarded Llewellin pure bloodline!

"The UK Kennel Club (KC) is the first pet register in the world, initiated sometime around 1840. The first KC calendar and studbook was printed in 1846 and contained close to 10 years of back dated records to the events and competitions!
The American Field, FDSB followed the KC in 1874.
The AKC was formed in 1884, 10 years after the FDSB!"

The Llewellin Setter should in all rights be referred to as a Llewellin English Setter (its strain of bloodline and breed) as to avoid any confusion; the general public is more aware and familiar of the common English Setter and thus marks the relation. However, once you come own and understand their value, prestige, unique history and their highly sought bloodline, most owners will prefer to call them by their more pronounced name ...

"Llewellin Setter".

So what are the differences between the Common English and Llewellin Setter?

Not all English Setters are Llewellins.

In general, Llewellin Setters are a bird dog of the field dog hunting type and are preferred breed to hunt Pheasant, Quail, Wood Cock, Grouse and other species of upland wild game birds! Many experienced hunters who have hunted over different breeds often refer to the Llewellin Setter as the ultimate hunting dog, and by others as the best versatile breed of bird dog due to the Llewellins wide range of utility, intelligence and performance.

While the common English Setter shares the same hunting instincts (to various degrees) as the Llewellin Setter, many common English Setters are less desired by hunters over the Llewellin English Setter for any number of reasons which are best described by understanding their utilities in breeding.

(1) In most cases of "Bench/Show" the English Setter owners goals is to selectively breed their dogs for intelligence and physical appearances as to display them in Bench "Show" competitions. When bred for this utility they are usually of Taller and Thinner build, Light weight in bone structure, a abundance of Long and Straight feathered hair - heavy coats and uniform color and markings. In such breeding the natural instincts are often secondary and rarely considered in importance as the bench dog rarely is tested in field of hunting instincts. In fact, in many instances the breeder may try to breed out/down some of the instinctive traits as to enhance the English Setters attentions for the purpose of Bench/Show. However, the build of this strain of English Setter is not desired in the field.

(2) In Field Trial/Hunting "Working Dog", the Llewellin Setter owners goal is to selectively breed their dogs for intelligence as well as performance. A stronger emphasis is placed on natural hunting instincts, scenting ability, and desire to hunt. Llewellins also have a different physical appearances and build such as:

• Shorter length hair and height,
• More stocky chest and quarters,
• Heavier stronger bone structure,
• More muscular,
• Strong hunting instinct and scenting ability,
• Speed, coordination and endurance.

In this type of breeding the more 'birdy' and stronger the natural instincts (the drive) the better as primary goal is to breed an "exceptional hunting machine". Lastly, the coats markings (though beautiful) are secondary to these goals of performance and may vary widely from setter to setter. However, this is not to say that the Llewellin Setter is flawed in appearance as you can see in the images as you browse this web site.

Coat and Markings -The Llewellin coating has a larger range in coloring and shades and is usually more pronounced in markings. The hair is usually a shorter-medium length but can range depending in each particular instance. The shorter hair length is desired as it helps to prevent several issues such as becoming entangled and trapped in bushes, briers and thickets as well as reduce the maintenance of grooming. While all lines of the Llewellin and English Setters share a soft and silky hair, the shorter hair of the Llewellin is slightly more course which also helps to reduce the common knotting and matting issues associated with the longer hair version, thus there is a general lesser maintenance of brushing and combing.

Intelligence and Instincts - As noted above, not all owners are hunters and therefore are not concerned with the natural instincts. However, Llewellins are bred firstly for their stronger performance, hunting instincts and intelligence; therefore it is noted that Llewellins perform better in the field and competitions.

Again, this is not to say that a Common English Setters will not hunt or perform but some may display a lesser natural ability or be hindered by the other factors. With the Llewellin Setter, you must consider that for over 140 years the breeding focus has been to breed for the High Performance noted above and therefore has a more heightened instincts!

