Our involvement with Irish Setters began in 1969. We were initially attracted to the breed because of its beauty and fond memories of Irish Setters we had known when we were kids.

Like many dogs of the period, our first Irish Setter was a training challenge. Sean had beauty, brawn, brains, and inexperienced owners. Had we known then what we know now, he would have been a better trained dog. At the time we picked our first puppy, we had no idea our involvement with dogs would continue and evolve into what it is today.

Our earliest dogs were companions. In 1976 we ventured into the obedience ring for the first time, and earned our first Companion Dog (CD) title.

In the 1980's we bought a bitch to show in the conformation ring. Like many folks who have spent a long time in the world of dogs, we have learned many lessons--sometimes the hard way.

Our first attempt at a show dog was a failure. She was not, in fact, a show quality animal. Undeterred, we bought a second show bitch, who also turned out to be a conformational disappointment, but a lovely pet. We started over again; our third show bitch had some limited success.

Although the wins with these dogs were fewer than we would have liked, we learned to groom, train, and handle for the ring. We also continued to learn more about the breed, its history, pedigrees, and the bloodlines that produced attributes we admired.

These early show bitches did not earn AKC Championship titles, but we learned from them--most importantly why they did not win. We objectively evaluated these bitches' qualities--their structure, temperment, health, breed type. We decided that in order to produce the quality of puppies we desired, we needed a better bitch.

We started over again, and our fourth bitch also did not turn out as hoped. Then Dana came to us as a 10 week old puppy from a long-time breeder. She was worth the wait. She was well built, had a sweet and trainable disposition, and was healthy. She earned titles in both the breed and conformation ring completely owner trained and handled. Dana became the foundation of Anamacara, producing mulitple AKC and UKC Champions, obedience titled offspring, and trainable field dogs.

We continue to strive for sound moving, trainable, healthy dogs that best represent our ideal picture of the Irish Setter. Our dogs are competative in the show ring, obedience ring, and the field. We breed our best to honor the hard work and good decisions of all the breeders who have come before us, and to ensure that breeders of the future will have good dogs to start with.

"None of us sprang full blown from the head of Zues; there has always been a name behind the name--a keeper of the flame and of the breed who passed it on to the lucky and sometimes too to the deserving. If you don't know where you came from, it makes the path forward that much more obcure."
--Mary Lamphier, posted to Setters-L 1-18-08