Ferasheen
Irish Setters
About Us
The name Ferasheen was established in 2011 after over 40 years of Irish Setters.
Here at Ferasheen we breed for type, health and temperament. As such we are very selective as to who we breed from and use only well bred stud dogs whose pedigree, physicality and characteristics have been carefully selected to complement those of our own girl.
First and foremost, our dogs are much loved members of our family - as family pets they live indoors with us, lounge on the sofas, run in the parks and fields, sleep on the beds and are all so very special to us.
Whilst we are always very pleased when one of our puppies enters the showring it is never a priority. We always want to ensure our puppies live happy and fulfilling lives with the perfect families and nothing is more important to us than this, the showring is simply an added bonus
Pictured: Gabrielle and Violet (Gwendariff The Purple Star)
Pictured: Kate and Nancy (Ferasheen Jindea)
On the rare occasion when we do have a litter we only do so to be able to keep a puppy ourselves to show and continue our breed lines - as such it can be several years between our litters.
Our puppies are raised in a family setting, fully socialised with both people and older dogs, and exposed to all the regular noises and machinery found in the home. Our puppies always leave us Kennel Club Registered, microchipped, wormed and fully health checked by a veterinarian. They also take with them a puppy pack including a bag of the food we have reared them on, a toy and blanket with the scent of mummy and their siblings, and a Ferasheen New Owner's Guide including information on the parents and their littermates, a copy of their pedigree, their current diet sheet, breed information and advice, and other little bits of information that can be helpful along the way.
Each of our puppies are incredibly important to us, we have raised them from birth and we try to take every step we can to make sure they find only the best families. We take our responsibility very seriously, we maintain contact with all our puppies for the duration of their lives, we love to hear the stories of their exploits and are always available for any questions or advice our families may need along the way.
A History Of Ferasheen
Our Affix 'Ferasheen' was first registered with the Kennel Club in 2011 however the interest and love of the Irish Setter began long before that. Kate and Peter have owned Irish Setters for over 40 years dating back to the 1970's.
In the early 1990's due to having twins, Kate and Peter went a long while without having another setter in the home. It was only when the children reached an age where they could properly care for and be fully responsible for a dog that it was agreed to introduce a canine companion to the family again and of course it had to be an Irish Setter.
Pictured: Kate visiting a litter of Irish Setter puppies in the 1980's
In early 2009, and after much research, we contacted Becky Box of Fernstart to make an enquiry regarding a litter she had advertised as to whether she had any female puppies available and if we could possibly be considered. It was a particularly cold and frosty April morning when we set off to make the journey to Norfolk to pick up our wee girl Callista (Fernstart Love In A Mist At Ferasheen), and little did we know what a journey she would take us on.
Callista was our introduction into the 'show ring' and the first Irish Setter to have our affix added to their name.
For our first experience at a dog show we fairly threw ourselves in at the deep end, entering our very cheeky eight month old puppy at a Breed Club Championship Show, where to our unimaginable surprised she managed to come away with a 3rd place in her Puppy Bitch class, qualifying her for Crufts the following year!
From then on, we were hooked. For us it was not simply the joy of 'competing' with our dog that created our love for the hobby, it was the one on one time spent training and in the ring with our girl, the excitement we and Callista seemed to share for the early morning starts, the long journeys and the adventure of the showgrounds, the time spent with so many other members of the Irish Setter and Dog Showing fraternity who all seemed to share our love of the breed, and finally the great friends we have made in the hobby.
As Callista approached the age of two, it was decided to introduce another little girl to our family, and again, after much research we contacted Linda King of Kirkavagh Irish Setters, who allowed our very special girl Niamh (Kirkavagh Habena At Ferasheen) to join us. Niamh was by Clachnahar Ami Pierrot JW and out of Kirkavagh Jakomima. As Niamh was introduced into the showring this allowed Gabrielle to take over sole handling of Callista and Kate to introduce our newest member, and as the two got older often gave us the pleasure of competing against each other!
Pictured: Kate and a very young Ginni (Ferasheen Pavanna JW) winning Puppy Bitch, Junior Bitch, Best Puppy Bitch and Best Puppy In Breed at Blackpool Championship Show 2014 under judge Mr. R. Oliveira
Two years later we contacted Pat Rhodes (Fearnley), whose breeding had produced the foundation bitches of both Callista's and Niamh's breeders stock, which resulted in our little Pocket Rocket Esme (Fearnley Fire Ribbon Of Ferasheen) coming home. Esme was sired by Sh. Ch. Riqitta Authentic and out of Fearnley Fire Rose, also the granddaughter of Sh. Ch. Erinade Starwars JW, the stud dog we were hoping to use for our first litter thereby complementing the breed lines we hoped to establish.
As Callista made her way through the classes we started to put some consideration into what step we would like to take next, and after much thought and research we decided we would like to have the very first litter under our own 'Ferasheen' kennel name, and so the Ferasheens began!
The Present
Presently, we are campaigning the second generation of Ferasheen, our very own Nancy (Ferasheen Jindea), and our newest addition Violet (Gwendariff The Purple Star). Due to Covid restrictions and the lockdown situation all dog showing had been cancelled for the majority of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, affecting both Nancy campaigning and Violets Puppy Classes as well as Gabrielle's judging appointments, however things finally look to be improving and we hope to finally be back in the showring with the girls later this year.