As for the intelligence of the Llewellin Setter, they display a higher level of intelligence as they are easily trained in contrast to other breeds. Many people mistakenly associate their intelligence with their eagerness to please, but such does not explain how they quickly pick up and understand training and commands, as well as pick up on routines with minimal efforts. Even as pups they display a higher intelligence and can be easily trained; as one of my customers stated in complement:

I can personally attest to the ease in training as the "Dickens Llewellin's" parents were as easily house trained at the same age and in the same time frame as well. As for the common commands, they picked up and understood the basics field commands quickly and within three weeks of training, were listing to commands independent of any training leashes and tools.

(Please visit the History and other links in the menu above for more information)

What's in a name?

Many people do not understand the significance of the Llewellin Setter, or why it is primarily registered in the FDSB ( The American Field Registry/ American Field Sporting Dog Association ) and not the AKC. More so, many pet owners may not have ever heard of the FDSB even though it existed 10 years before the AKC. In fact, the FDSB was the first registry to exist in the US and I will try to brief on some of the points here and else where. For more information, please see the About section of the FDSB-vs-AKC and the Llewellin Setter History under topics of Title and breeding.

A FDSB Llewellin Setter can be dual registered in both, the FDSB and the AKC "and many others" as they both accept and recognize each others registry as proofs; it is just that the AKC registry is not desired for the Llewellin Setter!

The FDSB registers both Llewellin Setters and English Setters separately. However, the Llewellin is governed by stricter guidelines in breeding practices and bloodlines. (...to register as a Llewellin, both parents must be of the Llewellin strain.......dogs must be DNA tested and proven to trace back to 3 specific Llewellin setters from the mid 1800s.)

The FDSB registers all breeds of pure bloods dogs, however the FDSB reserves two titles for the English Setter-('Common' English Setter and Llewellin Setter) and for valid reason as so noted: The Llewellin Setter is a separate and special title reserved for a historical bloodline strain of the English Setter breed.

The FDSB very closely regulates the Breeding and Registration of Llewellin Setters. In the FDSB, you can register a pure blood 'Common' English Setter but it will only gain the Title of "English Setter". However, in order for the Llewellin English Setter to gain the title of "Llewellin Setter", it must have came from a specific Llewellin blood line. Both breeding parents must be registered in the FDSB, DNA verified, and both parents must trace back to 3 specific Llewellin Setters (Duke, Rhoebe, and Kate) from the UK of the mid-late 1800s. This interprets to over 140 years of a historical accounts and significance and a closely regulated/guarded breeding and bloodline from a specific strain of English Setters known only as the Llewellin Setter.

The Llewellin Setter line is also full of titles and legendary champions in the UK, US and other sectors of the world, thus it can be said that the Llewellin Setter strain is known world wide. Since the FDSB closely tracks and strictly governs the Llewellin Setter Registration, it is vital the Llewellin Setter title continues in the FDSB registry so the bloodline and other historical significance can be distinguished, guarded and preserved beyond that of the 'Common' English Setter.

Also, since the Llewellin Setter is in fact a registered English Setter by breed, the AKC will accept the FDSB Llewellin Setter in registration but will only register it (per the only AKC title/bracket for the breed) under the common English Setter title, not as a Llewellin Setter! Since the AKC does not distinguish the Llewellin Setter from the common English Setter, it cannot preserve the distinct and historical significance of the Llewellin Setter nor its bloodline, thus the Llewellin Setter title can be easily lost when registered in the AKC and complying with their relaxed breeding policies.

As a so desired alternative; Dual enrollment of the Llewellin Setter in the FDSB and AKC is perfectly acceptable. But dual enrollment can be a treacherous game as the rules and guidelines may slightly differ. If dual enrolled, the owner MUST conform to ALL of the FDSB rules and breeding guidelines first and as a necessity, holding any AKC rules and guideline separately and secondary when breeding Llewellins.

Lastly, the reason for the above statement is the fact that the AKC does not regulate the Llewellin Setter breeding and bloodline, they only require that the breed "English Setter" be pure and registered, thus the AKC will allow breeding with a very large (world wide) population and various strains of English Setters! In such deregulation, there are no guarantees to the possibilities of crosses with other outside bloodlines which will taint and degenerate the 140 years of Llewellin Setter pureness.