Our Puppies

GWENDARIFF are established IRISH SETTER breeders of distinction and have been the UK’s Top Irish Setter Breeder for 15 years, since 2005. Our Irish Setters are highly regarded as some of the best in the world.  We have homed puppies from as close as our home village, to as far afield as USA, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand and extensively throughout Europe and the UK.

Not all puppies leave us to go to show homes, in fact we have a very definite policy that our Irish Setters are family pets first and foremost – they just happen to be good looking as well!  Many otherwise pet puppies have connected with the dog show fraternity and gone on to enjoy dog showing as a new found hobby, quite often with a great deal of success too.

Our Irish Setter puppies are available as show dogs and family pets. For us there is no difference in how we rear our babies – ALL of our puppies are special. All are adored, all deserve to have the best start in life and the best opportunity to experience having a loving family at the very core of their world. That is why we have a strict selection process.  We want to get it right for the puppy as well as for the potential new owner. When it comes to our puppy’s future – failure, on our part, is not an option. Our Gwendariff kennel is part of the KENNEL CLUBS ASSURED BREEDER SCHEME.  In fact, we are the first of only two Irish Setter kennels to hold the prestigious award of ‘ACCOLADE OF EXCELLENCE’, from within the ABS Scheme. This award of merit is recognition of our commitment to breeding happy, healthy dogs of the highest quality and all with the utmost confidence of inspection criteria within the scheme.  Inspection for us is important – when one has extremely high standards, there should be nothing to worry about, right?  We are also Council licensed breeders. At Gwendariff, everything we do is to the very highest standard and totally with the utmost regard for all government rules and policies.
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We are based outside Hillsborough in Northern Ireland, where we have the privilege of enjoying the commanding panoramic views of the County Down and Antrim countryside.  We live between four farms in a private setting which allows our adult dogs and puppies plenty of space to grow, explore, bark, have fun and just generally enjoy life without interruption. Our puppies are never left alone because we are at home all day. They are not reared in cages, puppy pens or confined in any way.  We believe a puppy should have the freedom to explore and develop its social and sensory skills as much as possible in the birth home, before going out to a new owner. Each one of our puppies leave Gwendariff totally house trained, and they all have a robust and confident demeanour.  There is no such thing as a shy puppy, a runt puppy or an unhealthy puppy leaving Gwendariff to go to a new home.  That is not what we do. We are masters at providing high class, healthy puppies of fabulous character which you and your family can enjoy for many, many years to come.

We offer a lifelong commitment to all of our puppies. We are always available to any puppy buyers, whether their puppy has just left us, or is in their twilight years.  ‘Your puppy’ is our responsibility too, we will become almost like extended family!

 

If you are interested in becoming the proud owner of a Gwendariff Irish Setter puppy, please use the contact us form to get in touch.  Upon consideration, we will make contact with you outlining the next stage in our puppy process.  We can ensure you will not be disappointed in our ethics or approach.  Do not worry about the logistics of our location – with over 30 years experience of dealing with this, we have mastered how things should be done, with total emphasis on the welfare and care of our dogs at all times. The world is a very small place these days – anything is possible. BREXIT – How Does This Affect Your Puppy? – See our Latest News

We hope you enjoy the slideshow and photos of our puppies over the years.  The videos below are ones we particularly enjoy……. 

We hope it gives you a feeling for how we do things.

And just one last thing…  

In these COVID times, unscrupulous breeders are charging extortionate prices for their unregistered, non-health checked puppies of varying parentage.  We do not associate ourselves with these people, nor their ethics or their inflated prices.

 

Our Puppy Videos

The Wonderful World of Puppies

In 2018 we were privileged to share our ‘newly born’ experience with the MY5 cameras.

This Television series entitled, ‘THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF PUPPIES’, shows the life story of a variety of breeds from birth right through to starting life with their new families.

The first episode shows the reality of breeding and how an experienced and devoted breeder can change a puppy’s chances of survival.  Our little man, thankfully, had a wonderful success story after his difficult start – going on to be adored and cherished by his forever family living in the beautiful Costwolds in England.

The other episodes within the series made such enjoyable viewing, allowing the viewer to embrace and connect with the importance of giving the best of starts to these young lives.  Environment, routine, stimulation, safety, nourishment, adventure, interaction, love – these are the very basics of the essentials all puppies are given throughout the series. This was a series we were proud to have been involved with, as it represented only the best advice and education for future puppy buyers.

The camera crew were quiet, respectful and unintrusive to mum and her puppies throughout the filming of this programme.

 

Our little man – looking great here at 4 months old