No individual dog is perfect, but the Standard provides an ideal for the breeder to strive towards. To find a copy of the standard, check with the AKC, the national breed club, or a good book on the breed. The Irish Setter Club of America has recently launched a closed database, managed through the Genetic Disease Control Institute, which will be used to attempt to determine if there is a hereditary component to idiopathic epilepsy in Irish Setters. With seizure disorders, and with all the conditions mentioned here, it is important that Irish Setter puppy buyers ask breeders about the frequency of occurrence of such disorders in the pedigree. In this condition, the stomach twists and distends, acutely affecting key veins in the abdominal cavity and causing the failure of body systems.
Extreme restlessness is often the only observable symptom.
Any Irish setter suspected of being in torsion should receive immediate veterinary attention, and Irish setter owners should not be shy about insisting on x-rays to ascertain a dog's condition. Precautions should be taken by Irish Setter owners to lessen the likelihood that their dogs develop this acute and life-threatening condition. GDV can be quickly fatal, but if caught in time a prodedure called gastropexy, in which the stomach is surgically tacked to the abdominal wall, can be performed. This surgery radically decreases the possibilty of GDV recurrence. Hip dysplasia Also somewhat common in Irish Setters.